Cruise autonomous car Source: Cruise
Despite protests against robotaxis, Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is expanding its service area in San Francisco. Meanwhile, competitor Cruise is struggling with accidents and other incidents.
San Francisco’s passengers Waymo vehicles now have access to the robotaxi service, although the company had previously limited many trips in northeastern neighborhoods such as Fisherman’s Wharf and Chinatown to a few thousand users. That restriction has now been lifted and tens of thousands can use the service. Use of Waymo’s services remains limited to those who have made it to the waiting list and continues to exclude Treasure Island.
In June, City Council Supervisor Aaron Peskin called robotaxis unsafe and #NotReadyForPrimeTime. The expansion comes just months after the state’s Public Utilities Commission Waymo and Cruise allowed commercial services to be offered 24/7 in SF.
After controversial decisions, the city of SF called for a review and the California Department of Transportation ordered Cruise to cut its fleet in half due to “recent troubling incidents.” Waymo operates about 250 autonomous vehicles in SF, about 22% more than Cruise. A week ago a cruise AV ran over a person, after a car driven by a human struck them near Union Square.
David Fluhr
I have been writing about the topic of autonomous & connected driving since 2011. I studied social sciences at HU Berlin and have been a freelance journalist since 2012. Contact: mail@autonomes-fahr.de