Driverless taxis from Waymo and Cruise can now offer day and night metered rides throughout the city of San Francisco following a positive vote by California authorities on Thursday.
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The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), responsible for monitoring self-driving vehicles, voted three to one in favor of applications from Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (parent of Google), and Cruise (General Motors) to expand their services.
So far, they’re limited: Cruise runs a paid robo-cab service at night, and Waymo is experimenting with volunteers, for free (or for a fee, but with a human in the driver’s seat).
Their strange, camera- and lidar-equipped vehicles have been commonplace for a year now that the two companies are no longer required to have a human driver.
But they are far from unanimous.
On Thursday, dozens of San Francisco residents, youth, parents, engineers, retirees, and federal and union leaders took the floor to voice their views during a CPUC public hearing that lasted more than seven hours.
Many advocates and users have praised this new mode of transport in the name of safety and modernity.
Lana Nieves, leader of a local disability NGO, sees the potential in technology for “greater independence” for her community and has criticized “those who are afraid of progress” by comparing them to people who were afraid in the 19th century before bicycles.
Critics believe that autonomous vehicles are not yet ready or are even dangerous. Some accuse them of discrimination or that they are not suitable for people with restricted mobility.
Others advocate fewer individual cars on the road in general, or accuse tech companies of over-powering.
The city of San Francisco is also opposed to the state of California, which is the sole decision-maker. While it may be the cradle of autonomous cars — the first drove there in 2014 with a “safety” driver — she’s concerned about the proliferation of incidents involving robotic taxis.
The experiment was not without its inconveniences, especially when cars unexpectedly stopped on the street, blocking traffic or access to emergency services. However, no fatal accident for humans was recorded.
Members of the CPUC who supported the expansion of the two services believed that they had met the necessary conditions in terms of security and information sharing with regulators.