California regulators gave approval Thursday to two rival robotaxi companies, Cruise and Waymo, to operate their driverless cars 24/7 across all of San Francisco and charge passengers for their services.

The much-anticipated vote, which followed roughly six hours of public comment both for and against driverless taxis, came amid clashes between the robotaxi companies and some residents of the hilly city. San Francisco first responders, city transportation leaders and local activists are among those who shared concerns about the technology.

The California Public Utilities Commission regulates self-driving cars in the state and voted 3-to-1 in favor of Waymo and Cruise expanding their operations.

That means residents and visitors to San Francisco will be able to pay a fare to ride in a driverless taxi, ushering in new automated competition to cab and ridehail drivers.

“Today’s permit marks the true beginning of our commercial operations in San Francisco,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, in a press release.

Cruise spokesperson Drew Pusateri said in a statement that the 24/7 driverless service is a “historic industry milestone” that puts Cruise “in a position to compete with traditional ridehail, and challenge an unsafe, inaccessible transportation status quo.”

Until Thursday’s vote, Cruise and Waymo could offer only limited service to San Francisco residents.

Cruise — a subsidiary of General Motors — could charge a fare only for overnight rides occurring between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in select parts of the city. Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, could charge a fare only for rides with a human driver in the vehicle.

Now, Cruise and Waymo can charge a fare for their driverless rides and 24/7 access to San Francisco streets as they do so.

Cruise officials told state commissioners at a recent public hearing that it deploys about 300 vehicles at night and 100 during the day, while Waymo officials said that around 100 of its 250 vehicles are on the road at any given time.

The autonomous ride-hailing service offered by Cruise and Waymo allows users to request a ride similar to Uber or Lyft. There is a difference, of course: The car has no driver.

Members of the public packed the commission’s San Francisco headquarters to share their thoughts with state commissioners in one-minute increments during the meeting. Critics pointed to driverless cars freezing in traffic and blocking first responders, while advocates said they felt the cars drove more defensively than human drivers.(SD-Agencies)

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【冲突】

chōng tū

clash

a sharp conflict

【现状】

xiàn zhuàng

status quo

the existing state of affairs

加州监管机构周四批准Cruise和Waymo两家无人出租车公司在旧金山全境全天候运营，提供有偿服务，这两家公司是竞争对手。

因为两家出租车公司与这座山城的部分居民有很大分歧，这个投票结果备受瞩目，投票前，支持和反对无人出租车的公众发表了长达六个小时的意见。旧金山急救人员、交通官员和活动家都对该技术表示担忧。

加州公用事业委员会负责监管该州的自动驾驶汽车，以3比1的投票结果支持Waymo 和Cruise扩大运营。

这意味着旧金山的居民和游客将可以付费使用无人驾驶出租车，为出租车和网约车司机带来新的竞争。

“今天的许可标志着我们在旧金山商业运营的真正开始，”Waymo联合首席执行官泰克德拉•马瓦卡纳在一份新闻稿中说。

Cruise发言人德鲁•普萨特里在一份声明中说，全天候无人驾驶服务是一个“历

史性的行业里程碑”，它让Cruise“有能力与传统的打车服务竞争，挑战不安全、不便利的交通现状”。周四的投票之前，Cruise和Waymo只能为旧金山居民提供有限服务。

通用汽车公司旗下的Cruise只能在晚上 10 点到早上 6 点之间，在该市部分地区提供有偿的夜间搭乘服务。谷歌母公司Alphabet 旗下的Waymo则只能在有人类司机在场的情况下提供付费服务。

现在，Cruise和 Waymo的无人驾驶汽车可以全天候在旧金山的大街小巷提供有偿服务。

Cruise的官员在最近一次公开听证会上告诉州委员们，该公司在夜间部署了约 300 辆车，白天部署了 100 辆车，而Waymo的官员则表示，在一天的任何时候，其 250 辆车中约有100辆在路上行驶。

Cruise和Waymo的无人出租车允许用户使用类似Uber或Lyft的叫车服务。当然，两者有明显区别：这些出租车没有司机。会议期间公众挤满了委员会的旧金山总部，每人一分钟与州委员们分享他们的想法。

批评者指出，无人驾驶汽车有时会在车流中停下来，阻碍急救人员，而支持者则认为无人驾驶汽车比人类司机更安全。