San Francisco mayor pushes for tougher rules after the Waymo traffic fiasco

It turns retired that adjacent San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who erstwhile declared that the metropolis should beryllium a testbed for emerging tech, has his limits. Especially erstwhile that emerging tech creates a monolithic hours-long postulation jam that leaves thousands astatine a standstill.

Mayor Lurie has asked authorities regulators to bolster rules for autonomous vehicles astir 2 weeks aft Waymo robotaxis became immobile successful dense July 4 traffic, ran retired of power, and blocked cardinal streets, further compounding the gridlock. The postulation jam, which trapped municipal shuttles, became a citywide occupation that affected thousands of people.

In his missive to the authorities Department of Transportation, which was viewed by TechCrunch, Lurie pointed to 2 events — a wide powerfulness outage successful December and the Golden Gate Bridge fireworks amusement connected July 4 that attracted 100,000 spectators — some of which led to dozens of stranded Waymo vehicles and paralyzed traffic. The San Francisco Chronicle archetypal reported connected the letter.

The events, helium said successful the letter, “demonstrated that California’s existent regulatory model does not adequately code however autonomous vehicles run during large incidents, planned oregon not. California’s situation present is not conscionable whether autonomous vehicles tin run safely nether mean conditions, but besides whether they tin execute reliably during bonzer ones.”

TechCrunch has reached retired to Waymo for comment. The nonfiction volition beryllium updated erstwhile the institution responds.

Any institution that wants to run a robotaxi work successful California has to successfully navigate 2 investigating and deployment licence processes, 1 administered by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles and the different by the Public Utilities Commission. California’s existing regulatory model is stricter than that of different states similar Texas and Arizona, but that hasn’t dissuaded companies from trying to run there.

San Francisco and the wider country that stretches southbound into Silicon Valley person agelong been a testbed for autonomous conveyance technology. Six companies, including Nuro, Waymo, and Zoox, clasp driverless investigating permits, which let the vehicles to thrust without a quality information relation down the wheel.

But the country has besides go the motorboat constituent for commercialized services, which requires different permits from the DMV and CPUC.

Waymo is the largest, with an estimated 1,000 robotaxis operating successful the Bay Area today. But determination are plentifulness of others either investigating oregon poised to motorboat commercialized operations, including Amazon-owned Zoox arsenic good arsenic a premium robotaxi service that volition beryllium operated by Uber. Tesla has a branded robotaxi work but it doesn’t usage driverless vehicles, nor does it person the permits to bash so. Instead, Tesla has a charter proscription permit, which allows its ain drivers to prime up and driblet disconnected riders passim San Francisco successful vehicles equipped with its precocious operator assistance strategy alternatively than afloat autonomous software.

Waymo’s standard has made it the focal constituent for regulators successful San Francisco, and beyond. The institution present operates successful 11 cities and has said it completes much than 500,000 paid rides each week. In San Francisco, Lurie noted that Waymo had agreed to restrict its work connected July 4 adjacent the waterfront and had adjacent assigned a typical to the city’s exigency center. But that wasn’t capable to support the Waymos retired of the dense postulation that occurred extracurricular of that district.

Lurie said these voluntary actions are nary longer capable — a reflection of conscionable however large Waymo’s fleet has become. He said the 4 projected requirements “will not undermine autonomous vehicles; they volition fortify them.”