What area is that? Isn't all of San Francisco "mapped" 100 times over by this point?
If the "mapped area" isn't all of San Francisco, does this speak to a limitation of their tech or a regulatory/deployment issue?
If they don't have good coverage of SF now, it's not just a fixed effort to make it more detailed. It's a continuous effort.
Also there is no map of detours, etc. I had thought that many self-driving algorithms were not relying as much on maps for this reason, but I could be wrong.
At least Elon Musk said that humans don't need a global map to drive. They just need two cameras pointing out the front windshield. Global maps help to navigate, but they don't necessarily help you drive.
And it is even possible that operating in areas with detailed maps is simply more valuable (if the map improves their ability to evaluate the performance of other systems).
not to mention the biggest complexity is still understanding deviations from said-detailed environments.