General Motors’ self-driving unit, Cruise, announced plans to begin supervised testing of its autonomous vehicles in California’s Bay Area this fall. The company will initially deploy manual mapping vehicles in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, followed by the testing of up to five autonomous vehicles.
Cruise shared the update on the social media platform X, outlining its preparations for resuming operations after previously pausing its self-driving car program. The company halted operations in October 2023 after an incident in San Francisco, where a pedestrian hit by another vehicle was dragged by one of its robotaxis.
“Resuming testing in the Bay Area is an important step forward as we continue to work closely with California regulators and local stakeholders,” Cruise said in a statement.
Starting today we will deploy several manual mapping vehicles in Sunnyvale and Mountain View with the intent to progress to supervised testing with up to 5 AVs later this fall. Resuming testing in the Bay Area is an important step forward as we continue to work closely with… pic.twitter.com/OlDkv74r34
— cruise (@Cruise) September 19, 2024
Cruise had resumed operations earlier this year in Arizona with a small fleet of human-driven vehicles. This marked the company’s return to testing approximately six months after the San Francisco incident.
In August, the California Department of Motor Vehicles issued draft regulations that would allow self-driving trucks to operate on highways, potentially enabling long-haul deliveries by autonomous vehicles in the future.
