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The California Department of Motor Vehicles has given the green light to Cruise, backed by General Motors and Alphabet-owned Waymo, to begin billing for autonomous services offered to the public.
On Thursday, Cruise received a “driverless deployment permit,” which means he can receive compensation for services provided without a security operator in the front seat. Waymo’s “piloted deployment license” allows the operator to also charge money while using an AV, but with a driver in the front seat. While they can both in theory now bill for stand-alone delivery services, they are still a long way from being able to bill for robotaxi services. The latter hurdle will require a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), but Waymo and Cruise declined to comment on a potential timeline for launching a commercial rideshare service in SF.
They will not be the only ones to make their VA on California roads a commercial activity. In December 2020, autonomous delivery startup Nuro became the first company to receive a license from the California DMV to launch a commercial driverless service on public roads in the state.
Cruise and Waymo have been testing their AVs on public roads with a safety driver since 2015 and 2014, respectively, and without since October 2020 and October 2018. Cruise was also cleared to begin offering passengers driverless rides in California in June. , so the company has been offering free rides to its employees for several months. In August, Waymo also launched its Trusted Tester program in the city, allowing San Franciscans to hail one of its Jaguar I-Pace autonomous electric vehicles, with a safety driver on board, for free rides.
Cruise’s most recent clearance grants the company permission to use its fleet of autonomous Chevy Bolt-based vehicles for commercial services on public streets in parts of San Francisco between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. at a top speed of 30 miles per hour. Waymo can operate its fleet of light commercial vehicles in parts of SF and San Mateo counties on public roads with a speed limit of up to 65 miles per hour and with no apparent time restrictions. Both can work in rainy weather and light fog.
Cruise and Waymo have both declined to say when they plan to launch a commercial service in the Bay Area or if they plan to launch a delivery service. Last November, Cruise and Walmart teamed up in Scottsdale, Ariz. To deliver goods with a security operator in the front seat. Waymo Via’s local delivery business has also been operational in Phoenix, Arizona since January 2020, also with a qualified operator on board, providing services to customers like UPS and AutoNation.
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