Autonomous Vehicle News
The California Public Utilities Commission voted 3-1 in favor of opening up robotaxis for 24/7 service anywhere in the city of San Francisco Thursday night. The vote comes after contentious public comment both for and against the two companies—Waymo and Cruise—and their self-driving cars. The vote makes San Francisco the first city in America to really open up self-driving cars to the entire city. She said instances where firefighters had to attend to self-driving cars that wouldn’t move for 30 minutes were “unacceptable.” City officials said they had also documented about 600 incidents involving self-driving cars, including when the cars stopped unexpectedly or made illegal turns. The problems have been so concerning that San Francisco leadership begged the state to hold off on the vote, winning two extensions.