SF Officials Demand Answers from Waymo
San Francisco city leaders are pressing Waymo for answers after its robotaxis stalled during a power outage in December. Officials and the Bay Area Teamsters are raising concerns about the autonomous vehicles' performance during emergencies and severe weather.
The December 20th incident involved a fire at a PG&E substation that cut power to about a third of San Francisco. In the aftermath, Waymo submitted a report to the California Public Utilities Commission logging 1,593 "stoppage events" for its autonomous vehicles that day. Waymo's vehicles are designed to treat non-functioning traffic signals as four-way stops, but the scale of the outage created a massive spike in requests for confirmation checks from remote operators. With only 70 remote operators on duty at a given time, this system created a backlog that left cars idling in intersections and contributing to widespread traffic congestion. The stalled robotaxis blocked first responders and delayed firefighters who were en route to the very substation fire that caused the blackout, according to Teamsters Joint Council 7 and the International Association of Firefighters Local 798. This highlighted union concerns about the vehicles' impact on public safety and their potential to interfere with emergency response. During a subsequent hearing, San Francisco supervisors grilled Waymo executives, with one official telling company representatives, "Our first responders should not be Triple A roadside assistance." The hearing revealed that calls from the Mayor's office to a Waymo executive received a faster response than official city channels during the crisis. The company's performance raised doubts about its ability to comply with Assembly Bill 1777, a new law taking effect in July. The law requires autonomous vehicle companies to answer calls from 911 operators within 30 seconds and for vehicles to recognize and avoid restricted zones established by first responders within two minutes. In response, Waymo has acknowledged its standards were not met and is implementing fleet-wide software updates to provide its vehicles with more context during regional power outages, allowing them to navigate more decisively. The company also pledged to improve its emergency protocols and hire more staff to handle spikes in calls during emergencies.
