GM Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo Win Licenses to Offer Self-Driving Car Rides to Passengers in California

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 30 (Reuters) – Autonomous car subsidiaries of General Motors Co (GM.N) Cruise and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) Waymo on Thursday became the first companies to receive autonomous vehicle licenses to offer trips to passengers in California.

Cruise has obtained a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to offer driverless rides to passengers at night in parts of San Francisco, and Waymo has obtained a permit from the regulator to deploy autonomous vehicles with safe drivers behind the wheel.

The DMV said it would license commercial service for businesses, but said they would need to get another permit from the California Public Utilities Commission to start charging passengers for rides.

Another company, Nuro, received a license to deploy self-drive in California last year, but it was for the delivery of goods, not for passenger trips.

The California DMV said the new permit would allow Cruise to operate its vehicles “in designated parts of San Francisco” between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. at a maximum speed limit of 30 miles per hour.

Waymo vehicles that have safe drivers behind the wheel “are approved for use on public roads in parts of San Francisco and San Mateo counties with a speed limit not exceeding 65 mph,” the DMV said.

Both companies have stepped up testing in San Francisco, with Cruise using GM’s Bolt EV electric vehicles and Waymo using fully electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs.

Waymo began public testing in San Francisco in August, with an emergency driver behind the wheel. learn more Waymo offered driverless paid rides through its app in limited suburban areas of Arizona.

Waymo tweeted Thursday that his “new license will help us continue our efforts to bring our AV technology to many more residents of California.”

Autonomous startups are rushing to commercialize expensive technology and raise new funds, having missed their first deployment deadlines, hampered by technological hurdles.

Cruise, which also counts Softbank (9984.T) and Honda (7267.T) as investors, earlier this year raised $ 2.75 billion from investors like Walmart Inc (WMT.N) while Waymo raised $ 2.5 billion this year.

In May, Reuters reported that Cruise and Waymo earlier this year sought approval from the California DMV to deploy their autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, paving the way for the technology’s largest testing to date in a dense urban environment. . Read more

Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Jane Lee and Paresh Dave in San Francisco Editing by Peter Henderson and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.