Supervisors Expose Waymo's Blackout Failures: 1,593 Stoppages, 53-Minute Hold Times

San Francisco's Land Use and Transportation Committee held a landmark hearing Monday exposing how Waymo's 829-vehicle autonomous fleet froze across the city during the Dec. 20 power outage, turning driverless cars into obstacles for emergency responders already stretched to their limits. With a new state law requiring 30-second dispatch response times taking effect July 1, supervisors pressed Waymo on a performance gap that one committee member called "massive."

• Waymo's fleet logged 1,593 stoppages during the Dec. 20 blackout, with 64 vehicles requiring manual retrieval and city dispatchers waiting up to 53 minutes on hold to reach the company

• Supervisors challenge Waymo on readiness for AB 1777, the state law effective July 1 mandating 30-second response times and 2-minute geofencing — a far cry from December's performance

• City emergency officials warn first responders are becoming "default roadside assistance" for stranded autonomous vehicles, diverting firefighters and police from life-threatening calls

• Over 20 rideshare drivers and union representatives demand limits on AV expansion, citing safety failures, income losses and threats to 800,000 California driver livelihoods

• Waymo commits to in-person emergency liaison at city EOC within one hour of major incidents and acknowledges communication failures were "entirely unacceptable"

A PG&E substation fire in SOMA on Dec. 20 knocked out power to roughly one-third of San Francisco. For human drivers, it was a bad day. For Waymo's autonomous fleet, it was a systemic breakdown that laid bare fundamental questions about whether driverless cars are ready for emergencies.