The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday voted 3-1 to allow Waymo and Cruise to offer driverless rides to passengers around-the-clock, as well as collect fares.
The CPUC gave Waymo the green light to operate without someone in the driver's seat in November 2022. Cruise launched daytime driverless rides around the same time. But they couldn't charge for the rides and there were limits on when and where the cars could drive.
Now, the floodgates have opened and an estimated 500 driverless vehicles will compete with rideshare companies, taxis, and other forms of public transportation.
A few limitations will remain in place. Waymo vehicles can only drive up to 65 miles per hour, but they are permitted in inclement weather. Cruise vehicles must stay under 35mph and only in good weather, Reuters reports.
Kyle Vogt, CEO and co-founder of Cruise, calls the ruling a "huge milestone for the AV industry, but even more importantly a signal to the country that CA prioritizes progress over our tragic status quo," referring to the high number of traffic accidents in San Francisco.
Waymo also heralded the news as a win for public safety. "There’s a critical need to improve the safety of our roads. Nearly 43,000 people died on US roads in 2022—an average of 117 per day," reads a company blog post. "Early data indicates the Waymo Driver is already reducing traffic injuries and fatalities in the places where we operate."
Waymo says it will "begin charging fares for rider-only trips in the city and gradually welcoming more riders" into its Waymo One service "in the coming weeks." It didn't specify how much those rides will cost, but a 10-mile driverless Waymo journey in Arizona last month cost MakeUseOf about $20, similar to rides from human drivers.
"With over 100,000 signups (and counting) on our waitlist, we expect demand will be incredibly high. So to ensure riders receive a reliable service and our expansion is gradual, we’ll be welcoming new riders to Waymo One incrementally," the company says.
A contentious public debate accompanied the ruling, centered around whether autonomous vehicles represent more safety or more danger for residents (and dogs) of San Francisco.
"I am not anti-technology, I am pro-safety," San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson commented in a public meeting before Thursday's vote, as reported by NPR. The fire department has tallied 55 incidents where self-driving vehicles interfered with rescue operations.
In June, an autonomous Cruise vehicle impeded police response to a nine-person mass shooting in San Francisco, SFGATE reports. It parked on a street the police were attempting to use, delaying operations as they re-routed to another street. "This could’ve been catastrophic, but we’re lucky that there was another lane we could use. And that enabled us to respond appropriately,” San Francisco Fire Department Lt. Jonathan Baxter tells SFGATE.
Disabled and elderly individuals may benefit from the increased accessibility of autonomous transit options, however. "In Phoenix’s East Valley, a study with the regional transportation authority found that a higher number of elderly people and people with disabilities engaged in more out-of-home activities when autonomous vehicles were made available within paratransit options," reads an open letter published in July by advocacy groups in support of the legislation.
Autonomous vehicles can also contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as they are "almost always electric," the letter points out.
Speaking of electric vehicles, where is Tesla? Elon Musk has repeatedly touted self-driving AI and robotaxis as the future of the company, though these days he has been much more vocal about the urgency of transitioning Twitter to X.