Afternoon rush hour on St. Joseph Parkway got an unexpected guest on Tuesday when a Waymo robotaxi tried to nose its way into a reversible HOV lane the wrong direction, briefly jamming up downtown traffic.
The electric SUV, captured on video around 4:45 p.m. by commuter Craig Funni, is seen stopped awkwardly at the entrance to the reversible lane in downtown Houston while other drivers slowly squeeze past. In the clip, people can be heard worrying that there is no one inside the car to fix the mistake.
What Waymo says
Waymo is not disputing what happened. In a statement to ABC13, the company said, "One of our vehicles attempted to turn west onto the reversible HOV lane of St. Joseph Parkway while the reversible lane was running eastbound."
Waymo told the station that its remote assistance team stepped in and guided the driverless vehicle to back up and clear the intersection. The company added that it is investigating the incident and plans to make operational changes to help keep similar wrong-way moves from happening again.
Service just launched here
The misstep comes only weeks after Waymo began fully driverless ride-hailing in Houston in late February, offering trips in select parts of Montrose, River Oaks, downtown and the Heights, as reported by Click2Houston.
The rollout has been intentionally low profile, invite-only and limited to certain neighborhoods, matching the slow expansion pattern Waymo has used in other cities. Earlier coverage of its Florida operations noted the same caution as robotaxis quietly hit Orlando streets for a select group of riders.
Neighbors say it is not the first time
In Houston, some residents say the HOV mishap fits into a growing list of robotaxi headaches. ABC13 separately obtained footage and accounts from neighbors who say Waymo vehicles have been sitting or clustering near railroad tracks on Gregg Street in the Fifth Ward.
Residents told the station the idling cars have become a recurring nuisance and that they have at times been blocked in by unmoving robotaxis. In response, the City of Houston said it plans to begin monitoring areas where the vehicles are repeatedly spotted to keep closer tabs on the issue.
A pattern beyond Houston
The Houston wrong-way clip lands at a tense moment for self-driving cars in Texas. In another widely shared incident, a Waymo vehicle briefly blocked an ambulance that was responding to a mass shooting in Austin, an episode that has already drawn both public criticism and official scrutiny, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Meanwhile, some outlets have reported that Waymo has restricted certain routes after videos surfaced of its vehicles stopping at railroad crossings, as reported by KTSA.
What cities can do
Urban planners say incidents like these are exactly the kind of real world stress test that will determine how cities handle robotaxi fleets in the long run.
The National Association of City Transportation Officials recommends that local governments set up a clear point of contact for autonomous vehicle operators, create interagency working groups and negotiate data-sharing agreements so officials can respond to incidents and understand how robotaxis affect traffic. The group also warns that state level rules can limit what cities are allowed to do, a particular complication in Texas.
For now, Houston officials and Waymo both say they are reviewing the HOV footage and tracking whether policy changes, operational tweaks or additional oversight will be needed as more driverless cars hit local streets.
