In California soon the driverless taxi

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in a statement authorized Cruise to provide passengers with travel on prototype robotaxis. Cruise is the first self-driving vehicle developer to obtain this permit: “The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) authorizes Cruise LLC to participate in California’s first pilot program to provide driverless, public transportation service for self-driving cars. . Cruise cannot charge passengers for any test AV ride. The pilot program aims to allow AV companies to develop their technologies based on tests, ensuring the safety and protection of passengers and commercial operators within the jurisdiction of the CPUC ”. “Autonomous vehicles have the potential to transform our transportation system according to the needs of individual mobility, improving safety and the movement of goods across the state in a sustainable and efficient way,” said Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma, “The effective use of autonomous vehicles can also transform business models in manufacturing, maintenance and services to create new jobs and industries for California. ”Cruise expects production of its Origin self-driving shuttles to begin in 2023. The fleet of The company’s test currently includes hundreds of Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles, equipped with driverless technology. Cruise, backed by General Motors Co, Honda Motor Co Ltd and SoftBank Group Corp, said in its application for authorization it has already tested over 3 million of miles of self-driving in the city, including Waymo’s self-driving cars, linked to the Alphab group et which Google is also a part of, is looking for the necessary permits to launch paid services on driverless cabs in the San Francisco area. Aside from Cruise, Waymo and six other companies, including Amazon-owned Zoox and Aurora, have CPUC permits for driverless vehicle testing along California roads, but have not yet been licensed to travel in their own taxis. public users without a driver on board. Although commercial yield is taking longer than expected due to technical, safety and regulatory hurdles, the largest tech and auto companies continue to invest heavily in autonomous vehicles. Earlier this year, Cruise raised billions of dollars from strategic backers including Microsoft, Honda and Walmart.