Waymo’s robotaxi operations in San Francisco were put on hold Saturday night following a major power outage that reportedly immobilized numerous vehicles across the city.
Social media was flooded with images and videos depicting Waymo robotaxis at a standstill on streets and at intersections, forcing human drivers to navigate around them or become ensnared in traffic.
On Saturday, Waymo announced a temporary halt to its services in the city, attributing the decision to the blackout. A comparable statement was issued by spokesperson Suzanne Philion to TechCrunch on Sunday morning.
“Our ride-hailing services in the San Francisco Bay Area have been temporarily paused because of the extensive power disruption,” Philion stated. She added, “Our personnel are actively collaborating with municipal authorities to assess infrastructure stability, and we anticipate resuming services shortly. We value your understanding and will furnish updates as they become available.”
The company offered no immediate clarification regarding the profound impact the blackout had on its fleet. A likely factor is that the power failure disabled numerous traffic signals throughout the city. (Indeed, given the blackout’s effect on both traffic signals and Muni public transportation, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie advised citizens to avoid non-essential travel.)
Alternative theories proposed that Waymo’s operations might have been compromised by disruptions in cellular service or traffic data feeds.
The power outage reportedly stemmed from a fire at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation within the city. According to SFGate, approximately 120,000 PG&E customers experienced the blackout. Although most had their power reinstated by Saturday evening, 35,000 customers remained without electricity on Sunday morning. PG&E’s official website corroborated that thousands of San Francisco clients were still impacted at that point.
A recently leaked correspondence from Tiger Global Management indicated that Waymo currently facilitates 450,000 robotaxi rides weekly, which is almost twice the figure the Alphabet-owned entity reported in the spring.