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Waymo and Cruise, two of the largest autonomous vehicle companies in the United States, have received clearances from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to provide rides to passengers in their robotaxis.
But while Cruise has been allowed to drive its fully autonomous vehicles without security drivers, Waymo is only allowed to deploy its autonomous vehicles with a human monitor behind the wheel. In order to drive paying passengers in its fully autonomous vehicles, as is the case in Arizona, the Google spin-off would have to apply for an additional license from the California Public Utilities Commission.
Waymo was the first company to receive a driverless trial license in 2018. And while the idea of a fully autonomous rideshare service is still Waymo’s “north star and ultimate service model”, according to a spokesperson, the company will only remove safety drivers. of its vehicles when it is ready to do so.
“As part of Waymo’s incremental approach to deploying the fully driverless experience to our users in a new geographic area, we are first deploying AVs equipped with our Automated Driving System (‘ADS’) and a driver trained to drive, ”said the spokesperson. in an email. “We are starting to offer rides to passengers, before removing the driver to offer rides in pilot mode only.”
Cruise, for his part, hails the licensing of passengers in fully autonomous vehicles as a milestone. Rob Grant, senior vice president of government affairs and social impact, said the permit “brings [Cruise] one more step towards achieving our mission of making transportation safer, better and more affordable in cities with our fleet of fully electric, autonomous and shared vehicles.
The company had planned to launch a commercial robotaxi service in San Francisco in 2019, but has not, and it has yet to publicly commit on a new date.
California is the zero point for AV testing in the United States, with more than 50 companies licensed to operate autonomous vehicles for testing in the state. A handful of companies hold permits to test fully autonomous vehicles, without a safety driver behind the wheel. And an even smaller number has been approved to pick up and drop off passengers as part of commercial pilot service. Today’s permits represent the next step in this process.
California-registered AVs traveled approximately 1.99 million kilometers autonomously on public roads in 2020. The total kilometers driven by Waymo and Cruise, 1.39 million, represents 70% of the total autonomous kilometers driven in California in 2020.
Cruising vehicles are approved to operate between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. at a top speed of 30 mph and can even drive in “light rain and fog”. Waymo vehicles can travel on public roads in parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties at a maximum speed of 65 mph.
“We can only offer paid rides in driverless AVs to the public during these hours (pending the final deployment permit from the CPUC),” said a spokesperson for Cruise. “We can continue to test with or without passengers in driverless mode and with a driver 24/7. We will coordinate with our regulators as we expand hours of operation and geographic corridors. “
Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that would require audiovisual companies to use only electric vehicles from 2030.
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