San Francisco Calling On Increased Robotaxi Oversight Following 10 Cruise AVs’ Traffic Jam

One doesn’t often have to think about it, but timing is a very important part of driving. Autonomous vehicle manufacturer Cruise is getting a lesson in just how bad its vehicles’ timing can be after a traffic jam comprised almost entirely of its vehicles clogged San Francisco streets this weekend.

Photos and videos of approximately 10 Cruise vehicles blocking traffic for a period of around 15 minutes have been shared widely on social media. The vehicles were driving (or attempting to) on Friday night, when a comedy of errors caused them to clog traffic around Vallejo Street, as well as Grant and Columbus Avenues.

That’s bad enough on its own, but the jam (the biggest we’ve seen made up entirely of autonomous vehicles), came just one day after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to allow Cruise and Waymo to operate in San Francisco and parts of San Mateo County for 24 hours a day.

Read: Waymo And Cruise Get Greenlight For San Francisco Expansion

Fortunately, no injuries were reported as a result of this issue, which coincided with the Outside Lands Music Festival that was taking place nearby. On Twitter, Cruise blamed “wireless bandwidth constraints” related to the festival with causing delays in the connectivity to its vehicles, leading to the traffic jam.

Although they didn’t cause any injuries, and no reports of crashes or damage have emerged, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin called the jam “dangerous.”

“There was just a total meltdown, which shows that San Francisco’s government that petitioned for an incremental approach – that we’re right.” said Peskin, referring to CPUC’s decision to expand AV operating hours, per NBC Bay Area. “These things are not ready for prime time.”

Peskin added that it was “scary as heck” to think that these vehicles require cell service to move out of traffic. He brought up the question of what would happen during a natural disaster.

The city is now calling on the governor to increase oversight over the autonomous vehicles, since the state is the one that approved their expanded use in the city.

😬 @Cruise self-driving operations had a complete meltdown earlier in North Beach. We overheard on the scanner that all Cruise vehicle agents were tied up at the time (not literally) and so North Beach was going to get a delayed response. But wow, WTF!pic.twitter.com/D89xrSxAdu

— FriscoLive415 (@friscolive415) August 12, 2023