Cruise, General Motors' self-driving vehicle subsidiary, has expanded its robotaxi service to Houston, a strategic move as the business confronts rising criticism in its initial launch city, San Francisco.

The Houston branch of Cruise has started operations, providing rides seven days a week from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in an area covering the Downtown, Midtown, East Downtown, Montrose, Hyde Park, and River Oaks areas. The business, which has 400 autonomous cars in Austin, Houston, Phoenix, and San Francisco, starts in a new city with a dozen vehicles and expands as required.

A Growing Robotaxi Business

TechCrunch reports that in late 2022, the tech-centric corporation with its headquarters in San Francisco entered the Texas market. In Austin, where they debuted their specially constructed Origin cars in the spring of 2023, the first self-driving Chevrolet Bolt testing was carried out.

Then, in May, Cruise started putting its robotaxis through its paces in Houston and Dallas, first with a human safety driver at the wheel. They had progressed to full-scale autonomous testing by August, doing away with the requirement for a human operator. During that time, Cruise offered the service to some of its workers' friends and family members.

In Texas, Cruise has already traveled one million miles, demonstrating the company's dedication to forging a strong presence there. With the current announcement, clients in Houston may now use the Cruise app to request a driverless robotaxi. Cruise is running a short-term deal with fixed rates of $5 for all journeys to attract more customers.

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Cruise Addressing San Francisco Backlash

While expanding into Houston, Cruise confronts growing scrutiny in San Francisco, where people and municipal authorities are concerned about the robotaxis' commercial suitability. Numerous city-based occurrences with Cruise cars have heightened these worries.

In one noteworthy instance from the beginning of October, a lady was critically injured after being hit by a human-driven car, which caused her to get trapped beneath a Cruise robotaxi, per CBS News.

In response to tensions that have been building for months in San Francisco, Cruise has unveiled several significant advancements geared at improving vehicle engagement with emergency and first responder vehicles, per The San Francisco Standard.

To better recognize and navigate emergency scenes and avoid double-parked emergency vehicles, Cruise is updating its vehicle systems in response to allegations claiming that Cruise cars were interfering with emergency personnel.

Additionally, Cruise is improving its siren recognition and reaction capabilities, automatically slowing down to 70% of the posted speed limit when one is detected, even if it is not visible. Additionally, they are locating more "early stopping locations" to help the self-driving car stop more quickly.

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