Cruise will begin redeploying its self-driving vehicles after a major upheaval last year that resulted in the suspension of its operations, the departure of its CEO and the layoffs of numerous employees, including several top executives. The General Motors unit said in a blog post on its website that it would resume manual driving activities to collect road information and create maps for its self-driving cars. The first Cruise fleet to hit the road again will be deployed in Phoenix, Arizona, but the company plans to expand to other cities as it continues to “engage with officials and community leaders.”
If you recall, Cruise suspended all self-driving operations weeks after an incident in California in which one of the company’s robotaxis ran over and dragged a pedestrian who was struck by another vehicle. Due to the incident and other safety-related concerns, both the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the California Public Utilities Commission revoked its license to operate in the state. By November, Cruise also suspended its human robo-taxi service as part of an expanded safety investigation by an independent consulting firm.
The company’s co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt resigned soon after. The company also fired nine key executives after authorities accused Cruise of withholding video of a victim being pinned under a car in the California incident. In December, the robotaxi maker laid off 24% of its workforce, or about 900 people. intercept It also reported last year that it had seen internal safety assessment materials that concluded Cruise’s vehicles had problems identifying children.
Cruise said in its post that it has been conducting tests on closed courts over the past few months to rebuild trust. All robo-taxi rides to Phoenix will be human-driven vehicles, with no autonomous systems involved. The ultimate goal, of course, is to deploy fully driverless cars again, but the company didn’t say if it has a target date, or if it does.
