Cruise Now Allowed To Transport Passengers In Autonomous Test Prototypes
3
Sponsored Links
General Motors has received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to carry passengers in its Cruise autonomous prototype vehicles, which are based on the Chevrolet Bolt EV.
The CPUC granted GM permission as part of California’s Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot program. Two types of permits can be granted as part of the pilot program: a Drivered AV Passenger Service pemit, or a Driverless AV Passenger permit. GM has received a Drivered AV Passenger Permit, so its Cruise test prototypes will still have to have a safety driver on board whilst ferrying passengers around San Francisco.
Cruise said with this permit, they will be allowed to demonstrate the abilities of its autonomous vehicle prototypes to members of the media and potential investors or business partners.
”As we move closer to launch we want the opportunity to put top candidates, partners and media into the vehicles and this pilot allows us to do that,” the company said in a statement.
According to Tech Crunch, Cruise is now one of five self-driving companies involved in the pilot program. Others include Google’s autonomous vehicle offshoot Waymo and lesser-known Cruise rivals such as Zoox, Pony.ai, Aurora and AutoX.
This good news comes after Cruise failed to meet its self-set goal of launching a fully driverless robotaxi service before the end of 2020 due to technical snags with its autonomous platform and in the creation of the ride-hailing app that would enable such a service. Cruise has not said when it expects to launch its driverless taxi service, though it still plans to do so eventually.
Cruise Origin autonomous ride-sharing vehicle
To be clear, this permit will not allow the Cruise Origin self-driving vehicle to operate on public roads and carry passengers, as the Cruise Origin does not have traditional driving controls and thus can’t have a safety driver onboard. It’s also not clear when regulations may be changed that would allow the Cruise Origin to operate on public roads.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more Cruise news 24/7 GM news coverage.
Source: Tech Crunch
Sponsored Links
I would love to ride in an AV someday. There are many autonomous trains running around private tracks every day for many years. The most famous one is the Monorail at the Disney parks. But until all new cars have some courtesy communications between them and AVs, (such as V2V ), AVs on public roads are in danger of human drivers. Robots don’t kill people. It is humans driving cars that kill people!
I also cant wait to see and ride in one. I think this technology will end up making our world a better place to live. Maybe not in all of our lives, but sometime down the road I do believe that this will happen.
Just like when gas powered cars started being the preferred method of travel over the horse and buggy. There was great resistance at first but once the avalanche started it never stopped. I believe the same thing will happen in the future. Autonomous cars will be the norm.
It is naïve to assume that robots do not kill people. The only way you can make that assertion is when the AV traditional vehicle mix is 50/50.
Most Americans selfish and that is not a bad thing. They will always want their own homes and own cars. The concept of AVs are cute until one cannot be summoned when needed because they are all booked, or one has to wait in the elements for one to arrive, or an AV arrives trashed with other people’s garbage and filth.
As far as I am concerned, I will always own my well maintained, readably available, clean vehicles that I drive myself- albeit with new tech that allows me to be an even more safe driver.