By Michael Elkins
Cruise, an autonomous vehicle company backed by General Motors (NYSE:GM), has officially gone commercial this week as it began charging for rides in its self-driving taxis.
The company said that driverless rides are currently taking place with “most riders” in the Northwest section of San Francisco. The service is currently only available in San Francisco, but a spokesperson for the company said that Cruise will continue “expanding our paid service in alignment with the smoothest customer experience possible.”
The company announced on June 2nd that they “received the first-ever Driverless Deployment Permit granted by the California Public Utilities Commission,” making them “the first and only company to operate a commercial, driverless ridehail service in a major U.S. city.”
The cost for riding in one of Cruise’s driverless vehicles will vary depending on the length of the trip and the time of day. According to an example provided by the company, a customer taking a 1.3-mile trip would pay $0.90 per mile and $0.40 per minute, in addition to a $5 base fee and 1.5 percent city tax, for a total of $8.72.
The company is currently prohibited from offering rides in its driverless vehicles during daytime hours, requiring a safety driver to be behind the wheel. However, nighttime trips are allowed to be fully driverless.
Cruise is also now allowing riders to bring a guest on their trip (previously, rides were limited to just the account holder).