Uber and Lyft drivers in beautiful San Francisco recently staged a protest, but not due to the awful narratives on heinous crimes hurled against drivers, but because of Waymo robotaxis. Here’s the story.
These drivers are protesting the presence of Waymo taxis. The protests started on January 9th when they urged regulators and authorities to exercise better oversight of these autonomous cars, not for their services or for taking their jobs, but for the events in which the cars allegedly killed pets and blocked traffic.
It wasn’t a threatening protest, since only around two dozen drivers and supporters, holding up signs, protested, calling for safer streets and better accountability. They held the protests outside the offices of the California Public Utilities Commission, which met together to consider further rulings on these autonomous vehicles.
Waymo did not let itself be silenced. Interestingly enough, during the protests, a steady stream of Waymo cars drove past the protest, like villains in a “Fast and Furious” movie.
Joseph Augusto, who both drivers for Uber and Lyft, told Ridesharing Forum, “I personally am not against technology; what I am against is unfair treatment. We have these people, these companies, these autonomous vehicle companies who are driving around the city, and they don’t seem to be held to the same standards as us drivers.”
The California Public Utilities Commission, in-charge of regulating Uber and Lyft, is reportedly refining and expanding policies around autonomous robotaxis as the industry grows further. Meanwhile, the California Gig Workers Union is saying the Waymo vehicles should be removed from the streets until safety concerns are addressed.
The state agency did not release a comment on the protest.
Waymo is an autonomous technology driving company, a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Waymo develops self-driving systems and operates public robotaxi services in cities such as San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, letting users hail driverless rides with their app.
Their goal is to make moving people and things safer and easier using AI, cameras, light detection and ranging, and radar to navigate roads without human intervention, offering a futuristic, app-based ride-hailing experience comparable to Uber or Lyft but with no driver involved.
A spokesman for Waymo reiterated that mission, saying that it is “on a mission to be the world’s most trusted driver, making it safe, more accessible and more sustainable for riders to get around.”
Ridesharing media recalled the “atrocities” that Waymos committed on the roads.
During a mass power outage days leading up to last Christmas, it could be remembered how hobbled Waymos blocked San Francisco’s streets, forcing the company to pause services. This raised questions about the cars’ ability to adapt to real-world driving conditions. Of course, there are no drivers to blame.
Also, in September, a Waymo car pulled an illegal U-turn in front of a sign that usually tells human drivers not to do that. The police could not issue a ticket because, to whom would it issue the ticket to? This questions Waymo’s ability to read and interpret signs. Also in October, a Waymo crushed a neighborhood cat.
“There were a lot of Waymos around. Just randomly all over the city and there’s no plan,” Augusto added.