Waymo recalls Bay Area robotaxi fleet after expansion into Cupertino, Campbell and San Jose

Waymo widened its Bay Area robotaxi footprint this week to include Cupertino, Campbell and additional San Jose neighborhoods, even as the Alphabet-owned company works through a nationwide software recall tied to a floodwater incident in Texas. Local reports on May 13 said the South Bay expansion would add about 60 square miles and lift Waymo’s Bay Area service area to more than 330 square miles. Days earlier, federal regulators posted a recall covering 3,791 Waymo vehicles after one unoccupied robotaxi entered a flooded roadway in San Antonio on April 20. The overlap between the expansion and the recall does not mean Waymo pulled its cars off Bay Area streets. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filing says Waymo had already applied an interim remedy to the affected fleet, narrowing where and when the automated driving system could operate in conditions with elevated flood risk while it works on a permanent fix. Reuters reported Waymo said it had also updated maps and refined its extreme-weather operations. (sanjosespotlight.com) ### Which Bay Area places are being added now? Cupertino, Campbell, Willow Glen and Vista Park in San Jose are the newly named areas in the latest South Bay rollout, according to San José Spotlight and KRON4. A Waymo spokesperson told San José Spotlight the added territory covers about 60 square miles. The same report said the expansion would bring Waymo’s Bay Area service area to more than 330 square miles. (static.nhtsa.gov) May 13 was also the date Waymo published a broader growth update on its official blog saying expansions across Austin, Atlanta, Houston and the San Francisco Bay Area were following close behind earlier service growth in Miami. Waymo said it expected to cover more than 1,400 square miles across 11 cities over the next few weeks. ### What exactly triggered the recall? (kron4.com) April 20 is the key date in the federal recall filing. NHTSA’s Part 573 report says an unoccupied Waymo autonomous vehicle encountered an “untraversable flooded section” of roadway with a 40 mph speed limit, detected potentially untraversable floodwater and still proceeded at reduced speed. The filing says entering such a roadway can result in loss of vehicle control. (waymo.com) May 12 was the date Reuters reported Waymo’s public explanation. The company said the incident happened in San Antonio during extreme weather, that no one was injured, and that it prompted a review of similar scenarios involving high speeds and impassable flooded roads. (static.nhtsa.gov) ### Did Waymo actually stop operating its whole fleet? NHTSA’s recall report describes the remedy type as “Do Not Drive,” but the same filing also says all affected vehicles had already received the interim remedy and that Waymo changed operational restrictions on April 20, the day of the incident. Reuters reported the company temporarily narrowed its operating scope to add weather-related restrictions while it worked on a permanent software safeguard. (money.usnews.com) That distinction matters because public descriptions of the action as a recall of Waymo’s “entire fleet” refer to the size of the affected population, not necessarily to every vehicle being parked indefinitely. The federal filing lists 3,791 potentially involved vehicles using Waymo’s fifth- and sixth-generation automated driving system. (static.nhtsa.gov) ### What are local officials in the South Bay saying? Campbell Mayor Dan Furtado told San José Spotlight that the city manager was setting up a meeting with a Waymo representative and that he knew of the planned arrival from news reports. The same report said West Valley officials were weighing possible safety and transit effects even though California state regulators, not local cities, control approvals for autonomous vehicle operations. (static.nhtsa.gov) Los Gatos Mayor Rob Moore told San José Spotlight he had been surprised to learn municipalities have no authority over whether Waymo can operate on local streets. Moore said he saw potential safety benefits in the technology but also had questions about liability and public reaction if a serious crash occurred. (sanjosespotlight.com) ### What comes next for riders and regulators? Waymo said the South Bay service expansion would roll out in the coming weeks, according to local reports published May 13 and May 15. NHTSA’s recall record identifies the case as recall number 26E026, and Reuters reported Waymo is working on additional software safeguards beyond the interim weather restrictions already in place. (sanjosespotlight.com)