Waymo Pauses Robotaxis Due to Flash Flood Warning
The weather outside was frightful — so Waymo shut down its driverless ride-hailing service in San Francisco on Christmas. “Service temporarily paused due to National Weather Service flash flood warning,” read a customer notification in the app.
The shutdown comes after Waymo paused service during a December 20 blackout in San Francisco that left tens of thousands without power and caused some autonomous vehicles to halt mid-traffic, contributing to gridlock.
The Alphabet-owned company said earlier this week it will update its fleet to better perform during power outages. Jeffrey Tumlin, former CEO of San Francisco’s Municipal Transit Authority, told CNBC that regulators should ask “what is a reasonable number of autonomous vehicles to have on city streets, by time of day, by geography and weather” as Waymo faces increased scrutiny while expanding to five U.S. markets.
The weather outside was frightful — so Waymo shut down its driverless ride-hailing service in San Francisco on Christmas. “Service temporarily paused due to National Weather Service flash flood warning,” read a customer notification in the app.
The shutdown comes after Waymo paused service during a December 20 blackout in San Francisco that left tens of thousands without power and caused some autonomous vehicles to halt mid-traffic, contributing to gridlock.
The Alphabet-owned company said earlier this week it will update its fleet to better perform during power outages. Jeffrey Tumlin, former CEO of San Francisco’s Municipal Transit Authority, told CNBC that regulators should ask “what is a reasonable number of autonomous vehicles to have on city streets, by time of day, by geography and weather” as Waymo faces increased scrutiny while expanding to five U.S. markets.
