Cruise Halts All Robotaxi, Driverless Car Operations Nationwide Following California Suspension Earlier This Week

General Motors, the parent company of driverless car subsidiary Cruise, announced on Friday that they would be suspending operations nationwide because of safety concerns, only days after the California DMV ordered the company to stop all driverless car operations in the state.

For several years, California has been a battle ground for self-driving cars and robotaxi services. Robotaxi rollouts in San Francisco by Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise have faced the most challenges, although recent operations in other areas such as Los Angeles have seen growing pushback. While the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) slowly expanded the limits of the robotaxis in the city following introduction in 2020, reports of blocked traffic, blocked emergency workers, blocked mass transit, and other similar issues became commonplace in the city. The San Francisco Police Department, San Francisco Fire Department and other emergency service agencies addressed just how much these companies should expand by, given the many kinks to be worked out.

In the last few months, new expansions by robotaxi companies have largely backfired In August, CPUC voted to expand operations in San Francisco, despite dozens of incidents caused by autonomous cars and the majority of residents opposing them. But the rapid expansion instead caused more accidents to occur – 10 Cruise robotaxis stalled and caused a major backup. Another taxi careened into a construction site and got stuck in wet concrete. A Cruise vehicle even caused a passenger injury when it crashed into a firetruck. The growing number of incidents subsequently caused Cruise to reduce the number of robotaxis there by 50%.

Then came this week. On Tuesday, Teamsters-led protests erupted against robotaxi companies in San Francisco and Los Angeles, which was followed shortly by the California DMV ordering Cruise to stop all operations in the state because of safety concerns over recent accidents. While Cruise complied, the very next day the future of both Cruise and Waymo in Los Angeles was further put into question following LA Councilman Soto-Martinez announcing a new motion urging officials in the state to address public safety concerns around autonomous vehicles and reign in the expansion of robotaxis in Los Angeles.

With the majority of the public now against robotaxis, a growing federal investigation into robotaxi incidents, being locked out of operating in San Francisco for at least the near future, and now facing major restrictions in Los Angeles, Cruise announced on Friday that they would be halting robotaxi services nationwide. In addition to Californian cities where they currently operate such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, robotaxis would be suspended in Houston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, and Miami.

“The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust. Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable or difficult,” said Cruise on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We have decided to proactively pause driverless operations across all of our fleets while we take time to examine our processes, systems, and tools and reflect on how we can better operate in a way that will earn public trust. This isn’t related to any new on-road incidents. We think it’s the right thing to do during a period when we need to be extra vigilant when it comes to risk, relentlessly focused on safety and taking steps to rebuild public trust.”

(1/3) The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust. Part of this involves taking a hard look inwards and at how we do work at Cruise, even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable or difficult.

— cruise (@Cruise) October 27, 2023

Cruise added that while supervised driverless car rides will still take place, meaning that a human driver will be behind the wheel as a safety measure, completely driverless vehicles were still going to be the main end-goal for the company. Despite the numerous accidents and incidents being reported in recent months, Cruise has maintained that driverless cars are 65% less likely to be in an accident than human driven cars.

Cruise suspends all robotaxi services nationwide

In addition to temporarily suspending all robotaxi operations, Cruise also announced on Friday that they would be complying in full with the federal governments investigation into the,

“We welcome NHTSA’s questions related to our safety record and operations,” added Cruise spokesperson Hannah Lindow. “We have cooperated with each of their requests to date as part of the ongoing investigation process and will continue doing so.”

Experts told the Globe on Friday that, despite the company repeatedly defending itself on Friday, there are numerous issues to work out and that Cruise’s action have put the near-future of driverless cars into question.

“This has been a tough week for GM and Cruise,”  said Sebastian Jordan, a mass transit advisor who has worked with multiple agencies in California in the past. “GM itself is currently still in the middle of a strike while competitors like Ford have struck deals. And now all of this with Cruise and the self-driving cars.”

“AI cars are still thought of as the future, but GM and Cruise are giving themselves a bad name. You know, at first, people played it off. A cruise vehicle suddenly stopping in the middle of the street inviting it to be hit by other drivers? They were just a typical San Francisco driver. That was the joke.”

“But now, with people getting injured and their safety records coming into question, it just took a turn. The feds are investigating them, California pulled their operations, and then with so many cities worried about the company and threatening similar bans, Cruise just took their ball and went home. Say what you will about the rivalry between California and Florida and Texas, but when public safety suddenly became an issue in California, the cities shared information on this and decided that California was in the right. Cruise couldn’t have more states pull out because of how embarrassing it was, so they decided to hit that button first and save face.”

“Waymo is still operating in San Francisco and Los Angeles, although who knows if they are going to have to do the same thing soon. One accident and they may have to pull a Cruise too. California is being more cautious now, as are other states. And this is an emerging industry that every car company or driverless company wants to be out ahead in. If this was a track and field event, Cruise just tripped itself on a hurdle and fell face first.”

More updates on robotaxis in California are likely to come soon.