A few years ago, when the first information appeared about the work of large car manufacturers on self-driving vehicles, it seemed incredible and something from the future. But now, apparently, the future has come – the division of GM, which is responsible for drones, has launched a special taxi in San Francisco that delivers passengers without a driver. True, so far only in test mode – only employees of the unit can use this type of transport. The first customer of the new service was the co-founder and president of the company, Kyle Vogt, who not only tested the drone on public roads, but also noted that such a taxi would be free for all GM employees.
1) Monday night was a night I’ll never forget. I’m still speechless. I got to take the first ride, by anyone, ever, in a *driverless* robotaxi on the streets of San Francisco.
This was officially ride #1 for @Cruise. Full story and vids below.https://t.co/GDjVcvMrvK
— Kyle Vogt (@kvogt) November 3, 2021
However, the robotic taxi also has certain restrictions, which are due to local legislation. For example, a drone can drive in San Francisco exclusively at night – the travel document specifies the time from 22:00 to 06:00. In this case, the maximum speed of movement should not exceed 48 kilometers per hour. And, most interestingly, the free travel is associated not only with the love of GM for its employees, but also with the legislation – the state forbade the company to charge for the transportation of passengers, money can only be taken for the delivery of goods.
On the other hand, so far GM has no plans to apply for a permit for the paid transportation of passengers in a robotic taxi – now the concern is testing its cars and collecting data. But, which is quite important, all this is already happening on public roads and without a driver behind the wheel – the customer of the service just needs to enter the address of the final trip and go about their business. GM believes that very soon it will be commonplace, and the usual taxi will become extinct as a species.
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