Waymo has scaled back service in all its markets as the nation braces for another wave of protests. In Los Angeles — ground zero for the anti-ICE, anti-Trump demonstrations — the robotaxis won’t be running at all this weekend. And in San Francisco Saturday morning, the Waymo no-go zone appeared to extend from an earlier perimeter in downtown to citywide.
A company spokesperson didn’t provide any detail about how long the service reduction will last, but confirmed that Waymo is taking extra precautions in the wake of protests that saw its cars dramatically torched and vandalized.
“As always, we’re assessing local events that might impact our service adhering to community guidance from local officials,” the statement said. “We are committed to resuming full service as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
A map created by a tech worker revealed the extent of San Francisco’s no-Waymo zone ahead of this weekend’s protest, instituted by the robotaxi company amid large-scale protests and the torching of five of its vehicles in Los Angeles.
San Francisco engineer and Waymo user Riley Walz undertook a largely manual process to draw the map, using drop-off points to find the borders of the areas listed as inaccessible on the company’s app. Waymo has not confirmed the accuracy of Walz’s map, but The Standard’s field tests show it appears to be accurate.
The area encompasses most of the Tenderloin, the Financial District, the Mission, Union Square, and SoMa, as well as portions of Hayes Valley, Chinatown, and North Beach.
In the wake of demonstrations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement that have blocked traffic and seen at least one Waymo vandalized in San Francisco, the Alphabet-owned company began geofencing, or blocking out certain areas of its operations, in the city over fears that additional vehicles could get damaged.
Users attempting to hail a robotaxi in the excluded area, which includes landmarks like the Ferry Building, SFMOMA, and City Hall, are informed on the app that their drop-off point is “unreachable.”
With Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstration expected to draw tens of thousands, Waymo is unlikely to reopen its service area to the entire city anytime soon.
“It’s really wise to temporarily geofence,” said Kara Kockelman, a professor of transportation engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, noting the high cost of Waymo vehicles, which are outfitted with high-tech sensors and cameras. The vehicles are estimated to cost as much as $200,000 each.
“If there are neighborhoods where crimes are going to be committed against their vehicles, of course, they’re going to avoid them,” Kockelman said.
The incidents of vandalism will warrant a renewed focus by autonomous vehicle companies on protecting the cars. Waymo’s safety design has primarily focused on the protection of passengers and surrounding drivers, but the vehicles have tools to deter bad actors, including honking, audio alerts, and contacting local police or emergency services.
“We take physical security seriously and continuously refine and adapt our operations in response to emerging events,” a Waymo spokesperson said.
Weisong Shi, a University of Delaware computer scientist, said one challenge in protecting robotaxis is trying to understand the intentions of people nearby; namely, are they passersby or vandals trying to inflict damage?
“Why didn’t these autonomous vehicles just flee as fast as possible?” Shi said. “It’s because the algorithm is designed to protect people — not itself.”
Companies run thousands of simulations to test what might happen when the robots are faced with erratic drivers and harsh weather. Experts believe that geofencing, risk assessment, coordinating with police, and training teleoperators to deal with violent situations will become more common at robotaxi companies.
However, the interwoven nature of the technology comes with a new host of challenges.
“If they say they’re going to create a fire-resistant LIDAR unit, then they’re going to have to rewrite all the software that’s interpreting that type of data,” said Leilani Gilpin, a professor of computer science and engineering at UC Santa Cruz. Waymo’s spinning rooftop dome is the robotaxi’s LIDAR unit, which uses laser beams to create detailed 3D maps of the environment.
Rajit Gadh, a UCLA engineering professor, said he foresees companies adding temperature and odor sensors and cooling mechanisms if the torching of Waymos continues.
“If they start losing this type of money, money talks,” Gilpin said. “They’re going to have to make some changes.”