Green light to driverless taxi in San Francisco.
California regulators give the green light to a robotic taxi service to begin transporting passengers for driverless trips to San Francisco, for the first time in a state where several companies have tried to train vehicles to drive themselves.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the request of Cruise, a company controlled by vehicle manufacturer General Motors, to launch its driverless travel service in the city.
Regulators issued the permit despite safety concerns arising from Cruise’s inability to pick up and drop off passengers at the curb with its autonomous taxis, requiring vehicles to park twice in the traffic lanes.
The tour service will initially consist of only 30 limited electric vehicles to transport passengers to less crowded parts of San Francisco from 10pm to 6am. These restrictions are designed to minimize the chances that robotic taxis will cause property damage, injury, or death if something goes wrong. This will also allow regulators to assess how the technology works before allowing service expansion.
