GM's Cruise begins testing all-electric driverless taxis in Raleigh
Have you seen a driverless taxi in Raleigh this week?
General Motors' all-electric driverless car company Cruise announced Tuesday it started its initial testing phase in Raleigh so the technology can adjust to the city's roads and driver behavior. Passengers are not yet able to request a ride.
The cars have already been spotted in downtown Raleigh, east Raleigh and North Hills. Cruise began testing the taxis in Charlotte earlier this month, WCNC reports.
"For now, our vehicles will be manually driven by a human driver behind the wheel, but you might start to see them around as we get used to Raleigh's driving environment," said a spokesperson for the company.
The Associated Press reports Cruise recently agreed to cut its fleet of San Francisco robotaxis in half as authorities investigate two recent crashes in the city.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles asked for the reduction after a Cruise vehicle without a human driver collided with an unspecified emergency vehicle.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the DMV said Cruise "will have no more than 50 driverless vehicles in operation during the day and 150 driverless vehicles in operation at night.”
The development came just over a week after California regulators allowed Cruise and Google spinoff Waymo to operate autonomous robotaxis throughout San Francisco at all hours.
North Carolina State University professor Ali Hajbabaie is researching autonomous and self-driving cars. She thinks the technology is almost ready.
"These cars are supposed to drive and drive and drive, so they have seen pretty much all conditions that could happen," Hajbabaie said.
Hajbabaie said Cruise is collecting data during its test drives in Raleigh because roads, traffic signs and driver behaviors are different in every city.
"When they go to a new city like Raleigh, there are going to be conditions and situations they have not been exposed to, and as a result of that they need to gather that experience," Hajbabaie said. "When they go to a new city like Raleigh, there are going to be conditions and situations they have not been exposed to, and as a result of that they need to gather that experience."
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is not required to get a permit to test driveless technology on the roads in Raleigh. A state law passed in 2017 regulates fully autonomous vehicles in North Carolina. It states:
- No driver's license is required to operate one, but there is a minimum age of 12 to ride in one unsupervised
- The registered owner of a driverless car is responsible for any violations
- The vehicles are required to meet federal safety regulations.
"I am excited that they’re here testing this out," said Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.
Baldwin says driverless taxis could give people a new option to get around in a growing city, despite some of the safety concerns with the developing technology.
"It’s always a concern, but so are people driving," Baldwin said. "We have more accidents now than we’ve ever had.
"We’ve had more pedestrian fatalities, and that’s with people driving cars."
As of Wednesday, aCruise spokesperson said there's not timeframe for when driverless taxis would roll out on the roads in Raleigh.
Have you seen a Cruise taxi?
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