GM's 'Cruise' obtains approval to commercialize a fully unmanned self-driving taxi

by Cruise

Cruise , which develops self-driving cars under the umbrella of American car maker General Motors (GM), has received final approval to develop 'paid unmanned taxis' in some areas of San Francisco. As a result, Cruise will be the first major city in the United States to offer a 'commercial unmanned ride-hailing service.'

We're going commercial. --Cruise
https://www.getcruise.com/news/were-going-commercial

Cruise can finally charge for driverless robotaxi rides in San Francisco | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/02/cruise-can-finally-charge-for-driverless-robotaxi-rides-in-san-francisco/

Cruise gets green light for commercial robotaxis in San Francisco
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/02/cruise-gets-green-light-for-commercial-robotaxis-in-san-francisco.html

Cruise, which was acquired by GM in 2016, is developing an autonomous vehicle equipped with an automatic driving function on an electric and battery-powered Chevrolet Bolt EV , which is about 2 billion dollars (about 260 billion yen) from Microsoft. It is funded .

The cruise, which conducted an unmanned driving test on public roads in San Francisco in 2020 with no passengers on board , will run with CEO Kyle Vogt in November 2021 and will be free of charge for general passengers from February 2022. We have started a vehicle dispatch service. The unmanned ride-hailing service, which began in February, was offered only in some areas of San Francisco, with no passenger charges and limited traffic between 22:30 and 5:00. ..

'Cruise' officially starts operation of fully autonomous vehicle that does not require driving in San Francisco --GIGAZINE

In April, police officers stopped the self-driving car of the cruise that was running without lights.

'Unmanned self-driving car that voluntarily escapes from the police' is photographed --GIGAZINE

And on June 2, 2022, Cruise announced that it had received final approval from the California Public Works Commission (CPUC) to develop a 'paid unmanned ride-hailing service.' In response to this, Cruise will be the first company to operate a commercial unmanned vehicle dispatch service in major cities in the United States. In addition, Waymo, a brother company of Google, is also licensed by CPUC for a paid self-driving taxi, but there is a restriction that 'as long as a safe human driver is on board, you can charge a taxi fare'. It is attached.

CPUC-approved cruises will be able to own and deploy up to 30 self-driving cars, limited to 22:00 to 6:00 in some areas of San Francisco, with a maximum speed of 30 mph (about 46). We plan to operate a vehicle dispatch service (in kilometers). A Cruz spokeswoman told TechCrunch, a tech media company, 'We have the ability to charge deployment areas, business hours, and the general public until unmanned ride-hailing services are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Will continue to expand in the coming months. '

Groups such as the San Francisco Transport Authority, the Fire Prevention and Investigation Bureau, the Mayor's Execution Office for Persons with Disabilities, and police agencies have expressed concern that the CPUC's decision to authorize cruises lacks clarity. The group can only stop in the driving lane even if the cruise vehicle has a margin to the curb, and it interferes with traffic when passengers get on and off, so emergency response vehicles, people with disabilities, the elderly, cyclists, etc. It claims that it can pose a danger to road users.