Packs of Empty Waymos Are Weirding Out Atlanta Neighborhood

In brief

• Residents on Battleview Drive in Atlanta say dozens of empty Waymo vehicles repeatedly circled their cul-de-sac before sunrise.
• The incident adds to growing complaints about how robotaxis behave when they are repositioning between rides.
• Waymo said it addressed the routing issue and is working with its fleet partner to prevent similar incidents.

Residents in one Atlanta neighborhood say their mornings now begin with empty robotaxis slowly looping through their cul-de-sac before sunrise.

According to a report by Atlanta-based WSBTV on Friday, residents along Battleview Drive in northwest Atlanta said Waymo vehicles have spent recent weeks repeatedly circling their dead-end street, sometimes in large waves between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. One resident estimated about 50 vehicles passed through in a single hour.

“On a dead-end street, Waymo after Waymo after Waymo drive on, usually early in the morning,” one resident told WSB-TV.

Residents said Waymo vehicles first appeared in the area about two months ago, but the constant circling intensified in recent weeks. The vehicles were reportedly empty and not picking up passengers.

In an attempt to keep the driverless vehicles from coming into the area, a resident placed a children’s street sign near the road. However, this reportedly caused several Waymos to become stuck while attempting to turn around.

“We had, at one point, eight Waymos that were stuck trying to figure out how to turn around,” another resident said.

According to Waymo, the company uses a partner to manage fleet positioning in Atlanta, and it is working with that partner to prevent similar routing behavior in the future.

“At Waymo, we are committed to being good neighbors,” the company said in a statement shared with Decrypt. “We take community feedback seriously and have already worked with our fleet partner to address this routing behavior.”

This latest incident follows earlier complaints in 2024, when residents in San Francisco complained that Waymo cars repeatedly honked overnight while clustering near parking lots and staging areas.

The complaints come as Waymo and other autonomous vehicle companies face increasing scrutiny over how their systems operate in public spaces and how much human control goes on behind the scenes.

Earlier this year, lawmakers questioned Waymo executives about the company’s use of remote human assistance operators, including some located overseas. Waymo has said the vehicles make driving decisions independently and that remote workers provide guidance rather than direct control.

"Users of autonomous vehicle services are currently in the dark about their safety and privacy when it comes to [Remote Assistance Operators],” Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) previously told Decrypt. “We know there have been instances of fatal or near-fatal crashes involving [autonomous vehicles], and we cannot wait for a confirmed threat to the U.S. or fatal accident involving a remote foreign driver to act.”

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