SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Self-driving car company Cruise has received regulatory approval to begin offering a robot taxi service in San Francisco.
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Autonomous vehicles have been operating in San Francisco for years, but now Cruise, owned by General Motors, will be the first company in history to operate robot taxis for paying customers.
"It has been a journey over the last multiple years and over millions of miles of accumulation with our all electric fleet," Company Vice President Prashanthi Ramen told KCBS Radio. "We're very excited to be here today."
"It's a giant leap for our mission here at Cruise, to save lives, help save the planet and save people time and money," she added.
However, don't expect to run out and hail a driverless car right away as state regulators have put some major limitations on the service. Cruise taxis can only operate from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., only in parts of the city, and only under 30 miles per hour.
Despite those limitations, Tim Higgins, a tech and autos reporter for the Wall Street Journal, said this is a major milestone in the race to make autonomous vehicles into a business.
"It's one thing for it to be a science fair project, it's another thing for it to become something that’s ubiquitous and that makes money," he told KCBS Radio.
"General Motors doesn't want to run a charity, their vision is that people in San Francisco will be using these vehicles to get around," Higgins continued.
The rollout should happen over the next few weeks. Cruise said the cost for your robo-ride will be comparable to traditional ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft, although you don't have to tip your driver — because there isn't one.
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