Do Crossing Guards Now Need to Worry About Waymo?
SFUSD heads back to school Monday, August 19. Are San Francisco’s streets and the people who use them ready?
Public school in San Francisco begins again next week. Throughout The City, there are just under 200 crossing guards who help move 50,000 students from home to school and back safely. Students here really do have to walk uphill both ways, and they have a new problem that other cities don’t have yet: Driverless cars.
As school wrapped up in May, journalists over at NBC dropped a bombshell. According to their boots-on-the-ground investigation, almost a quarter of crossing guards “reported being nearly hit by a Waymo driverless car [over the last school year] while guiding families along crosswalks.”
The summer was largely quiet because school’s been out. But at the end of July, The City promised to protect crossing guards from driverless cars. It’s coming at a crucial time. Waymo has expanded service, availability, and their presence over the past few weeks.
Have legislators and regulators considered the impact for students? We spoke with Tomasina, an 11 year old who is starting middle school next week. “I used to cross a bunch of really busy roads, always with an adult. But now [it’ll be] just my older sister and her friends,” she says.
Even with an adult, Tomasina’s parent reminds her, they nearly got hit by a Waymo at a crosswalk. “But sometimes the Waymos are the only ones that stop for me.” Tomasina names several busy roads she’ll be crossing; like every street and school in San Francisco, they now overlap with Waymo’s service area.
The official city crossing guard program, run through SFMTA, falls under a collective bargaining agreement with SEIU 1021. You can refer to the 2022 crossing guard map that shows their rough locations; start times and coverage vary.
In addition to the SFMTA program, different neighborhoods have adopted supplemental programs like Safe Passage in the Tenderloin, a notoriously dangerous place for pedestrians where two pedestrians have died this year in the TL. As a volunteer program with a small stipend, Safe Passage is not under the SEIU umbrella.
Crossing guards are paid roughly $53k a year to help pedestrians cross the street, but the job description makes it clear that they must also perform their duties “with minimum inconvenience to motorists.” So what about inconveniencing a multi-billion dollar corporation? As far back as September of 2023, SEIU has been vocal about the risks they see.
Crossing the street throughout the city is an unfortunate gamble for people at any age, but with Waymo’s camera about two meters off the ground and the average rising 6th grader 25% shorter than that, it seems worth a closer look. We’ve never gotten close enough to one to know the details about the camera sensor; Waymo is one of Google parent company Alphabet’s many projects, but Wikipedia’s editor community has hunted down links with more information about the specs for those curious.
The risk of crossing the street doesn’t mean kids shouldn’t walk to school. Some studies suggest it can improve mental and physical health as well as academic performance. Getting to school is an important part of a kid’s day, and avoiding the drop-off line shenanigans is an important part of a parent’s sanity. Walking’s one way, but all youth under 18 are also able to ride public transit in San Francisco for free.
Monday will reveal the traffic impacts from the confluence of school starting and Waymo expanding services. It’s an electrifying time. “Our best friends live across the street. We’ve known them since we were babies,” Tomasina bubbles. “I’m excited to walk with them.” However you get to school, may it be safe and only dramatic in fun ways.
Interested in being a crossing guard? Don’t get your hopes up if you’re on the hunt for a job. One of the main qualifications is the ability to “establish and maintain respect and obedience of school children.” Easier said than done. Remember, they can smell fear. You can find out more about how to volunteer with Safe Passage here.
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