Autonomous cars will be allowed to drive all day in San Francisco. The main beneficiaries are Waymo and Cruise.
It was a victory for the autonomous vehicle industry as California regulators gave it the green light Cruise and #, which are allowed to offer their commercial robotaxi services 24 hours a day, seven days a week in San Francisco. The commission responsible voted 3:1 for the extensions.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approval comes despite growing opposition from residents and city officials, who have called for caution and a phased approach to expansion. Ever since autonomous vehicles hit the streets of San Francisco, there have been numerous instances of vehicles that fail in the middle of the road and traffic flow, public transport and emergency services block, for which there is now even a term: “bricking”.
Cruise and Waymo offer limited fee-based services in San Francisco — Cruise charges for driverless rides at night, Waymo charges for robotaxi services citywide, but with a human security operator on board. The expansion permit allows the companies to scale-up their services with no limit on the number of robo-taxis.
While incremental expansion is planned, scale is critical to Cruise and Waymo’s success. The technology has cost millions of dollars to develop and deploy. Waymo scaled back operations after layoffs and focused on ride-hailing. Exponential growth in San Francisco and beyond is necessary for return on investment.
The CPUC voted in favor of approval as no significant security risks were expected. The agency promotes safe, reliable and affordable services. Cruise and Waymo services meet these needs.
Criticisms during the hearing concerned the lack of ADA-compliant robotic taxis and discrimination against the unbanked and digitally ignorant. Some feared more traffic and job losses.
Positive comments came from representatives of the visually impaired and advocates for safer and greener roads technology. Unions hope for new jobs. Cruise campaigned for his cause and started a petition for the permit extension. Instead, they advertised their own position with large newspaper advertisements.