Cruise has resumed manual driving operations in Phoenix in a step towards recommencing its driverless services.
The company aims to provide safer and more accessible transport services using autonomous driving technologies. As part of this mission, it has previously provided driverless trips to riders in San Francisco, Phoenix, Austin and Houston.
However, in October 2023, Cruise paused its operations following the suspension of its license in California due to an on-road incident. During this time, the company has focussed on rebuilding trust with regulators and the public, while also redesigning its approach to safety.
During this time, the company has maintained ongoing testing in complex, dynamic simulated environments and on closed courses, enabling it to continually retrain and improve its autonomous driving software.
Looking forward, Cruise ultimately aims to resume driverless operations with improved performance and safety standards.
It is therefore resuming manual driving to create maps and gather road information in select cities, starting in Phoenix.
This work will be undertaken with human-driven vehicles without engaged autonomous systems. The results will then help inform where Cruise will plan to resume driverless operations.
