Alphabet-owned Waymo has restarted its driverless ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area after briefly shutting it down during a major power outage that caused widespread traffic problems across the city.
The service pause began Saturday evening after blackouts knocked out traffic lights and disrupted public transit in several neighborhoods.
The outages led to gridlock, with some Waymo vehicles stopping longer than usual at intersections where signals were not working, CNBC reported.
By Sunday afternoon, Waymo confirmed that rides had resumed once conditions improved and coordination with city officials was complete.
A Waymo spokesperson explained that the blackout created unusual challenges. With many traffic signals dark at the same time, roads became crowded and confusing.
Waymo's driver system is designed to treat broken signals as four-way stops, but the large number of outages meant cars had to be extra cautious.
This led some vehicles to pause in place while checking intersections, adding to congestion during the busiest hours.
@elonmusk Last Night Waymo halts service during massive San Francisco blackout after the self-driving vehicles got stuck, causing traffic jams... Tesla cars just fine. pic.twitter.com/1TMjNnUabJ
— Mac Err (@MacErr03) December 21, 2025
Waymo Vehicles Stuck in Traffic After Power Outage
Videos shared online showed several Waymo cars stopped on city streets Saturday night. One San Francisco resident said he saw multiple driverless vehicles sitting still in traffic and appearing unsure how to move forward.
Human drivers were forced to wait or carefully drive around them as police and city workers tried to manage traffic flow.
The power outage began around early Saturday afternoon and peaked a few hours later, affecting about 130,000 customers, according to Pacific Gas and Electric.
The utility said a fire at one of its substations caused heavy damage, making repairs difficult.
By Sunday morning, power had been restored to most homes, though tens of thousands were still without electricity in parts of the city.
During the outage, city officials deployed police officers, firefighters, parking officers, and city ambassadors to help manage intersections and keep people safe.
Waymo said it worked closely with local leaders and decided to pause service as a precaution, Newsbyte reported.
riders were able to finish their trips before cars were returned to depots or safely pulled over.
Originally published on vcpost.com
