Self-driving car companies are allowed to expand in San Francisco. California regulators support the technology despite local concerns.
The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to allow General Motors-owned Cruze (ticker: GM ) and Waymo, part of Google-parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ), to offer paid rides in driverless vehicles around the city around the clock. On the day, with unlimited vehicles.
Self-driving…
Self-driving car companies are allowed to expand in San Francisco. California regulators support the technology despite local concerns.
The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to allow General Motors-owned Cruze (ticker: GM ) and Waymo, part of Google-parent Alphabet ( GOOGL ), to offer paid rides in driverless vehicles around the city around the clock. On the day, with unlimited vehicles.
Self-driving cars are appearing in many US cities, but as they spread, so do concerns about their safety. San Francisco officials have opposed expanded self-driving permits, but the statewide commission has jurisdiction over passenger transportation.
“We don’t have the data yet to evaluate AVs [autonomous vehicles] “I believe in the potential of this technology to increase safety on the road against the standards set by human drivers,” CPUC Commissioner John Reynolds said in a statement.
Fully self-driving cars are expected to eventually be big business—GM hopes that software and self-driving applications could generate $80 billion in annual sales by 2030—but right now they’re loss-making projects. Alphabet shares fell 0.4% on Friday and GM fell 0.9% amid broader market declines.
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Waymo said in a blog post that the waiting list for its San Francisco commuter services has more than 100,000 people and will continue to grow.
“Today’s approval marks the true start of our business operations in San Francisco,” said Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.
GM and Alphabet aren’t the only companies looking to benefit from the development of self-driving cars. Tesla
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( TSLA ) vehicles currently require driver supervision, but CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly said the company wants to eventually build a robotaxi. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is also expanding into the space through its Zoox business.
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