Waymo's noisy Santa Monica charging stations ordered to close overnight, for now
A California judge just told Waymo its 24-hour robotaxi charging stations in Santa Monica must shut down overnight, handing a temporary victory to fed-up residents drowning in noise, glare, and traffic.
A Santa Monica judge has ordered Waymo to halt overnight operations at its local charging stations after residents complained the company’s round-the-clock robotaxi fleet is turning their neighborhood into an industrial parking lot.
The ruling, issued Tuesday, requires the autonomous vehicle operator to stop using the sites from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for now. Neighbors described constant humming from cooling systems, blinding floodlights, and a steady churn of self-driving cars entering and exiting at all hours.
Waymo’s expansion into Santa Monica has been aggressive, with the company treating public curbs and lots as de facto depots for its growing fleet of Jaguar I-PACE vehicles. What was sold as silent, futuristic transit has instead delivered the auditory and visual chaos of a distribution center operating without closing time.
Residents’ core grievance is straightforward: the noise and light pollution don’t stop. One neighbor told the court the constant activity made sleeping impossible and turned backyards into something resembling an airport tarmac at midnight.
The temporary injunction doesn’t kill the charging stations outright, but it forces Waymo to prove it can tame the disturbances or find somewhere less residential to park and recharge its cars. The company argued the stations are essential to its service, yet the judge sided with the immediate harm to people living feet away.
This skirmish in Santa Monica is an early warning for cities still rolling out the red carpet to autonomous fleets. When the technology’s convenience collides with actual human neighborhoods, the machines don’t get to win by default.
Original reporting: LA Times.
Original reporting: LA Times, Business.
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