Some Uber users ordering rides in San Francisco will be picked up by self-driving Volvos, the company announced Wednesday.
Uber's fleet of autonomous vehicles was launched first in Pittsburg in September and is now expanded to San Francisco, where the cars will face hilly streets, wet weather and the judgement of the service's users, many of whom work at technology companies in nearby Silicon Valley.
Uber partnered with automaker Volvo in creating the self-driving Volvo XC90 SUVs. Each car is outfitted with a laser, a spinning sensor and multiple cameras to help it detect other cars or pedestrians. In the short term, an Uber employee will accompany any rider in the robotic cars, ready to take over the controls in case the ride goes awry.
“The promise of self-driving is core to our mission of reliable transportation, everywhere for everyone," Anthony Levandowsky, the head of Uber's Advanced Technology Group, said in an official blog post about the launch. “As demand for ridesharing continues to skyrocket, the future of transportation will be a mix of human drivers and self-driving cars."
California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has criticized the launch, however, claiming that Uber has not registered with the state in order to do tests with self-driving cars.
“We have a permitting process in place to ensure public safety as this technology is being tested," the DMV said in a statement. “Twenty manufacturers have already obtained permits to test hundreds of cars on California roads. Uber shall do the same."
Uber, which has a storied record of battling local regulations across the globe, said it did not need to receive a permit from the DMV because each car will be manned.
“For us, it's still early days and our cars are not yet ready to drive without a person monitoring them," Levandowski said in an official response.
