California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that authorizes a pilot program to test fully self-driving vehicles on public roads—without a driver behind the wheel.

The bill, introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, gives the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) permission to test autonomous vehicles at the GoMentum Station testing grounds and a private business park in Contra Costa County that do not have steering wheels, brake pedals, or drivers.

"California has always been a global leader in innovation and as transportation technologies evolve, so must our laws and regulations," Bonilla said in a statement. "With the passage of AB 1592 our state will prove to the federal government and the rest of the nation that California remains the leader, and that the deployment of autonomous vehicles without the presence of a driver can be done safely and successfully."

Two years ago, California started issuing permits to tech companies and car makers that allowed them to test self-driving cars on public roads. But the cars had to have steering wheels, brake pedals, and human drivers ready to take over in an emergency.

As Reuters notes, the bill paves the way for driverless shuttles from France-based Easymile to hit the open road. The company is planning to soon start testing its "cube-like" shuttles, which go up to 25mph, at a the private Bishop Ranch office park in the city of San Ramon. As they loop the campus, the shuttles will need to cross a public road, and now they can do so legally, Reuters says.

Easymile, which already operates the shuttles in Europe, will test them at the California office park for up to six months before transporting people.

"Next stop California!" the company wrote on Facebook.

The news comes after the Transportation Department last week released its long-awaited Federal Automated Vehicle Policy, which sets sweeping guidelines for how self-driving cars will be regulated. The DOT is seeking comment on the guidelines from interested parties over the next 60 days, after which they will go into effect.

It also comes after Michigan signed into law several bills to make it easier for car makers to test their self-driving cars on public roads.

GoMentum Station, meanwhile, is where Honda recently showed off its self-driving car (see more in the video above). Last month, the CCTA also teamed up with self-driving truck company Otto (now owned by Uber) to allow it to test new updates and hardware components at GoMentum.