Waymo’s San Francisco Outage Sparks Concerns About Robotaxi Reliability in Emergencies

A widespread power outage in San Francisco earlier this month has raised significant concerns regarding the readiness of autonomous vehicle operators to handle major emergencies, such as earthquakes and floods. The incident involved Waymo robotaxis, which became stalled and contributed to traffic chaos when a fire at a PG&E substation knocked out power to approximately one-third of the city on December 20. Videos shared on social media depicted driverless taxis from Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, stranded at intersections with their hazard lights flashing as traffic signals ceased to function. Waymo temporarily halted operations, resuming service the following day.

This incident has reignited discussions about the necessity for stricter regulations in the rapidly evolving robotaxi industry, especially as competitors like Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox are racing to expand their services across various cities.

Related: Waymos Froze, Blocked Traffic During San Francisco Power Outage

Philip Koopman, a computer-engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert in autonomous technology, emphasized the importance of regulatory oversight. “If you get a response to a blackout wrong, regulators are derelict if they do not respond to that by requiring some sort of proof that the earthquake scenario will be handled properly,” he stated.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Waymo explained that while its robotaxis are designed to treat non-operational traffic signals as four-way stops, they sometimes require a confirmation check. Although the vehicles successfully navigated over 7,000 darkened signals on that Saturday, the outage created a concentrated spike in confirmation requests, leading to delays that exacerbated congestion on already overwhelmed streets.

Globally, robotaxi operators utilize remote human access, known as “teleoperation,” to monitor and control their vehicles. Waymo, for instance, employs a team of human “fleet response” agents who assist the Waymo Driver bot when it encounters specific situations.

However, the limitations of such remote assistance were highlighted during the Waymo outage. Missy Cummings, director of the George Mason University Autonomy and Robotics Center and a former advisor to the U.S. road safety regulator, stressed the need for regulation in this area. “The whole point of having remote operations is for humans to be there when the system is not responsive in the way it should be,” she said. “The federal government needs to regulate remote operations to ensure that there’s backup in case of catastrophic failure.”

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission, which oversee the testing and commercial deployment of robotaxis, are currently investigating the incident. The DMV is in discussions with Waymo and other autonomous vehicle manufacturers regarding emergency response actions and is formulating regulations to ensure that remote drivers meet high standards for safety, accountability, and responsiveness.

‘A Shot Across The Bow’

The deployment and commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles have proven more challenging than anticipated, with substantial investments required to ensure safety and public backlash following accidents leading many companies to cease operations. A notable incident in 2023, where a robotaxi from General Motors’ Cruise struck a pedestrian, resulted in the revocation of its permit, forcing the company to halt operations.

Despite these challenges, robotaxis are back in the spotlight, with Tesla launching its service in Austin, Texas, earlier this year and CEO Elon Musk promising rapid expansion. Waymo, which has steadily grown since its inception as Google’s self-driving project in 2009, is also accelerating its expansion efforts.

With a fleet exceeding 2,500 vehicles, Waymo operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Metro Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. The company noted that the confirmation processes for its vehicles were established during early deployment and are now being refined to match its current scale. Waymo is implementing fleet-wide updates that will provide vehicles with “specific power outage context, allowing them to navigate more decisively.”

Both Cummings and Koopman advocate for additional permitting requirements for robotaxi operators once their fleets exceed a certain size, ensuring they possess adequate capabilities to manage large-scale failures. “If this had been an earthquake, it would have been a problem,” Koopman remarked. “This is just a shot across the bow.”

(Reporting by Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Alistair Bell)

A widespread power outage in San Francisco earlier this month has raised significant concerns regarding the readiness of autonomous vehicle operators to handle major emergencies, such as earthquakes and floods. The incident involved Waymo robotaxis, which became stalled and contributed to traffic chaos when a fire at a PG&E substation knocked out power to approximately one-third of the city on December 20. Videos shared on social media depicted driverless taxis from Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, stranded at intersections with their hazard lights flashing as traffic signals ceased to function. Waymo temporarily halted operations, resuming service the following day.

This incident has reignited discussions about the necessity for stricter regulations in the rapidly evolving robotaxi industry, especially as competitors like Tesla and Amazon’s Zoox are racing to expand their services across various cities.

Related: Waymos Froze, Blocked Traffic During San Francisco Power Outage

Philip Koopman, a computer-engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an expert in autonomous technology, emphasized the importance of regulatory oversight. “If you get a response to a blackout wrong, regulators are derelict if they do not respond to that by requiring some sort of proof that the earthquake scenario will be handled properly,” he stated.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Waymo explained that while its robotaxis are designed to treat non-operational traffic signals as four-way stops, they sometimes require a confirmation check. Although the vehicles successfully navigated over 7,000 darkened signals on that Saturday, the outage created a concentrated spike in confirmation requests, leading to delays that exacerbated congestion on already overwhelmed streets.

Globally, robotaxi operators utilize remote human access, known as “teleoperation,” to monitor and control their vehicles. Waymo, for instance, employs a team of human “fleet response” agents who assist the Waymo Driver bot when it encounters specific situations.

However, the limitations of such remote assistance were highlighted during the Waymo outage. Missy Cummings, director of the George Mason University Autonomy and Robotics Center and a former advisor to the U.S. road safety regulator, stressed the need for regulation in this area. “The whole point of having remote operations is for humans to be there when the system is not responsive in the way it should be,” she said. “The federal government needs to regulate remote operations to ensure that there’s backup in case of catastrophic failure.”

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission, which oversee the testing and commercial deployment of robotaxis, are currently investigating the incident. The DMV is in discussions with Waymo and other autonomous vehicle manufacturers regarding emergency response actions and is formulating regulations to ensure that remote drivers meet high standards for safety, accountability, and responsiveness.

‘A Shot Across The Bow’

The deployment and commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles have proven more challenging than anticipated, with substantial investments required to ensure safety and public backlash following accidents leading many companies to cease operations. A notable incident in 2023, where a robotaxi from General Motors’ Cruise struck a pedestrian, resulted in the revocation of its permit, forcing the company to halt operations.

Despite these challenges, robotaxis are back in the spotlight, with Tesla launching its service in Austin, Texas, earlier this year and CEO Elon Musk promising rapid expansion. Waymo, which has steadily grown since its inception as Google’s self-driving project in 2009, is also accelerating its expansion efforts.

With a fleet exceeding 2,500 vehicles, Waymo operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Metro Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. The company noted that the confirmation processes for its vehicles were established during early deployment and are now being refined to match its current scale. Waymo is implementing fleet-wide updates that will provide vehicles with “specific power outage context, allowing them to navigate more decisively.”

Both Cummings and Koopman advocate for additional permitting requirements for robotaxi operators once their fleets exceed a certain size, ensuring they possess adequate capabilities to manage large-scale failures. “If this had been an earthquake, it would have been a problem,” Koopman remarked. “This is just a shot across the bow.”

(Reporting by Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Alistair Bell)