Santa Monica’s Waymo Charging Station is driving neighbors crazy after saying ride-share vehicles have driven noise pollution in the area.
For residents living near the beach, it is Bay City’s birthright, opening windows to get some ocean breezes, but neighbors are now closing fresh air and blocking beeps from self-driving ride-share vehicles.
“The sound is the opposite. Every day, all day,” said Ivana Justin, who lives near the charge lot.
Over the past six months, some community members have spoken out about their opposition to Waymo, which charges lots on Euclidean Court and Broadway.
“With all the technology they took to have a robotic car, why can’t they make such a non-sounding car?” said Nancy Taylor, a resident of Santa Monica.
Among their concerns are noise that self-driving cars make when they retreat from their parking spaces late at night, and increased traffic.
“It was a nightmare, you know, there’s no sleep, it woke us up at two, three, four in the morning,” Justin said. “Sometimes they get stuck and they need to park in this lot here, but that’s not a lot of them.”
Other neighbors say light pollution was also a problem.
“At night, the place looks like a Las Vegas strip,” Taylor said.
The city of Santa Monica says it is following complaints about the lot. Waymo uses it to charge and clean unmanned cars.
According to the city, Waymo is taking steps to reduce noise. Among these actions were staff members who asked not to speak loudly or play music, bought quiet vacuums, vacuumed them from 9pm to 7am, reducing the alleyway speed to 10mph, and planted trees to create sound walls.
Neighbors tell NBC4 that they noticed some improvements but have more work to do. However, options are limited. Federal regulations require electric vehicles to make noise when backing up to alert pedestrians and cyclists. It brings the neighbors back to their greatest frustration.
“I don’t understand why they didn’t put this into the industrial area. They could have saved everyone, including themselves, a lot of trouble,” said the neighbor who chose not to be identified.
In a statement, Waymo wrote in part: “We are committed to becoming a good neighbor to the city we operate and being a positive presence in Santa Monica. We have continued conversations with the city’s Department of Transportation, as we explore and implement mitigation that addresses the concerns of our neighbors.”
NBC4 contacted the city of Santa Monica about the development but received no response.
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