Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo said it expects no special treatment after its Austin robotaxis accumulated $9,325 in parking penalties, highlighting a challenge as driverless fleets expand nationwide.
Parking Violations Put Waymo Under Scrutiny
Austin records show Waymo paid $7,433 across 83 citations and owed $1,892 as of July 15. "We do not expect different treatment [in regard] to ticketing," a spokesperson said, speaking to the Wall Street Journal.
The violations included 64 tickets for tow-away zones, 13 for unpaid meters and nine for double parking. Fines ranged from $20 to $519, with the largest involving a vehicle in a disabled parking space. Police also towed one Waymo in January 2025 after it stopped partly across an active railroad track.
Waymo said it reviews citations and may contest tickets it believes authorities issued incorrectly. Its vehicles sometimes wait in public spaces between trips, while others return to an Uber-operated depot for charging, cleaning and parking.
Benzinga reached out to Waymo for comment but didn’t hear from them immediately.
Safety Milestones Temper Growing Operational Concerns
The disputes add to pressure on autonomous-vehicle developers to handle emergencies reliably. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief Jonathan Morrison told the industry last week that vehicles had blocked ambulances, entered emergency scenes and missed cues including flashing lights, smoke and traffic cones. "An AV that cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public," he wrote.
The parking problems contrast with Waymo’s commercial and safety milestones. The Alphabet unit expanded to 10 metropolitan markets, surpassed 400,000 weekly rides and raised $16 billion at a $126 billion valuation. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety analysis found its driverless vehicles recorded 68% fewer police-reportable crashes per mile than human drivers across Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin, although Austin produced a less favorable result.
Tesla Trails Waymo Despite Wider Expansion
Waymo’s scale still exceeds Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) network. Tesla launched paid robotaxi rides in Austin in June 2025 and later expanded to Dallas, Houston, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. Reuters reported this month that Tesla had logged about 2.5 million autonomous robotaxi miles, compared with Waymo’s roughly 220 million, while executives adopted a more cautious tone on expansion.
Tesla has removed safety monitors from some Austin vehicles and continues developing the steering-wheel-free Cybercab.
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