San Francisco company opposes Cruise robotaxi utility, citing security

A self-driving cruise car owned by General Motors Corp is seen in front of the company’s San Francisco headquarters, where it conducts most of its testing, in California, U.S., September 26, 2018. Picture taken September 26, 2018. REUTERS / Heather Somerville

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Dec 1 (Reuters) – San Francisco’s public transit operator has challenged Cruise’s request for fees for robotaxi rides, saying that on Wednesday promotional videos from the General Motors Co (GM.N) unit showed Cruise passengers illegally entering and exiting vehicles in the middle of the street rather than at the curb.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) said in a 24-page letter that Cruise’s recent videos show the self-driving tech company allowing unlawful behavior that also endangers nearby people and slows down buses, agency director Jeff Tumlin said. The agency also blasted Cruise’s application for failing to plan for services in low-income and minority neighborhoods or to accommodate wheelchairs.

“Together, the cruise videos document 14 stops to pick up or drop off passengers; they provide evidence that not one of these stops meets the requirements of the Vehicle Code and the Transport Code,” the agency wrote.

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Cruise said it will address the concerns in a letter to the CPUC next Monday.

GM’s Cruise, Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo (GOOGL.O), and others see San Francisco as a good proving ground for robotaxi services. With the federal government reluctant to enact regulations for autonomous vehicles, states have stepped in to regulate them. But local authorities in San Francisco and elsewhere have been scrambling to get a bigger say in the emerging technologies, which include Tesla Inc.’s (TSLA.O) Autopilot. Continue reading

The SFMTA letter responds to a cruise filing last month with the California Public Utilities Commission, which has the final say on whether companies can charge for rides.

SFMTA’s letter calls for Cruise’s request to be denied unless it can demonstrate that its automated systems can detect lawful on-street parking, parallel parking, and back-to-back parking.

The agency also criticized Cruise’s original deployment plan because it would ignore almost all of the city’s low-income and disadvantaged communities and serve only 19% of San Francisco’s Hispanic population and 24% of the black population. The company has also yet to test wheelchair-accessible travel, the agency wrote.

Additionally, Cruise said it would avoid streets with light rail lines but failed to recognize a long train route in its planned service area, SFMTA wrote.

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Reporting by Paresh Dave; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by David Gregorio

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