A Waymo turned onto a light rail track in front of an approaching train in south Phoenix on Wednesday morning.
A viral video posted on TikTok depicted the robotaxi turning north onto tracks with northbound and southbound trains approaching near the Southern/Central Avenue station.
The vehicle stops shortly after turning onto the tracks, and a passenger can be seen exiting the Waymo before it continues down the tracks, where it approached a southbound train.
The Waymo continued traveling north down the tracks before exiting without further incident.
@luisito6987 @Waymo what happened here? passenger said im out🤣 #waymo #fyp #fail #tiktokfail #funny ♬ original sound - Luis
Waymo says the passenger safely exited the vehicle.
This is not an isolated incident. Alison Stearman was in a Waymo when she said she had a similar experience in downtown Mesa in December.
“We're on the tracks, and then it jerked left again, and then jerked left again, then it jerked right again,” Stearman said. “So I think we were kind of stuck, and so we're trying to get out. The doors are locked.”
Stearman said the Waymo was taking a detour to avoid construction when it “got confused” and turned onto the tracks.
“We were only on the tracks, I would say, for five seconds, but it feels like a very long time you're trying to get out of a vehicle, and you don't know, you know, when the next light rail is going to come,” Stearman said.
Stearman said there was not a train approaching at the time. She got off the tracks safely.
Valley Metro said to minimize delays, northbound and southbound trains exchanged passengers before switching direction. There was no significant delay in service.
-
Avelo was the only ICE subcontractor also offering commercial tickets to travelers. Earlier this month, the airline announced it would no longer be doing deportation flights for ICE. -
Several Valley freeways have been left in darkness due to recurring theft. ADOT says thieves have been stealing copper wire from light poles on freeways across the Valley to sell for scrap. -
A proposal from Republican Rep. Nick Kupper would, among other things, set up a pilot project on a stretch of I-8 between Casa Grande and Yuma as a “derestricted speed zone” for at least a year. -
For the last several years, there’s been an effort to give cities back some of their ability to regulate that market; the state generally took it away in 2016. -
Two new Mesa laws allow Class 1 and 2 e-bikes and e-scooters to ride alongside pedestrians on all sidewalks and shared bicycle paths.
