Autonomous Trucks
In a win for the autonomous vehicle industry, California regulators have given the green light to Cruise and Waymo to offer commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Cruise and Waymo both offer limited paid services in San Francisco — Cruise charges for driverless rides at night, and Waymo charges for its robotaxi service throughout the city at any time of day, but with a human safety operator present. While Cruise and Waymo have both said they would expand incrementally, and not all at once, scale is vital for the companies’ success. If either Waymo of Cruise are to get a return on their investments, they need to grow exponentially in San Francisco and beyond. Some people representing unions like Local 87 said they believed Cruise and Waymo would bring more unionized jobs to the city.