Waymo's Robotaxis Take an Unexpected Power Nap in San Francisco Streets

Over the weekend, a major power outage hit San Francisco, causing significant disruptions across the city. The outage was triggered by a fire at a power substation, which led to 'significant and extensive' damage, according to the utility company PG&E. As a result, more than 100,000 customers lost electricity, and the effects were felt throughout the city, including on the streets where Waymo's self-driving robotaxis operate.

Videos shared on social media showed several Waymo vehicles stopped in the middle of streets and intersections, their hazard lights blinking. With the power out, many traffic signals stopped working, making it difficult for both human drivers and autonomous vehicles to navigate safely. Traffic jams quickly formed as drivers tried to maneuver around the stationary robotaxis. Waymo responded by pausing all of its ride-hailing services in the Bay Area until the situation improved.

City officials, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, deployed police officers and fire crews to help manage the flow of traffic. Some commuter train lines and stations were also forced to shut down due to the outage. Waymo explained that its self-driving system is programmed to treat non-working traffic signals as four-way stops. However, because the outage was so widespread, the vehicles sometimes remained stopped longer than usual to make sure it was safe to proceed. This added to the traffic congestion during the busiest times.

Despite the challenges, most of Waymo's active trips were completed before the vehicles were either returned to their depots or pulled over to the side of the road. By Sunday afternoon, PG&E had restored power to all but 17,000 customers and expected to have everyone back online by Monday. Waymo has since resumed its ride-hailing services in San Francisco.

Waymo, which is owned by the same parent company as Google, operates its robotaxi service not only in the San Francisco Bay Area but also in cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Atlanta, and Miami. The company has plans to expand to London and Washington, DC, next year. In 2025, Waymo reported providing more than 14 million rides, which is three times the number of rides it gave in 2024. The incident in San Francisco highlights both the promise and the challenges of using self-driving cars in busy urban environments, especially when unexpected events like power outages occur.