Driverless ride-hailing service for Cruise staff

Self-driving start-up Cruise, acquired by GM last year, is running an autonomous ride-hailing service in San Francisco for its employees, although the cars do have back-up drivers as required by law.

Called Cruise Anywhere, it allows staff to use a smartphone app to get where they need to go in the US city at any time.

The company says that some employees are already using it as their primary source of transportation, replacing either personal vehicle ownership, public transit or traditional ride-hailing services completely, TechCrunch reports.

Cruise says 10% of its San Francisco employees are using the beta, and more are being enrolled each week with a waiting list in place.

“We’ve always said we’d launch first with a rideshare application,” Cruise chief executive officer and co-founder Kyle Vogt says. “We’re really excited about how the technology is evolving, and the rate at which it’s evolving.”

Staff can use the Cruise Anywhere services between 16 and 24 hours daily, depending on fleet availability. More than 100 cars will be added in the next few months.

The cars are modified Chevrolet Bolt EVs with sensors and self-driving computers and software. Each has a safety driver for testing and as the law demands.

Yet Cruise says drivers have had to take over manual control only on a few occasions.

One Cruise employee has already taken more than 60 rides during the past few weeks, using it for everything from running errands to going out to drinks.

Competitor Waymo has also debuted an autonomous ride-hailing trial in Chandler, Arizona, with public applications for membership invited.