SACRAMENTO (KRON) – Two autonomous vehicle companies have taken the next step in being able to charge for their services.
Waymo’s driver-less cars were approved by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for commercial services within parts of San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. The vehicles can operate on public roads up to 65 mph and in rain and light fog.
Waymo has had state authority to test autonomous vehicles on public roads with a safety driver since 2014 and received a driverless testing permit in October 2018.
Cruise was also approved by the DMV, but has more restrictions. Cruise cars can operate commercial services on surface streets within designated parts of San Francisco only. The vehicles are approved to operate on public roads between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. at a maximum speed limit of 30 miles per hour and in light rain and light fog.
Cruise has had state authority to test autonomous vehicles on public roads with a safety driver since 2015 and authority to test autonomous vehicles without a driver since October 2020.
Unlike an autonomous testing permit, which limits the compensation that a manufacturer can receive from the public while validating the technology on public roads, a deployment permit allows a company to make its autonomous technology commercially available outside of a testing program.
In order to receive a deployment permit, manufacturers must certify they meet a number of safety, insurance and vehicle registration requirements, including:
- Identifying the operational design domain of the vehicles, as well as describing any commonly occurring restricted conditions within which the vehicles would not be able to operate.
- Verifying the technology is capable of detecting and responding to roadway situations in compliance with the California Vehicle Code, and a description of how the vehicle meets the definition of an SAE Level 3, 4 or 5 autonomous technology.
- Verifying the vehicles meet federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards or have an exemption from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
- Certifying the manufacturer has conducted test and validation methods and is satisfied that the autonomous vehicles are safe for deployment on California public roads.
- Developing a Law Enforcement Interaction Plan that provides information to law enforcement and other first responders on how to interact with the autonomous vehicles.
- Providing evidence of insurance or a bond equal to $5 million.
While the DMV has approved the two companies, authorization from the California Public Utilities Commission is still required before they can hit the streets.
KRON4 has reached out to see when that might be and will update the article when it receives that information.