The ride was brief, as California regulators have ordered Uber to stop its self-driving experiment in San Francisco the same day it was formally announced.
Uber, with partner Volvo, announced Wednesday it would extend its self-driving ride share program from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, giving users rides in XC90s with autonomous technology. But as it turns out, it did so by trying to get around a law that requires companies testing autonomous vehicles on public roads to apply for a permit with the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. According to TechCrunch, the Department has put the hammer down on that.
In a letter obtained by TechCrunch, the Office of the Director of the DMV states that if Uber had applied for the permit, the self-driving pilot project would have been allowed to launch today. But because there is no permit, the Department is ordering the service shut down until Uber is in compliance. If it does not follow the regulations, legal action may be involved, according to the letter.
A representative from Volvo Cars told Carscoops earlier Wednesday that Uber was not using any permits obtained by the automaker, since it only provides the hardware for this partnership.
The launch was already not going smoothly, as video of a Volvo XC90 that was clearly part of the partnership was caught running a red light through a crosswalk with a pedestrian in it within hours of the program launch, which you can view below.