Cruise Driverless Testing in San Francisco

Cruise Automation, the self-driving car division of General Motors, backed by investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Honda, and T. Rowe Price & Associates, has begun trials of completely driverless vehicles on public streets in San Francisco. This represents a key step toward obtaining permission to launch a commercial ride-sharing service that will bill customers for transportation.

Dan Ammann, CEO of Cruise, experienced one of the company’s initial driverless trips in San Francisco’s Sunset District and characterized it as surprisingly uneventful and a modest advancement toward a commercially available service.

“The experience of the ride was remarkably smooth and predictable, making it rather unremarkable – but in a positive way,” Ammann stated during a conference call with journalists on Wednesday. “Our aim is to extend this same experience to as many individuals as possible, as quickly and as securely as feasible, whether through passenger transport or autonomous delivery services.”

The company released a video on Wednesday showcasing its first ride – conducted without a human safety driver operating the vehicle – within the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco. The video also reveals a human safety operator was present in the passenger seat.

Cruise’s testing of fully self-governing vehicles is currently confined to a limited geographical zone and takes place in what is considered a relatively straightforward area of San Francisco. The released video demonstrates the testing occurred at night in a less busy section of the city. Nevertheless, this signifies progress for the company, which previously intended to introduce a commercial service by the close of 2019.

Some industry observers point out the presence of a safety operator in the passenger seat and the initial launch within a restricted, “simpler” area as important considerations. Cruise acknowledges this is only the beginning and plans to broaden its driverless testing region, incorporating more complex environments over time, and ultimately eliminating the need for a safety operator within the vehicle.

“We understand that building confidence is just as crucial as technological advancement,” explained Milin Mehta, a Cruise spokesperson, in an email. “Therefore, during the initial phase of utilizing this permit, we will maintain a safety operator in the passenger seat. This operator can bring the vehicle to a safe stop in an emergency, but does not have access to conventional driving controls. Eventually, this safety operator will be removed entirely.”

Cruise initiated driverless testing in November with a dedicated group of five autonomous vehicles. The remainder of Cruise’s vehicle fleet continues to be utilized for standard testing procedures with a human safety driver, including deliveries to local food banks.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the state agency responsible for regulating autonomous vehicle testing, granted Cruise a permit in October allowing the company to test five driverless vehicles on designated streets within San Francisco. Cruise has held a permit for testing autonomous vehicles with safety drivers since 2015.

In February, Cruise received approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to transport passengers in its autonomous vehicles throughout the state. However, it wasn’t until November that the CPUC revised its regulations to permit appropriately authorized companies to charge for shared, driverless rides. The requirements for obtaining this permit are now more stringent, including a new governmental approval process that some in the industry believe could cause deployment delays exceeding two years.

Beyond the governmental procedures, Cruise must submit data demonstrating 30 days of driverless ride testing before becoming eligible for the CPUC permit, as detailed on the CPUC website.

AutoX, Nuro, Waymo, and Zoox also possess driverless testing permits in California. Waymo has conducted tests of what it terms fully autonomous mode on California’s public roads without a human safety driver, but has not yet removed the operator from the vehicle completely.