Waymo may offer driverless cars in San Francisco

Google's Waymo company is allowed to offer driverless car services on San Francisco's public streets. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued the permit. According to the authority, the permit is part of a pilot project for a new transportation system. However, Waymo may only charge money for the service if a driver is also in the car.

As communicated by the CPUC, the vehicles are not allowed to drive faster than 100km/h. Drivers are limited to San Francisco and parts of the cities of Altos Hills, Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto and Sunnyvale.

Waymo has been deploying autonomous vehicles in San Francisco since spring 2022. Only its own employees were transported for free at first. Since 2017, Waymo has already been operating the "Easy Rider Program" in East Valley, a suburb of Phoenix in Arizona, and has gained experience with it.

In addition to Waymo, GM subsidiary Cruise also received approval for driverless services in June. Waymo joins the same testing program, which allows companies to test and develop their technology under real-world conditions. Both companies are required to submit quarterly reports on the operation of their autonomous robot cabs.