AUTONEWS

Cruiser to make self-driving taxi service in California

Yesterday news outlets reported that a subsidiary of General Motors is preparing to start full commercial operation of driverless taxis on the streets of San Francisco, and today a press release has already appeared on the Cruise website announcing that the company has received official permission to local authorities to carry out this transport. Cruise has overtaken competitors by entering the autonomous passenger transport market in major US cities.

Naturally, California has pioneered autopilot testing for land vehicles in this regard, but so far no company has been able to get approval for commercial operation of autonomous vehicles without a driver in the cabin. Some of Cruise's competitors have long transported volunteers through American city streets, but in many cases, testers must be in the car and customers cannot afford the fares. Cruise, in this sense, was the first to address a future in which taxis would move without human intervention.

The California Public Utilities Commission permit opens a new page in the history of passenger transportation development – ​​Cruise has the right to charge customers for its services. The route network in San Francisco will develop gradually, because it is known that automatic control systems only feel confident in a well-studied environment. Cruise emphasizes that it wasn't until last fall that CEO Kyle Vogt took the first test drive in a driverless taxi, and testing with the involvement of volunteers began in February of this year. Competitor Waymo is still running its service in California on a trial basis that doesn't charge customers, but many other trial rides have taken place in Arizona.

Image source: Cruise