FoundSF

Unfinished History

GM's Cruise "autonomous vehicle" (actually being monitored and run as needed by technicians in a remote office), seen here in 2017.

Photo: Chris Carlsson

Starting in the late 2010s, automated automobiles began to appear on the streets of San Francisco. Originally the bulk of them were owned by General Motors under their Cruise moniker, but after one of their cars ran over a pedestrian and stopped, pinning them under the car, they withdrew their fleet. They have since disappeared from the market.

These odd "Zoox" carts are Amazon's entry into the robo-car business in San Francisco.

Photo: Chris Carlsson

The rainbow-hued car at left is an example of the fleet of "tester" cars Amazon/Zoox rolled out in the streets of San Francisco over the past few years. The diminutive teal carts, lacking steering wheels or front-facing seats, didn't show up until the past year.

Photo: Chris Carlsson, April 17, 2025

Seen here on Townsend Street, seven Waymo (Google) robot cars pile up in a typical traffic scene in 2025. Waymos, often two to four of them, appear on streets all around San Francisco and are competing in the taxi and car-hailing business, but without drivers behind the wheel.

Photo: Chris Carlsson, March 27, 2025