The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the regulatory body that governs private utilities in the state of California, has granted a permit to the company Cruise so that it can charge for trips operated by its robotaxis in San Francisco.
Cruise still has many rules to follow
” Crossing the threshold of business operations isn’t just big news for Cruise. This is a major milestone for the shared mission of autonomous vehicles to improve life in our cities. And it’s a giant leap forward for our mission here at Cruise to save lives, help save the planet, and save people time and money. enthused Gil West, COO of Cruise, the autonomous driving branch of the American giant General Motors.
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The firm has been testing its electric and autonomous vehicles without a safety driver in San Francisco since 2020, and has been offering an autonomous taxi service there for a few months. Nevertheless, it could not, until then, invoice the journeys. Although the permit granted by the CPUC marks a real turning point in the autonomous driving sector, Cruise must still comply with many regulations.
For example, it can only offer rides in low-traffic areas of the city, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Cruise must also be limited to a fleet of 30 vehicles, and these will not be able to circulate when the weather is not mild, in the event of fog or heavy rain for example.
Waymo, Argo AI… There are many competitors
In A press releaseGil West called Cruise “a first and only company to operate a commercial driverless taxi service in a major city in the United States “. Nevertheless, Cruise’s main competitor, Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, is not far behind its rival; she can charge for her trips to San Francisco since February but, unlike Cruise, a security driver must be behind the wheel of her vehicles.
By contrast, Waymo operates a fully autonomous robotaxis service in Arizona, where it has already completed “tens of thousands” of rides without a driver behind the wheel. The company Argo AI, notably supported by Ford and Volkswagen, announced very recently that it was starting to test self-driving cars in Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida.
Waymo, an Alphabet subsidiary, also operates a robotaxis service in San Francisco, but the company is required to have safety drivers driving its cars. Photography: Waymo
Cruise sees far
The permit obtained by Cruise is, however, a real step forward for the autonomous vehicle sector, the evolution of which is strewn with pitfalls, both from a technical and regulatory point of view. For its part, the subsidiary of General Motors intends to develop its service in San Francisco in the coming months: “ Now, with this approval, we will begin rolling out discounted rides gradually, aligning with the smoothest customer experience possible. As always, our goal is to provide a magical and safe service to our passengers. “explains Gil West.
The company is thinking big. At an investor event nearly a year ago, Cruise CEO Dan Ammann detailed his plans to grow his fleet to thousands, if not tens of thousands, of cars in coming years. As a reminder, General Motors made the decision last March to buy SoftBank’s stake in Cruise.