The rollout of Waymo’s driverless taxis across the San Francisco Bay Area over the past few years has been successful and largely safe, but the robotaxis have been a nuisance to the world at large. Waymo vehicles were ticketed 589 times last year for parking violations in San Francisco. While the white camera-laden Jaguars can follow the rules of the road to a fault, they seemingly can’t determine where cars are allowed to park.
Waymo’s fleet of over 300 vehicles raked up $65,065 in fines. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency data published by the Washington Post shows that Waymo vehicles were ticketed the most for street cleaning violations, collecting 138 citations. The Alphabet subsidiary’s taxis were also cited 124 times for obstructing traffic, 77 times for parking prohibited and 74 times for double parking. The service tried to explain that sometimes the safest place to park after a ride is in a commercial loading zone or along a curb that’s empty because it’s designated for street cleaning.
Waymo wants to give rides everywhere
Waymo has its own dedicated lots in San Francisco, where its vehicles can lie dormant between rides. However, the driverless taxis occasionally have to street park if they are far from a lot. Most people became aware of these lots after an incident that went viral on social media last August. Waymo’s driverless taxis started honking at each other in the lot in the middle of the night, keeping the nearby residents awake in their beds. The vehicles are designed to honk to help avoid collisions, and as they maneuvered through the lot, it activated on most of them.
The company stated that it’s working to improve the parking tendencies of its vehicles. There haven’t been any reports of mass-honking incidents since August. Around the same time, the company announced it was launching a cold-weather testing program in Michigan, Upstate New York and Truckee, California. The testing is a clear precursor to expansion in markets that have ice and snow. Waymo is currently operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that list is far longer in a few years. Hopefully, the service’s driverless taxi service will be able to grasp street cleaning rules by then.
