Cruise’s robotaxis have driven 1 million miles with nobody behind the wheel<p>For autonomous vehicle developers, every mile driven serves as proof that their technology works and as an opportunity to gather data for further improvement. Which is why Cruise, which has just <a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="
https://getcruise.com/news/blog/2023/one-million-driverless-miles">announced[/url] that it has completed 1 million fully driverless miles, calls the achievement one of its biggest milestones yet. A spokesperson told us that those were miles driven with no safety driver behind the wheel and that most of them were collected in San Francisco.</p><p>If you'll recall, the GM subsidiary started <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/g-ms-cruise-is-now-offering-driverless-taxi-rides-in-san-francisco-103542426.html">testing fully driverless rides[/url] in the city back in <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://twitter.com/kvogt/status/1455992698242953219">November 2021[/url]. It was also the first company to ever receive a driverless deployment permit from the California Public Utilities Commission, allowing it <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/cruise-charge-fully-driverless-rides-san-francisco-092000547.html">to charge passengers[/url] for robotaxi rides by June last year. Based on the <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-industry-services/autonomous-vehicles/disengagement-reports/">disengagement reports[/url] it submitted to the California DMV, it only had around 30 cars or so operating at the beginning of 2022. <a data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1" href="
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/30/business/cruise-gm-san-francisco-self-driving/index.html">
CNN[/url] said it was maintaining a fleet of 100 vehicles by September last year and was seeking to add 5,000 more. </p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>Mo Elshenawy, Cruise's SVP of engineering, said each one of those miles "has been packed with complex scenarios that have set Cruise up for rapid scale." Since San Francisco streets are often chaotic and packed with people, the company was able to gather tons of useful data it can use to better its technology. "For example," Elshenawy wrote in a <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="
https://getcruise.com/news/blog/2023/one-million-driverless-miles">blog[/url] post, "stop sign blow-throughs are 46x times more frequent in San Francisco than in suburban areas."</p><p>Cruise has been feeding data from each drive into a continuous learning machine that creates millions of permutations of real-world scenarios on the road. That allows the technology to learn from simulated drives and then apply what it learns in real life. "When you consider our safety record, the gravity of our team’s achievement comes into sharper focus," Elshenawy continued. "To date, riders have taken tens of thousands of rides in Cruise AVs. In the coming years, millions of people will experience this fully driverless future for themselves."</p><p>Cruise's announcement comes almost a month after San Francisco officials <a data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" href="
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/san-francisco-looks-hit-brakes-self-driving-cars-rcna66204">sent a letter[/url] to California regulators, asking them to slow Cruise's (and Waymo's) expansion plans. They reportedly wanted a better understanding of autonomous vehicles first and were worried about "the hazards and network impacts caused by planned and unplanned AV stops that obstruct traffic." As <a data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:The New York Times;elmt:;cpos:9;pos:1" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=c813ae39-7d58-41cb-ac66-ad830606ceef&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=The+New+York+Times&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiJjODEzYWUzOS03ZDU4LTQxY2ItYWM2Ni1hZDgzMDYwNmNlZWYiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnl0aW1lcy5jb20vMjAyMy8wMi8wMS90ZWNobm9sb2d5L3NlbGYtZHJpdmluZy10YXhpLXNhbi1mcmFuY2lzY28uaHRtbCIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiNjgyNzkyMjktNDY5Zi00MDVhLTk0ZmMtZWEyNTIzNmU1YjRjIn0&signature=AQAAAVVmRS9sMIFW3HxHQo27WeTZRj1_JSqgn4LJsNgQCDEi&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2023%2F02%2F01%2Ftechnology%2Fself-driving-taxi-san-francisco.html" class="rapid-with-clickid">
The New York Times[/url] said in a recent report, stalled Cruise and Waymo vehicles have caused traffic jams in San Francisco several times in the past. Officials believe these companies have to significantly improve their technologies before expanding, or else they "could quickly exhaust emergency response resources and could undermine public confidence in all automated driving technology."</p><div id="926278081d9a481898726f12c5fa93fd"><div style="left:0;width:100%;height:0;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;"><iframe src="
https://www.youtube.com/embed/HxKbITQCZmM?rel=0" style="top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;position:absolute;border:0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div><p></p>
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Cruise’s robotaxis have driven 1 million miles with nobody behind the wheel
