General Motors has launched its own autonomous ride-hailing service.
Dubbed Cruise Anywhere, the service was launched by GM subsidiary Cruise Automation and it allows the company’s employees to get a ride in San Francisco.
The service is currently in beta testing but the results have been extremely positive as some employees are now using the service as their primary means of transportation.
As Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt explained to Tech Crunch, “We’re really excited about how the technology is evolving, and the rate at which it’s evolving. This is a manifestation of that – putting the app in people’s hands and having them use it for the first time and make AVs [autonomous vehicles] their primary form of transportation.”
While the service is still being testing, employees can request a vehicle anywhere in San Francisco that has already been mapped by the company. The app will then send an autonomous Chevrolet Bolt to their location and transport them to their destination.
Since regulations haven’t kept pace with technology, the service still requires the use of a safety driver. However, Cruise contends the safety drivers have only had to intervene on a few occasions and most trips are done autonomously.