San Francisco mayor urges state to tighten robotaxi regulations after recent Waymo disruptions

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is calling on California transportation officials to strengthen regulations governing self-driving vehicles after two recent incidents exposed operational gaps. In a letter sent Thursday to the California transportation secretary, Lurie said the state should adopt new safety requirements for autonomous vehicle companies following disruptions during the city's Fourth of July fireworks celebration and a widespread power outage last December. More than 100,000 people attended the waterfront fireworks show. Despite advance planning and a geofence, several autonomous vehicles stalled in travel lanes, trapping Muni shuttle buses and causing congestion that delayed tow trucks for three to four hours. Christopher White, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said robotaxis struggled to navigate the crowds and contributed to gridlock. Marc Vukcevich, director of state policy for Streets For All, pointed to the December outage that left nearly 130,000 residents without power and caused autonomous vehicles to stop in intersections, blocking major streets. Lurie warned that emergency responders could have encountered the same wall of stalled vehicles during a major emergency, calling the situation a public safety hazard. The mayor is asking the state to require companies to prevent disabled vehicles from blocking travel lanes, adapt routes in real time during emergencies, share live operational data with city officials and demonstrate through testing that vehicles can safely handle large public events. The California Department of Transportation said it is preparing a statement in response. Waymo had not provided an official comment as of publishing.