Waymo Pays Workers $22 To Close Doors on Stranded Robotaxis

slashdot ^ | December 25, 2025 | Staff

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Waymo's fleet of autonomous robotaxis can navigate city streets and compete with human taxi drivers, but they become stranded when a passenger leaves a door ajar -- prompting the company to pay tow truck operators around $20 to $24 through an app called Honk just to push a door shut. The owner of a towing company in Inglewood, California, completes up to three such jobs a week for Waymo, sometimes freeing vehicles by removing seat belts caught in doors. Another Los Angeles tow operator said locating stuck robotaxis can take 10 minutes to an hour because the precise location isn't always provided, forcing workers to search on foot through narrow streets too narrow for flatbed rigs.

Tow operators also retrieve Waymos that run out of battery before reaching charging stations, earning $60 to $80 per tow -- rates that aren't always profitable after factoring in fuel and labor. During a San Francisco power outage last weekend, multiple operators received a flurry of retrieval requests as robotaxis blocked intersections across the city. One San Francisco tow company manager declined because Waymo's offered rate fell below his standard $250 flatbed fee.

Waymo said in a blog post that the outage caused a "backlog" in requests to remote human workers who help vehicles navigate defunct traffic signals. San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood called for a hearing into Waymo's operations, saying the traffic disruptions were "dangerous and unacceptable." A retired Carnegie Mellon engineering professor who studied autonomous vehicles for nearly 30 years said paying humans to close doors and retrieve stalled cars is expensive and will need to be minimized as Waymo scales up. The company is testing next-generation Zeekr vehicles in San Francisco that feature automatic sliding doors.

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KEYWORDS: waymo

[Dr. Sivana]

Zeekr us a Chinese EV company owned by Geely

[dennisw]

Waymo = clown car.

[frank ballenger]

When is a Waymo’s door not a door?

When it’s ajar.

[Drew68]

I suppose asking customers to ensure the door is properly closed is too much.

Next thing we'll read, "Waymos have gotten so expensive!"

[JimRed]

So, charge the passenger on top of the fare. I’m assuming they have an account or a credit/debit card number. Put up “close doors please or pay the restart fees” reminders and you’re good to go.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Ouch. That Hertz.

[devane617]

The next big tic-toc fad is open the door on robotaxis.

[Nateman]

Imagine an actual robot sitting the car which can take care of things like this. Sounds like they are what is next.

[ridesthemiles]

GET OUT THE “DRAWING BOARD”AGAIN

[Ken H]

I thought AI was suppsed to stop this s#’t.

[Organic Panic]

Waymo = traveling toilets.

[jimtorr]

Waymo is owned by the Google parent company, Alphabet. They use various car makes, Jaguar, Mercedes, Stellantis, Zeeker and I think one or two more.

The Jaguar model is the I-Pace. I don’t know the other models.

[LegendHasIt]

Sounds like it is all Waymo trouble than it’s worth.

[bunkerhill7]

AwryMo

[maddog55]

That’s how F’d up driverless cars are..leave the door open and they’re screwed.

[packagingguy]

My dad’s 1986 Chrysler LeBaron used to talk, sometimes saying “a door is a jar”, often randomly for no apparent reason. It was kind of embarrassing when I’d take my friends around in it.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

The next big tic-toc fad is open the door on robotaxis.

And every culprit futzing with the WayMo will be wearing those Grouch Marx glasses with the nose and mustache.