Driverless taxis from Waymo and Cruise will now be able to offer paid rides throughout the city of San Francisco, day and night, following a favorable vote by California authorities on Thursday. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), responsible for overseeing autonomous vehicles, voted three to one in favor of requests by Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), and Cruise (General Motors) to expand their services.
So far, they’ve been limited: Cruise operates a paid robo-taxi 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 vehicles covered in cameras and lidars have become commonplace in the last year since the two companies are no longer required to have a human behind the wheel.
Far from unanimous
On Thursday, dozens of San Francisco residents, teens, parents, engineers, retirees, association and union leaders took the floor to express their opinions during a CPUC public hearing that lasted more than 7 hours. Many followers and users have praised this new mode of transport, in the name of safety and modernity. Lana Nieves, director of a local disability NGO, sees the potential of technology for “greater independence” for her community and criticized “those who are afraid of progress,” comparing them to people who were afraid of bicycles. in the XIX century.
Critics believe that autonomous vehicles are not ready yet, or even that they are already dangerous. Some have accused them of discrimination or of not being suitable enough for people with reduced mobility. Others advocate fewer individual cars on the road overall, or accuse tech companies of having too much power.
Small traffic incidents but no fatal accidents for humans
The city of San Francisco also opposes the State of California, the sole decision maker. It may be the cradle of autonomous cars – the first began to circulate there in 2014 with a “security” driver – but it is concerned about the multiplication of incidents with robot taxis. The experiment was not without its drawbacks, especially when cars stopped unexpectedly on the highway, blocking traffic or access to emergency services. However, no fatal accident for humans has been recorded.
The members of the CPUC in favor of the extension of the two services considered that they had fulfilled the required conditions in terms of security and information exchange with the regulatory authorities.
Source: BFM TV
