(Adds more details, background on Cruise petition)
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Monday issued permits to self-driving units of General Motors and Alphabet Inc to allow for passenger service in autonomous vehicles with safety drivers present.
CPUC said the GM unit Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo are under Drivered Deployment permits authorized to collect fares from passengers and may offer shared rides. Prior to the announcement Cruise and Waymo had been permitted to provide passenger service only on a testing basis with no fare collection permitted.
Starting Monday, Cruise is allowed to provide the “Drivered Deployment” service on some public roads in San Francisco between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, while Waymo can offer service in parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour, CPUC said. Neither company is allowed to operate during heavy fog or heavy rain.
Earlier this month, GM and Cruise petitioned U.S. regulators for permission to deploy a limited number of self-driving vehicles without human controls like steering wheels or brake pedals.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Add Comment