California has given the green light to operate more driverless taxis in San Francisco – despite safety concerns after accidents and near misses wreaked havoc.
Regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday issued the landmark decision to make the City by the Bay the first in the country to allow robotic taxis to roam freely without restrictions.
Waymo, owned by Alphabet, and Cruise, owned by General Motors, are the companies that will be allowed to operate in the city after the three-to-one vote.
This was despite objections from local officials who argued the vehicles were unsafe and unions who raised the alarm about the threat the cars pose to taxi drivers.
A Waymo self-driving car killed a small dog in broad daylight in San Francisco in May in a neighborhood east of Bernal Heights. According to a DMV incident report, the fatal accident happened near a dog training facility.
Waymo (pictured), owned by Alphabet, and Cruise, owned by General Motors, are the companies that will be allowed to operate in the city after the three-to-one vote
Self-driving cars have been implicated in a number of incidents, including crashing into a city bus
Meanwhile, a driverless cruise taxi scheduled a bus in the city, forcing the company to recall the automated driving software in 300 of its vehicles.
Additionally, San Francisco motorists have reported an issue where vehicles stopped in the middle of the road, sometimes sitting still for hours.
In February, San Francisco’s fog rolled in from the bay, causing several cars to stall in the middle of a busy street because their sensors couldn’t “see” through the haze.
While human drivers honked their horns, there was no avoiding it. A two-mile traffic jam formed before technicians arrived, took control manually and cleared the road.
When a robotic taxi was stopped by police for driving at night without headlights, it stopped briefly and then fled through an intersection.
Driverless taxis have been around the city for some time, but until now have been limited to certain areas and whether they can serve paying passengers.
San Francisco motorists have reported an issue where vehicles stopped in the middle of the road, sometimes sitting still for hours
Waymo cars are now allowed to reach speeds of up to 65 miles per hour, even in inclement weather, without a human driver behind the wheel.
The company also received permission to offer driverless car rides to paying passengers in its Silicon Valley hometown of Mountain View.
Cruise was licensed for passenger service in San Francisco with a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour and not through thick fog or heavy smoke.
Previously, Cruise could only charge its customers at certain times of the day. Waymo was not allowed to charge for trips without a human driver on board.
“Today is the first of many steps to bring AV (autonomous vehicle) transportation services to Californians and create a successful and transparent model for other states to follow,” said CPUC Commissioner John Reynolds, who voted for the approval.
The decision comes after activists from the Safe Streets Rebel protest group, which works to keep pedestrians safe, posted multiple videos on their social media platforms showing them crippling the robotic taxis by placing a traffic cone on the hood .
Placing a traffic cone on the hood of the driverless car disables it. Protesters say they are doing this to raise concerns about the safety issues surrounding robotic cars
The group staged the protest after robotic vehicles were blamed for a series of incidents.
Driverless cars were first introduced in San Francisco in 2014 with a mandatory human “safety driver” on board.
Four years later, California eliminated the requirement to have a human driver in the car.
The CPUC session drew commentators from all sides of the issue, with some calling robotaxis unsafe threats while others hailed them as solutions to everything from climate change to street riots.
Self-driving cars got stuck in the middle of the road, blocked bus lanes or even disrupted police or fire brigade operations.
However, other participants in the hearing praised the vehicles for providing independence for people with disabilities, making roads safer and helping to eliminate discrimination.
There are currently about 200 Waymo Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicles in the city, which are currently free for drivers, while Cruise has 240 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles, which cost about the same as a ride-sharing service.
The system works by people “calling” the car through an app on their phone and, just like with ride-sharing services like Uber, follow it on the screen until it reaches their location.
The car navigates using an array of radar, lidar (laser imaging) and rotating sensors on the roof, front, rear and sides, as well as cameras that collect data in real time. It uses AI to steer and its algorithms allow the car to improve its performance over time as it learns to adapt to the environment.
Once it arrives, unlock the doors via the app, buckle up, and press “Start” to begin the ride. You can play music, adjust the temperature and charge your phone.