The road to robotaxis reaching San Diego streets
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The first step of introducing robotaxis to San Diego streets is underway.
Driving the news: Cruise, one of the companies that can charge San Francisco riders for driverless rides without a safety driver permanently present, is collecting data on San Diego streets, a first step before it could introduce the service here.
- "Generally our process for deployment starts with first getting to know each city's unique driving environment which is where this data collection comes into play," said Cruise spokesperson Tiffany Testo in a statement. "We do this by collecting data with a small testing fleet of vehicles that are manually driven by a human driver behind the wheel."
Why it matters: San Francisco has seen a limited rollout of robotaxis, and the California Public Utilities Commission's decision this summer to grant an expansion of those permits for Cruise and Waymo led to extensive debate, ranging from concerns and optimism about the technology's impact on safety, accessibility and economic potential.
How it works: Any Cruise vehicle downtown will be driven by a human while the driverless system collects city-specific information to incorporate into its model.
- Cruise said its next step is to map the area and begin night and day driverless testing, with a safety driver present, to fine-tune the company's tech to San Diego's specific conditions.
- Currently, 40 companies have permits to test autonomous vehicles on any public road in California, and the DMV is aware of 2,012 test vehicles with 2,868 safety drivers operating in the state.
Of note: Qualcomm is permitted to test with a safety driver on San Diego roads, the DMV confirmed.
- A Qualcomm representative said it's testing technology it sells to auto manufacturers — its Snapdragon Digital Chassis.
- It tests that technology on a closed, five-mile stretch of highway near the border, coordinated with CalTrans.
What's next: Testing without a driver, or deploying a product for public use, both require permits that are limited to specific geographic areas and conditions, like time of day, weather and speed.
- Cruise doesn't have one of those in San Diego — but one company does.
- In June, the DMV gave Mercedes-Benz USA a permit for its DRIVE PILOT system on certain California highways — including San Diego.
- It's limited to driving during daylight and under 40 miles per hour.