GM’s Cruise increases testing of robotaxi service in Phoenix

Cruise, the autonomous vehicle company, has resumed testing its self-driving cars in Phoenix after a hiatus of more than six months. The GM subsidiary announced on Monday that it will be conducting supervised driving tests in the city, with a human safety operator behind the wheel to monitor the vehicles.

The company plans to test two autonomous vehicles on public roads in metro Phoenix, while another eight vehicles will continue to be manually driven in the area. Cruise is focused on validating the technology against safety and performance requirements, describing this phase as a “critical validation phase.” The company also plans to expand testing to other Phoenix suburbs in the near future.

This relaunch of operations in Phoenix comes after Cruise faced setbacks following an incident in San Francisco where a pedestrian was struck and dragged by one of its robotaxis. The incident led to the suspension of Cruise’s deployment and testing permits in California, prompting the company to pause all operations and make significant changes to its leadership team.

In an effort to rebuild trust, Cruise conducted a thorough review of the incident and made changes to address the issues that led to the accident. The company’s report concluded that there were missteps in judgement and communication, as well as a focus on correcting the media narrative rather than addressing the root causes of the incident.

With the resumption of testing in Phoenix, Cruise is taking a step towards regaining public trust and moving forward with its autonomous driving technology. The company’s focus on safety and validation will be crucial as it works towards deploying self-driving vehicles on a larger scale in the future.