More self-driving cars are riding into SF

Expect to see more ghost-riders, more commonly called self-driving vehicles, on the streets of San Francisco.

Driving the news: Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous driving unit, announced last week it plans to start offering fully self-driving rides, without anyone in the driver's seat, in the next few weeks.

• That's courtesy of the California Public Utilities Commission granting Waymo a Driverless Pilot permit earlier this month.
• Yes, but: The permit requires that Waymo offer test rides to the public for free.

The big picture: Waymo will be the second company to offer fully autonomous rides to the public in San Francisco.

• In February, Cruise began operating fully driverless, late-night rides throughout SF. It plans to offer daytime rides to members of the public "soon," CEO Kyle Vogt tweeted this month.
• Cruise started charging for rides in June, after receiving a Driverless Deployment permit from the CPUC.

What's next: Waymo says the plan is to launch 24/7 driverless rides to members of the public soon.