San Francisco Tries Hitting the Brakes on Driverless Taxis

San Francisco officials filed motions with California state regulators on Wednesday to suspend a decision allowing driverless taxis to operate in the city at all hours of the day and night.

The city claims that any benefits the expansion brings will be outdone by "serious harms."

Last week, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the rival taxi services Cruise and Waymo to operate around the clock, making San Francisco the first major U.S. city with two fleets of robotaxis.

While both companies see San Fransisco as their first major testing ground, which could spinoff into success in other cities, their vehicles have been known to cause problems.

City Attorney David Chiu filed two administrative motions with the commission — one for each company — asking the CPUC to temporarily suspend its decision until the commission votes on a unresolved application for rehearing. The city argues that driverless vehicles interfere with street operations.

“San Francisco will suffer serious harm if [the driverless taxis are] allowed expansion in the city with no limitations on geographic area, service hours and fleet size,” each motion argued. “It is foreseeable that driverless AV operations will significantly expand in the near term.”

Cruise told the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday it was "unfortunate" that the city wants to bypass the commissions' decision "and restrict a technology with an excellent safety record used by tens of thousands of San Francisco residents.”

“We fully support the CPUC’s carefully considered decision to authorize Waymo to charge fares for driverless rides," a Waymo spokesperson told The Messenger in a statement. "We will follow this development closely, and in the meantime, continue providing safe and accessible mobility to San Franciscans.”

The city argues that existing issues with driverless vehicles will get worse, citing Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt's belief that San Francisco could "absorb several thousand vehicles at a minimum. Vogt also said Cruise would increase its current fleet of 390 vehicles "several times this scale in the next six months."

Waymo, on the other hand, has not disclosed its plans for the near future. However, the robotaxi company does claim to have over 100,000 sign-ups for its waitlist, and currently operates about 100 of its 250 free robotaxis.

Since April 2022, the San Francisco Fire Department has logged nearly 60 written reports of driverless vehicles interfering with its operations. Additionally, just one day after the commission voted to approve the expansion, nearly a dozen driverless cars blocked streets in the city's North Beach district due to wireless issues.

The rollout of driverless vehicles have been plagued by a variety of bizarre horror stories. One, empty, Cruise vehicle found itself trapped in wet concrete on Tuesday, according to the SF Gate. Another report found testimonies of Cruise passengers having sex, smoking, drinking and committing other "debauched" activities.

"[Unplanned stops are] now significantly more likely to happen in the middle of a busy downtown arterial road at peak travel hours, snarling traffic for hours at the expense of San Francisco’s residents, commuters, and visitors, particularly those reliant on public transit," the city wrote in the motions.