FYI: Residents in a San Francisco neighborhood are losing sleep due to honking from Waymo’s self-driving taxis staging at a local idling station.
### Autonomous Taxis Create Unintended Noise in San Francisco Neighborhood
Self-driving cars are celebrated as cutting-edge marvels, combining artificial intelligence, sensors, cameras, and real-time data to operate autonomously. However, this pinnacle of automotive innovation has caused disturbances in a typically quiet San Francisco neighborhood.
### Disrupted Peace
Since July, Waymo’s autonomous taxis have been parking at an idling station in the residential area. When these electric vehicles detect objects or cars coming too close, they honk incessantly, which disrupts the tranquility of the neighborhood, often during odd hours.
Local residents have reported being awakened by the sound of multiple Waymo taxis honking at each other as late as 4 a.m. One frustrated neighbor told ABC News, “In the past two weeks, I’ve been woken up more times overnight than I have combined over the past 20 years.”
### Waymo’s Mission
Waymo, Google parent company Alphabet’s autonomous driving division, operates a fleet of Jaguar I-Pace electric robotaxis in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, with plans to expand to Austin. These vehicles, which are programmed to park in designated idling stations during off-peak hours or at night, often honk if they sense nearby objects to prevent potential collisions.
### The Problematic Idling Station
One of these designated parking areas is situated in a residential neighborhood in San Francisco. When numerous Waymo vehicles gather at this spot, they tend to obstruct each other while attempting to park. This has resulted in a cacophony of honking as the cars attempt to navigate around each other, trying to find parking spaces and avoid collisions.
### Software Update to the Rescue
A Waymo spokesperson acknowledged the issue in a statement to InsideEVs, mentioning, “We recently introduced a useful feature to help avoid low-speed collisions by honking if other cars get too close while reversing toward us.” The spokesperson added that while the feature has been effective in urban settings, it has inadvertently caused disturbances in Waymo’s own parking lots.
The company has since updated the software to minimize noise in residential areas. Moving forward, Waymo assures that their vehicles will “keep the noise down for our neighbors.”
### Community Impact
Despite the disturbances, one resident applauded Waymo’s service and emphasized its crucial role in advancing the robotaxi industry. Waymo leads in commercializing self-driving taxis and primarily operates on pre-mapped roads. However, incidents like these highlight the steep learning curve and unpredictable challenges that tech companies face as they expand their services.
### Conclusion
Waymo’s autonomous vehicles, while representing significant strides in technology, have inadvertently disturbed the peace in a San Francisco residential neighborhood. The company’s swift action to update their software demonstrates their responsiveness to community concerns. As Waymo and other companies continue to innovate, balancing technological advancement with community impact remains critical.
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William Kouch, Editor of Automotive.fyi
