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General Motors ’ Cruise is redeploying robotaxis in Phoenix after nearly five month of paused operation , the company said in a web log office . The catch ? The cars will be in “ manual style , ” so they wo n’t be driving themselves .
Cruise will summarise manual drive of its self-governing vehicles to create maps and gather road data in certain cities , starting with Phoenix , the company said Tuesday . The GM underling already had a mien in Phoenix before itpulled its entire U.S.-based fleet last yearfollowing an incident in San Francisco that left a pedestrian stuck under and dragged by a Cruise robotaxi .
Prior to that incident , Cruise had been announcing launch in Modern cities — including Dallas , Houston and Miami — at a startling yard . Critics charge the company of lucubrate too fast and issue corner on safety .
Today , we ’re taking an crucial next step in revert to our deputation : we ’re re-introduce a small fleet of human - drive vehicles in select cities – start in Phoenix . These vehicles will create map and gather route information , a vital tone for validating futurity …
— cruise ( @Cruise)April 9 , 2024
Now Cruise appear to be going back to basics , a piercing pivot away from theaggressivegrowth strategy the ship’s company has been pursue for the last few years . In 2022 , former Cruise CEO and co - father Kyle Vogt — who maltreat down amid last year ’s tilt — told investors that Cruise had “ de - gamble the technical approach”by lend oneself what process well in San Francisco to standardised drive - share markets .
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In ablog postpublished Tuesday that reads like it could have been written in 2018 , Cruise explains how it call for to first name high - faithfulness location data for road features and map information like speed limit and lane paint so that the AV can understand where it is in relation to its environment . The post then goes on to graph out how Cruise will eventually make it back to fully sovereign mental process : slowly , oversee by humans , and with continuous validation of the technology .
All of these stair are part and parcel of build and expanding a self - driving car business , which get out us wondering if Cruise is spelling out the obvious for the public ’s benefit , or if its new safety squad is scrapping its old technology and start over ?
A Cruise voice pass up to comment on the ship’s company ’s strategy .
The October incident was n’t the first time Cruise ’s engineering has cause problems . Even as Cruise expanded to fresh city in the second half of 2023 , itsrobotaxis were routinely malfunctioningin metropolis like San Francisco and Austin , disrupting the stream of dealings , public transit and first responders .
Technological topic away , what really put Cruise in hot water late last yr was its response to the incident . Regulators incriminate the company of withholding info about the smash , only share that a Cruise robotaxi ran over a footer who had been throw away into its path after first being struck by a human - repel vehicle . Aninternal reportconducted by law business firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and released in January confirm that Cruise employees were n’t forthcoming with what happened after the Cruise fomite ran over the pedestrian , only divvy up days after that the robotaxi ’s pullover manoeuvre resulted in the pedestrian being drop behind for 20 metrical foot .
The mishandling of the data resulted in parent companyGM slashing spendingand takinggreater controller of Cruise .
A expectant part of Cruise ’s strategy moving forward , as draft in Tuesday ’s blog post , involves reforming and establishing updated incident reception and crisis management protocol to check more effective and transparent response in the time to come . The company say it will also work on better mesh with first responders to help trainings in each precinct it plans to run in .
Cruise has not announced when or where it will restart driverless operation . The company ’s main operations were historically establish in San Francisco , but Cruise turn a loss its permission to operate there following the accident . Cruise began expanding itspaid overhaul area in the Phoenix area in August 2023 . Alphabet ’s Waymo — Cruise ’s main competitor that ’s still active in San Francisco — has operated a give , driverless robotaxi service in the area since 2020 and last twelvemonth doubled its service area in business district Phoenix and launched driverless ride to the airport .
