Waymo Moved Its Self Driving Cars In San Francisco To Avoid Vandalism Due To Elections

This isn't the first time Waymo has suspended its services which has brought its fleet of 600 cars to a standstill.

By Sahil Gupta

1 mins read

Published on November 4, 2020

Highlights

Waymo has suspended services in San Francisco
This is to avoid any vandalism due to the US elections
Waymo suspended operations at the outset of the pandemic and wildfires

Waymo has pulled out its self-driving cars in San Francisco out of concern for vandalism in anticipation of the US Election Day. The Alphabet-owned company is temporarily pausing the AV test operating in San Francisco on Tuesday and Wednesday and moving its fleet to Mountain View to a secure location. This is based on information from Transdev, North America reported by the Verge. The Verge also reports that two Waymo safety drivers were told on Monday to manually drive their autonomous vehicles from San Francisco to Mountain View. They had to take Uber and Lyft rides to their bases to retrieve their personal vehicles. Waymo has also reportedly reimbursed the drivers for the same. Waymo Has Tested 'Rider Only' Service And Looks Beyond Robo-Taxis Safety drivers will be paid as well while the operations are suspended. This isn't the first time Waymo has suspended its services which has brought its fleet of 600 cars to a standstill. It had stopped the testing process in March when the pandemic started but then resumed operations in May. Then thanks to the California wildfires, the services were again suspended thanks to the air quality. The ride sharing service is starting in the US state of Arizona This comes after the self-driving company started a driverless ride-sharing in Phoneix, Arizonna.