Cruise Automation, the autonomous vehicle division of General Motors (GM), has started its first driverless rides on the public streets of San Francisco.
Cruise employees have been taking rides in the vehicles at night with the vehicles performing pick up through the app and drop off without issue.
Mary Barra, CEO of GM, took a ride in one of the vehicles and called it “a highlight of her career” as an engineer.
Riders in San Francisco can apply for the service through Cruise’s sign-up page and then hail the autonomous vehicles for a ride in the city.
Additionally, Cruise announced that SoftBank Vision Fund has agreed to fully invest its $1.35 billion. The company initially invested $900 million in Cruise in 2018 and would invest the additional amount when Cruise started operating fully driverless cars.
In the video, riders are seen experiencing a ride without a driver, some for the first time. They watch as the car pilots through the city to a destination. The cars come without a safety driver and some of the riders are taken throughout the city. The riders then summarize their experiences on riding in a vehicle without any human inside.