Cruise, the self-driving car company owned by General Motors, is set to expand its robotaxi testing to Houston and Dallas, following its previous entry into Austin, reported first by Engadget.
This expansion focuses on familiarizing autonomous vehicles with the cities rather than offering rides to passengers immediately. Residents are anticipated to spot Cruise's robotaxis navigating the streets with a safety driver on board.
Expanding on Texas
Cruise took to Twitter to announce its plans, stating that supervised testing in Houston would commence in the coming days, followed shortly by Dallas.
Currently, Cruise's robotaxis are available on a limited basis in Austin and Phoenix during overnight hours, as well as throughout certain areas of San Francisco throughout the day.
Nonetheless, the swift advancements made by Cruise have elicited concerns from authorities.
In January, the San Francisco Transportation Authority voiced its concerns and urged regulators to impose restrictions or a temporary halt on Cruise and Waymo's expansion.
The request stemmed from incidents where the self-driving vehicles abruptly halted in traffic, causing disruptions for emergency vehicles. Despite these concerns, Cruise has persisted in its progress.
Following the request, Cruise celebrated a significant milestone of completing one million miles in fully driverless mode and extended the availability of its robotaxis in San Francisco to operate round the clock, albeit exclusively for employees at present.
Although an exact date has not been disclosed for the general public to access robotaxi rides in Houston and Dallas, it is anticipated that it will take several months before the service is made fully available.
Initially, the availability may be constrained to a select group of individuals and restricted to nighttime operations. Prospective users will be required to sign up for a waiting list and undergo acceptance in order to create an account and access Cruise's robotaxi services.
As of now, the company has stated that its services will remain exclusive to invitees due to the limited number of cars available.
Read Also: Robotaxis Are Causing Problems in San Francisco, Now Looking to Slow Down Approvals in the City
Available Next Week
Megan Prichard, Cruise's vice president of ride-hail, told Houston Chronicle that the testing in Houston will commence next week.
"We designed the technology to launch first in San Francisco with the idea that we would see all sorts of challenges: everything from roller skate parties, to heavy traffic to raccoons in the roads," Prichard said in a statement.
"And we thought that if we designed our technology for a dense urban environment, that we would be able to then pick it up and put it into other cities around the country and around the world with only a little bit of fine tuning."
With the expansion of its autonomous vehicle testing to Houston and Dallas, Cruise is actively tackling unique challenges inherent to each city, drawing on the knowledge gained from its operations in San Francisco.
The company's goal is to fine-tune its technology to effectively navigate diverse urban landscapes, laying the groundwork for future deployments in cities throughout the United States.
Related Article: US Safety Regulators Conduct Investigation on Cruise Robotaxi Braking and Clogging Reports
