Robotaxi fully opened up for a day, and San Francisco experienced its first large-scale "network delay congestion".
Since the beginning of this year, there have been at least 55 incidents in San Francisco where autonomous vehicles have interfered with the emergency response systems of the police and fire departments.
Due to network latency, there was a major issue with autonomous taxis.
According to reports, last Friday evening in San Francisco, the first traffic congestion caused by a robotaxi occurred, just one day after California regulators approved the operation of these autonomous vehicles around the clock.
Videos posted by users on social media show that in the vicinity of North Beach in San Francisco, about a dozen autonomous taxis stopped in the middle of the road with their hazard lights on.
Witnesses told the media that these autonomous vehicles blocked the intersection for about 15 minutes, very close to where the Outside Lands music festival was being held.
Cruise, the autonomous taxi operator in the video, later responded on Twitter, stating that it was the festival that caused "wireless bandwidth limitations" leading to delays in vehicle connectivity:
A large-scale festival caused wireless bandwidth limitations, resulting in delays in connecting with our vehicles. We are actively investigating and developing solutions to prevent this from happening again. We apologize to those affected.
The company recently announced on Twitter that its autonomous vehicles have accumulated over 4 million miles of autonomous driving, with monthly autonomous mileage exceeding 1 million miles.
It should be noted that the California Public Utilities Commission recently ruled that Waymo, a subsidiary of Google, and Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, can operate their robotaxis in San Francisco without restrictions.
Just one day after that ruling, the first congestion caused by network latency occurred.
Although Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt praised the California government, stating that it "sends a signal to the nation that California prioritizes progress," in reality, the local government in San Francisco opposes the complete deregulation of autonomous taxis.
San Francisco authorities specifically pointed out that there have been several incidents where robotaxis stalled in the middle of the road and blocked traffic, requiring personnel from the autonomous driving companies to physically move the vehicles. Many citizens also opposed the deregulation of robotaxis during public hearings.
Following the incident last Friday, Aaron Peskin, the President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, stated that he is taking "all means necessary" to overturn the state's decision and may seek a court injunction.
They have deployed hundreds of cars on our streets. They should pause for a moment until they perfect this technology.
If this situation happens again, I'm concerned that there may be emergencies. The houses in North Beach are all built with wooden sticks.
In addition, it has been reported that the San Francisco Police Officers Association, the San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association, and the San Francisco Firefighters have written letters to the California Public Utilities Commission expressing concerns about the potential hindrance of autonomous vehicles to emergency responders.
The San Francisco Fire Department confirmed to CNN that as of last week, they have recorded a total of 55 incidents this year where autonomous vehicles have interfered with their emergency response.