Cruise AV Robotaxis Block SF Street, Connectivity Issues Blamed
The GM unit said the problem was caused by "wireless connectivity issues," which immobilized its driverless robotaxis.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week granted approval to Alphabet's Waymo and GM's Cruise to offer paid rides in their robotaxis in San Francisco around the clock.
This basically allows all-day paid robotaxi service in San Francisco, with unlimited fleets of self-driving cars. Despite the decision, incidents in recent months have shown that robotaxis have still a long way to go before achieving incident-free usage.
One day after the August 10 decision from the California Public Utilities Commission, an incident involving 10 Cruise AV robotaxis gave more ammo to self-driving car skeptics.
Last Friday night, as many as 10 Cruise autonomous robotaxis ended up stopping in San Francisco's North Beach, causing traffic to back up.
Social media posts showed multiple Cruise AVs stopped in the middle of Grant Avenue with their hazard lights engaged for no apparent reason. The robotaxis blocked other vehicles from moving for about 20 minutes.
