San Francisco asks California regulators to halt or slow the rollout of driverless taxis

San Francisco city officials have sent letters to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) asking to slow or halt the expansion of Cruise and Waymo robotaxi services in the city, NBC News has reported. San Francisco Transportation Authority (SFTA) officials wrote that unlimited expansion would be “unreasonable” in light of recent safety incidents in which vehicles blocked traffic and interfered with emergency vehicles. 

Alphabet’s Waymo and Cruise, owned by GM, both operate fully driverless services (without backup drivers) in the city. Last June, Cruise gained permission to charge for rides in set areas of the city between the hours of 10PM and 6AM. Waymo is allowed to give driverless vehicle rides but is waiting for another permit before it can charge for them. 

“A series of limited deployments with incremental expansions — rather than unlimited authorizations — offer the best path toward public confidence in driving automation and industry success in San Francisco and beyond,” the letter reads.

The services have had their challenges. A small fleet of Cruise robotaxis in San Francisco suddenly stopped operating on a street in the city’s Fillmore district, blocking traffic for several hours. Another Cruise vehicle was pulled over by confused cops and then promptly went on the lam. The NTSA recently opened a probe into Cruise’s self-driving vehicles over hard braking, traffic blocking and other issues. 

In one as yet unreported incident, Cruise vehicles also reportedly interfered with emergency responders. Firefighters had to smash the window one of the company’s robotaxis to prevent it from running over a firehose, according to the letter. 

However, Cruise pointed out that the service has been safe so far. “Cruise’s safety record is publicly reported and includes having driven millions of miles in an extremely complex urban environment with zero life-threatening injuries or fatalities,” a spokesperson told NBC News.

The letters may have been prompted by Cruise’s stated plans to operate its robotaxi service 24 hours a day rather than just at night. It’s been approved for that by the California DMV, but is waiting on permission from the CPUC. (Both companies also operate driverless ride services in Phoenix, and Cruise’s self-driving taxis are available in Austin, Texas as well.)

The SFTA isn’t against the 24/7 expansion, but has requested more data like how often and for how long Cruise’s vehicles block traffic. It also wants robotaxis to stay off primary routes during rush hour until they prove they can operate “without significant interruption of street operations and transit services.”

Engadget Podcast: Why is air travel falling apart?

The IT Crowd was right! You really should try turning everything off and on again to make it work. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra discuss how the FAA did just that to fix its NOTAM system, which alerts pilots of potential hazards. It turns out a database error was enough to send that system into a spiral, which forced the FAA to ground flights Wednesday morning. But of course, this was just one issue facing air travel in America – we also dive into Southwest’s holiday fiasco, as well as potential transportation alternatives.

Listen below or subscribe on your podcast app of choice. If you’ve got suggestions or topics you’d like covered on the show, be sure to email us or drop a note in the comments! And be sure to check out our other podcasts, the Morning After and Engadget News!

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Topics

  • FAA grounds planes after NOTAM outage – 1:34

  • Other News: Microsoft may have given up on the Surface Duo 3 in favor of foldables – 28:23

  • Biden calls for legislation on social media platforms – 35:31

  • NASA is funding ideas for a seaplane and faster deep space travel – 38:18

  • Hyundai’s new EV can “crab walk” into parallel parking spaces – 40:49

  • Samsung’s first Unpacked of 2023 scheduled for February 1 – 45:13

  • Pop culture picks – 52:47

Livestream

Credits
Hosts: Cherlynn Low and Devindra Hardawar
Producer: Ben Ellman
Music: Dale North and Terrence O’Brien
Livestream producers: Julio Barrientos
Graphic artists: Luke Brooks

Ember’s upcoming Travel Mug 2+ can be tracked in Apple’s Find My app

Apple’s Find My app alerts iOS and Mac users when they’ve left an item behind or helps them locate something they’ve lost. Later this year, you’ll be able to do just that with Ember’s heated travel mug. A new version, dubbed the Travel Mug 2+, is on th…

Waymo now offers driverless rides between Downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor Airport

Starting today, human-averse travelers in Phoenix can book a fully autonomous Waymo ride between the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and downtown. The Alphabet-owned company, which is also doubling its fully automated coverage area in the city, says the new route is the world’s only fully autonomous airport robotaxi service.

Waymo has accelerated its public rollout lately. In March, it received permission to charge for rides with a human safety driver in San Francisco. It also got approval last month to offer fully driverless cars there before rolling out service to the public earlier in December. San Francisco riders can now book a Waymo robotaxi across “a large portion of the city, including every neighborhood along the 17-mile Crosstown Trail.”

However, the company is still waiting for approval to charge for rider-only cars in San Francisco. It currently only offers service to Waymo employees, their guests and select members of the public. Waymo was the second fully autonomous service operating in San Francisco, behind GM-owned rival Cruise (although it only offers fully automated rides at night).

Waymo’s expansion means more Americans can book a driverless car, but it’s still modest compared to what you’ll see in China. Baidu’s robotaxi service is available to the public in larger Chinese cities, although with limitations on cars without a safety driver.