On Saturday, a significant power outage in San Francisco created chaos for Waymo's robotaxi services, leading the company to withdraw all vehicles from the city. This situation resulted in blocked intersections and congested streets, as the autonomous vehicles halted in various locations, creating a perception of disorder among observers on social media.
Waymo stated that its technology, known as the Waymo Driver, is designed to treat dark traffic signals as four-way stops. However, the outage caused a spike in requests for human confirmation due to the challenging circumstances, resulting in delays that exacerbated traffic issues. Despite successfully navigating over 7,000 dark signals that day, the operational strain was evident.
In its communication, Waymo emphasized that it employs a system called fleet response instead of traditional remote drivers. This approach allows human operators to assist the autonomous vehicles by providing guidance in complex driving situations, which the company insists should not be viewed as a fallback. Fleet response can influence the routing and decisions made by the Waymo Driver.