Waymo, the autonomous car company that has been testing vehicles on their own and as rideshare providers in a few major cities around the United States, has been a hot topic in San Francisco for quite some time. They have had a presence in the city since the summer of 2021, when they first began to test vehicles there with their “trusted tester” phase of testing. They eventually moved to their rideshare testing phase around the spring of 2022 and have continued to slowly expand that fleet of vehicles since. This week, they announced a new rollout of their vehicles alongside the mayor of the city in which they will begin to operate their vehicles on Market Street.
Mayor Daniel Lurie made the announcement on Thursday, April 10.
Market Street is the hub of public transportation in the city. This decision to bring Waymo’s self-driving vehicles to this major thoroughfare is a significant move for the city and auto company. If the choice to bring Waymo vehicles to Market Street proves to be successful, then they company will likely expand their national operations.
Many have been outspoken about their concerns of how this will affect Market Street.
Opposition groups have not been shy to speak up about the way Waymo has been operating in San Francisco for some time now. They have expressed that they often disrupt the flow of traffic and have caused several major backups around the city. Now that they will soon operate on Market Street, some believe the Waymo presence has gone way too far.
Prior to this, private vehicles have been banned from driving on a 2.2 mile section of Market Street. This has been in effect since 2020. Public transportation, taxis, bicycles, commercial vehicles, and emergency vehicles have been the only vehicles on the street. These efforts were done by the Better Market Street initiative.
The SF Bicycle Coalition is one group that is particularly upset by Waymo on Market Street.
The Executive Director of the organization, Christopher White, gave a statement after the announcement was released. “That [the Better Market Street initiative] was a decades-long public process that the mayor is upending overnight.” He expressed his worry on behalf of the bicyclists who rely on the car free area. White argued that Waymo’s self-driving technology has caused too many issues around the city. He claims they cannot be trusted in an area that was previously deemed safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.
White is not alone in believing Waymo vehicles are too accident prone to be trusted on the street.
However, Mayor Lurie and some local business owners feel differently. They believe introducing Waymo vehicles on Market Street will help grow the downtown area. One store owner, Shaun Kaiser, said the rideshare option will aide in reducing parking issues. He claims lack of parking is the biggest deterrent from people shopping in that area.
Amidst the mixture of backlash and praise for the action, Mayor Lurie seems undeterred in his decision. Waymo is set to drive their vehicles on Market Street as soon as this summer.