A Waymo autonomous vehicle travels on the East Side. The company’s San Antonio service remains paused after floodwaters washed away one of the robotaxis Monday night.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
Waymo’s ride-hailing services remain paused in San Antonio four days after one of its driverless cars was washed away by floodwaters in the city Monday night.
The car was unoccupied and nobody was injured, but it was the second flood-related problem for Waymos in San Antonio this month and apparently the first time one of the vehicles was swept away by floodwaters.
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Citing safety concerns over the flooding, the California company said Tuesday that it temporarily halted its San Antonio operations, but it hasn’t said when they will resume.
READ MORE: Waymo: Service paused after robotaxi swept away in San Antonio flood
On Friday afternoon, the Waymo app, which people use to hail rides, still said, “Our service is paused.”
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Waymo hasn’t disclosed where its car was when it was swept away. The San Antonio Fire Department said it wasn’t involved the vehicle’s recovery, and the San Antonio Police Department hasn’t provided details of the incident.
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“As a result of the flooding in San Antonio, we temporarily paused our local operations and are continuing to monitor road conditions,” a company spokesman said Tuesday. He added that service will continue “when it’s safe to do so.”
Monday’s incident comes about two weeks after an unoccupied Waymo got stuck in high waters near McCollough Avenue and Contour Drive, according to News4SA.
WAYMO NEWS: San Antonio airport first in Texas to get Waymo robotaxi service
The company operates its vehicles in 11 cities around the country, including Austin, Dallas and Houston.
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In Phoenix, Waymos with passengers have gotten stuck in floodwaters, including during a storm in September, according to local outlets. Nobody was hurt in the incidents and the cars were towed to safety. But the company paused service in the market for several days, as it has in San Antonio.
The Google spinoff began limited service in San Antonio in February with dozens of its white Jaguar I-Paces covering a 60-square-mile service area that is roughly bounded by Interstate 10 on the south and west and Loop 410 to the north and east.
Last month, San Antonio International Airport became the first in the state to get the service.
The company has said that over 170 million rider-only miles, its automated Waymo Driver system is safer than human drivers and involved in significantly fewer accidents involving injuries, fatalities and airbag deployments.
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Still, there have been glitches.
READ NEXT: Waymo robotaxis spotted using neighborhoods as pit stops
Earlier this month, a Waymo with a human driver hit a pedestrian, causing non-life-threatening injuries. There also have been complaints about the vehicles driving the wrong way in a school zone, stalling in traffic and loitering in neighborhoods while between jobs.
In Austin, a Waymo car was caught on camera blocking EMS vehicles responding to the March 1 mass shooting on West Sixth Street. Authorities said the robotaxi did not hinder the response to the shooting, which killed four and injured more than a dozen.
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The company is under scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after Waymos drove past stopped school buses in Austin and struck a child near a school in California. Waymo voluntarily reported that accident, which the child walked away from.
The NHTSA has not said if it will launch an investigation into the events that led to the Waymo getting washed away.