Breaking

Waymo Scales Back San Francisco Robotaxi Service During PG&E Power Outage

July 18, 2026 at 15:34 EDT

Robotics
Policy & Regulation

Waymo temporarily scaled back its robotaxi operations in San Francisco on July 18, 2026, after a power outage cut electricity to roughly 7,000 PG&E customers, restricting freeway routes and pausing parts of its service while it monitored conditions. The Alphabet-owned company confirmed it was making "temporary adjustments" and told riders that freeway routes were unavailable, according to reporting from TechCrunch.

July 18, 2026 · San Francisco

Waymo Dials Back Robotaxis as a Power Outage Darkens the Grid

A PG&E outage hitting roughly 7,000 customers pushed Waymo to make "temporary adjustments" — pausing freeway routes and monitoring conditions rather than halting its entire fleet at once.

~7,000

PG&E customers without power in the July 2026 event

Freeway

Routes made unavailable while surface service continued

Collisions reported in the earlier December outage

Scale of disruption: July vs December

Households / customers affected — same unit, drawn to scale

~7K

Jul 2026
outage

~130K

Dec 2025
substation fire

December's blackout was roughly 18× larger — hitting about a third of the city and stalling cars at dark signals.

From hard stop to selective adjustment

Dec 2025
Grid fails, cars stall at intersections, full pause + return to depot

→

Pledge
Software updates & improved emergency-response protocols

→

Jul 2026
Adjust routes & monitor — no citywide shutdown

Waymo's case

Coordinated with city officials, proactively paused, brought cars to safe stops with hazard lights, and returned vehicles to depots. "We will return to normal operations as soon as possible."

The criticism

Stopped cars worsened congestion and could impede emergency responders. July 4 gridlock left some Waymos stranded and out of battery, needing tows. Mayor Lurie is pushing for stronger state regulation.

The open question

Whether Waymo's measured "adjust and monitor" approach satisfies regulators and residents will shape how fast driverless fleets expand — as San Francisco keeps colliding aging power infrastructure with autonomous transport.

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