Alphabet (GOOGL.US) driverless division Waymo suspends San Francisco service again due to flood warning

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to customer notifications on the Waymo online ride-hailing app, a driverless division under Alphabet (GOOGL.US), Waymo temporarily suspended driverless taxi services in the area on Thursday due to expected storms in the San Francisco Bay Area. The US National Weather Service extended the flood warning for the entire San Francisco Bay Area until 10 p.m. local time on Friday. The notice reads: “Services are temporarily suspended due to the US National Weather Service issuing a flash flood warning.”

Earlier this week, the company said it will update its fleet so that its driverless taxi service can operate better during power outages. On December 20, a major power outage occurred in San Francisco, causing tens of thousands of people in the area to lose power. Waymo suspended services, and caused some of its autonomous vehicles to stop in the middle of traffic, increasing or causing traffic congestion.

Waymo has yet to immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did it say whether regulators asked it to suspend services on Thursday due to flash flood warnings. The California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees driverless ride-hailing services in California, did not immediately respond to requests for information during the Christmas holidays on Thursday.

Waymo currently operates commercialized driverless services in five US markets; at the end of 2024, this number is only three. Waymo's driverless taxi service has been in operation in Austin, the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Atlanta, and Los Angeles this year. According to previous reports, the company plans to significantly expand its business scope in the US and beyond in 2026.

Waymo faces increasing public scrutiny and safety concerns as it attempts to expand its driverless taxi service.

Jeffrey Tumlin, former CEO of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, told the media that regulators and driverless taxi companies can learn valuable lessons from the chaos caused by Waymo vehicles during the PG&E blackout last week.

Tumlin said, “What I think we need to think about is, 'What is a reasonable number of autonomous vehicles on city streets at different times of the day, in different geographical locations, and in different weather conditions? '” He also suggested that regulators could establish a phased system that allows autonomous vehicle companies to rapidly scale up operations on the premise that specific tests are passed.

One of the tests, he said, is how fast and safely the company can safely allow autonomous vehicles to avoid traffic if they encounter a confusing situation like a fork with no working traffic lights.

Tumlin said cities and regulators should also request more data from driverless taxi companies to understand the planned or actual performance of their vehicles during anticipated emergencies such as power outages, floods, or earthquakes.