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

Key Points:

• San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has called on state regulators to strengthen rules for autonomous vehicles following a major July 4 traffic jam caused by Waymo robotaxis running out of power and blocking streets, which affected thousands of people citywide.
• In a letter to the California Department of Transportation, Lurie highlighted incidents including a December power outage and the July 4 fireworks event that stranded numerous Waymo vehicles, arguing that current regulations do not adequately address autonomous vehicle performance during major or unexpected incidents.
• Lurie proposed four core operational capabilities for autonomous vehicle companies, including immediate removal of immobile vehicles from travel lanes, real-time route adaptation, sharing operational data with local agencies, and demonstrating the ability to handle large influxes of people and traffic through testing.
• Waymo, operating about 1,000 robotaxis in the Bay Area and completing over 500,000 paid rides weekly across 11 cities, has been the primary focus of regulatory scrutiny due to its fleet size, with voluntary measures during July 4 proving insufficient to prevent gridlock.
• San Francisco and Silicon Valley remain key testing grounds for autonomous vehicle technology, with several companies holding driverless testing permits, but Mayor Lurie emphasized that stricter statewide standards are necessary to ensure reliability and safety during extraordinary events.