Overview
- Waymo briefly halted Bay Area rides on Dec. 25 after a National Weather Service flash flood warning, notifying users in its app before bringing service back online.
- The pause followed a Dec. 20 citywide power outage caused by a PG&E substation fire that darkened signals and left some robotaxis stalled, adding to congestion.
- Videos from the blackout showed vehicles stopping at dark intersections or in traffic lanes as remote human assistance was overwhelmed by the scale of signal failures.
- Waymo is deploying a fleet-wide software update to better detect large outages and handle dark intersections more decisively without overloading remote support.
- The company says it is coordinating with city officials and emergency management and continues operating commercial driverless services in five U.S. markets ahead of planned 2026 expansion.