The sudden loss of electricity throughout San Francisco led Waymo to ground its fleet of self-driving taxis. A company spokesperson confirmed that ride-hailing services in the Bay Area were paused as a direct result of the outage. The company expressed its commitment to working with local authorities to safely restore service and requested patience from the public as they monitored the situation.
Waymo, which operates under Google’s parent company Alphabet, provides fully autonomous transportation where passengers can travel without a human driver. The recent blackout created unique challenges for these vehicles, as social media footage captured several units stalled on city streets. These disruptions highlight the reliance of autonomous systems on stable urban infrastructure and communication networks.
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The power failure began early Saturday afternoon and eventually impacted approximately 130,000 customers at its peak. Reports suggest the blackout may have interfered with mobile data or traffic monitoring systems, which are essential for the safe navigation of robotaxis. Without functioning traffic lights or consistent data streams, the vehicles were forced to come to a halt to ensure public safety.
The root cause of the massive outage was traced back to a fire at a Pacific Gas and Electric substation. While utility crews worked throughout the weekend to resolve the issue, the scale of the damage meant that tens of thousands of residents remained without power well into Sunday morning. The incident served as a significant test for the resilience of automated transit during a municipal emergency.
As utility teams restored power to the majority of the city, Waymo focused on the technical steps required to bring its fleet back online. The company has not provided a specific timeline for the full resumption of services but indicated that updates would follow as conditions stabilized. This event underscores the ongoing dialogue between technology providers and city planners regarding the integration of autonomous fleets into the electrical grid.
Source: Waymo Suspends Service After A Power Outage Disrupts Operations In San Francisco