Power outage paralyzes Waymo robotaxis when traffic lights go out

A significant power outage struck San Francisco over the weekend, originating from a fire at a local substation on Saturday afternoon. The blackout impacted a substantial portion of the city, affecting around 130,000 homes and leaving as much as one-third of San Francisco without electricity. One of the critical systems that fell victim to this outage was the traffic light infrastructure, which had a direct effect on Waymo's fleet of robotaxis. The autonomous vehicles were rendered inoperative, causing a notable backup in traffic as they halted in their tracks. Visitors to San Francisco often notice the abundance of sensor-equipped self-driving cars on the streets, particularly the white Jaguar I-Paces operated by Waymo. The company boasts a fleet of over 800 autonomous vehicles in the Bay Area, and during peak times, it’s not uncommon to see several of them clustered together, often without passengers. Waymo's vehicles navigate the city utilizing a combination of high-resolution maps and data from lidar, cameras, and various sensors mounted on the modified Jaguars. While these cars are designed to operate cautiously, they can sometimes struggle in complex situations. Earlier this month, Waymo had to issue a recall to address an issue where its robotaxis would unlawfully overtake stopped school buses.