San Francisco Blackout Highlights Challenges for Autonomous Ride-Hailing

[madmax]

The San Francisco blackout on Saturday forced Waymo to pause its robotaxi fleet, highlighting how external infrastructure disruptions can impact autonomous operations.

Service resumed late Sunday, but the outage affected intersections, public transit, and thousands of residents.

Waymo emphasized that its systems adapt to traffic flow during unusual events, but mass power failures present unique challenges.

With Waymo now providing 450,000 rides per week, incidents like this underscore the need for robust contingency planning in urban self-driving deployments.

Waymo remains committed to community trust and safety, promising to refine how its technology reacts to future citywide emergencies.

[bcd8b07f7c]

450k rides still massive