Expert details ways to tackle Waymo's parking problem
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- As more autonomous cars are set to come online, solving San Francisco's congestion and parking problems caused by robotaxis has become more pressing.
Alphabet's Waymo driverless robotaxis has routinely violated parking rules.
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Waymo vehicles driving themselves received 589 tickets for parking violations in 2024, according to records from San Francisco's Municipal Transportation Agency, as reported by The Washington Post. The vehicles incurred $65,065 in fines for violations such as obstructing traffic, disobeying street cleaning restrictions and parking in prohibited areas.
The robotaxis come equipped with detailed internal maps that help them make decisions on where to stop, turn and park. According to Sam Abuelsamid, VP of Market Research from Telemetry, some technical software adjustments in the way it updates could help mitigate the number of parking citations Waymo receives.
Collaboration with municipalities on map updates
But the onus is not limited to just the robotaxi companies to improve their systems. Abuelsamid says closer collaboration with municipalities in updating those maps together could dramatically reduce these traffic violations.
"Whether it's San Francisco or any other city, to, help understand where are the places where they're allowed to stop, not just for parking, but even for pickup areas, for curb access. Some cities may have different rules about curb access and so it's important for any company that wants to operate a service like this to work with the city, and make sure that they have all that information embedded in the vehicle so they know where they're allowed to stop and not stop."
Updating through an electronic API
In a techy place like the Bay Area, it seems there should be an application for everything. An API, or an application programming interface, is a set of rules and specifications that allows different software applications to communicate and interact with each other, enabling them to share data and functionality.
Abuelsamid says APIs that allow robotaxi cars to pull in fresh updates on datasets can ensure a smooth back-end transfer for the latest rules and regulations. "Conversely, it's important for cities that, that are interested in having these types of services to keep their information up-to-date, ideally to keep it up-to-date electronically. Perhaps have a database of where are parking zones and know parking zones and make that available through an API, an application programming interface that companies like Waymo or Zoox or anybody else can access and pull in that data and refresh it," Abuelsamid says.
Live 24/7 updates
Robotaxis are not automatically aware of daily changes in the city and sometimes traffic rules change on where parking and stopping is allowed because of major events such as parades, VIP visits, and festivals.
"Because sometimes this information changes. Sometimes cities will change configurations or say, 'OK, no parking on on this block, on this particular day, because there might be an event going on'. So having an electronic system where, robotaxi operators can get that information, updated in real-time, would also be helpful."
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For now, parking tickets are one of the only ways to fine robotaxis in California. Under state law, robotaxis are immune from moving violations since tickets must be issued to a human driver. However, starting from July 2026, that is set to change, with law enforcement able to issue "notices of autonomous vehicle non-compliance" to self-driving companies.
