With Cruise approved by the state to begin commercial ride hail service in its fully autonomous cars, San Francisco officials have major outstanding questions about the readiness of the vehicles and the regulations that govern them.
The self-driving car revolution is accelerating in San Francisco, but city leaders don’t want to put the pedal to the metal just yet.
Without addressing these issues, The City argued in a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, Cruise’s commercial deployment could amount to a repeat of the arrival of Uber and Lyft a decade ago. That new transportation technology, The City wrote, “undermined San Francisco’s climate goals, reduced transportation options for people who use wheelchairs, and significantly increased congestion and travel time delays on San Francisco streets used for robust public transit services.
Should Cruise want to increase its fleet, it will not require new approvals from the CPUC unless the agency determines the additional vehicles"materially affect" the safety regulations in the approved permit, a CPUC spokesperson said. Should Cruise want to expand its service area to include downtown San Francisco or extend its operating hours, it may be able to do so through a procedural action by CPUC staff, not a full hearing and vote by the commission. It would depend, once again, on whether the agency determines the change will"materially affect" Cruise's permit.
In its final letter to the commission, San Francisco praised Cruise's driving behavior overall, writing,"the driverless Cruise AV appears to generally operate as a cautious and compliant defensive driver," before taking issue with the company's pickup and drop-off practices. In a review of 85 driverless Cruise pickups and drop-offs captured on video, not once did the vehicle pull over to the curb, even when curb space was available, The City found.