Employees of Cruise, General Motors' self-driving subsidiary, will be the first to be able to move in one of the company's autonomous vehicles operating in San Francisco, without a driver in the front seat. Some San Francisco residents will also be able to travel, but the company will not charge a fare.
Cruise co-founder, CTO and president, Kyle Vogt, uploaded a video on Youtube, where he called one of his company's autonomous vehicles, and made a trip to the city of San Francisco, as if it were a taxi.
He reported on Twitter : "Around 23:00 PM on Monday night, we put an AV into traffic without a driver inside, for the first time. Until now, we've been testing with people in the driver or passenger seat, so this was the first attempt. It started roaming around the city, waiting for a ride request. At 23:20 PM, I used the Cruise app and called it for my first ride. After a few minutes, one of the Cruise AVs (named Sourdough) came up to me. No one was in the car. I pressed the 'start ride' button and the AV smoothly returned to traffic."
Vogt also said he took five more walks that night. The rides had to be done at night because according to the terms of Cruise's "driverless development license" from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the company can operate without a driver only between 10 p.m. and 6 p.m. and at a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour.
Cruise received the license in early October, which allows the company to deploy its unmanned vehicles inside, as well as charge fees for product delivery services, but not taxi services.
GM CEO Mary Barra said Cruise would begin commercial unmanned shipping and delivery operations by next year. Cruise has not yet applied for the final permit needed, which will be from the California Public Services Commission (CPUC), to be able to charge for robotaxi services. Until then, only Cruise employees and some San Francisco residents will be able to travel on AV, but without a fare.
As you can see, companies insist on autonomous vehicles. And apparently in the near future they will enter everyday life. Starting from the rich European and American cities, they will also come to Greece.
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