“I took a walk around last night, and gosh, it’s amazing,” Dylan Moore told Ars. Moore lives down the block from these Waymo lots and previously created the WaymoProblems.org website. “You can hear the crickets, you can hear your thoughts, it’s not a fleet of locusts descending on the neighborhood, it’s incredible.”
Another neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal and described himself as a “night owl,” said that he is thrilled that Waymo has abided by the court order.
“At 2 am when the bars let out, that’s when [they had been] full bore,” he said. “My apartment faces Broadway. The sound of the Waymos, yes, but the acceleration and deceleration sound that EVs have, makes it sounds like you have Tron outside your window. It [was] one after another!”
Santa Monica leadership also trumpeted the success.
“Our residents’ ability to sleep peacefully in their own homes is not negotiable,” Mayor Caroline Torosis said in a statement. “This ruling affirms what our neighbors have been telling us for more than a year, and it delivers relief while the case moves forward.”
Waymo did not immediately respond to questions from Ars Technica.
Waymo began using these facilities in January 2025. After numerous complaints and an online petition, the City of Santa Monica ordered the company to halt overnight operations. It eventually sued Waymo over the issue in November 2025 in a case that is still ongoing. (Waymo has also counter-sued.)
The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for October 2026.