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Self-driving cars available in Houston
People in Houston can now use self-driving cars to get rides across the city. The autonomous service recently got started but not without some controversy. FOX 26's Matthew Seedorff has more on the new rideshare service.
HOUSTON - Self-driving taxi vehicles are now operating in certain areas of Houston.
Last week, Cruise launched its autonomous robo-taxi service with roughly 20 vehicles in Houston. Right now, the rides are available from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. between downtown, River Oaks, EaDo, and Montrose.
"I’ve seen them driving around the neighborhood at nighttime," said Greg Woodard. "There’s nobody in the car. Kind of freaked me out."
Houston is the fourth city in the country to have Cruise vehicles operating following San Francisco, Austin, and Phoenix. In addition, Cruise is testing its vehicles in 10 other cities across the United States.
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The business works similarly to other ride-share apps, but instead of a human driver behind the wheel, cars are operated by computers.
"It doesn’t take long to relax and realize that you have a [computer] driver that’s taking you where you need to go," said Sola Lawal, General Manager for Cruise Houston.
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As we reported last month, three cruise vehicles stopped and briefly blocked an intersection in Montrose after a thunderstorm knocked out power in the area. The traffic lights at the time were stuck on red.
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"Three Cruise autonomous vehicles (AV) with no drivers were stopped at Hawthorne and Montrose," said Alexander Spike. "The vehicles did not understand that it had become a 4-way stop. [They] were waiting for the lights to turn green."
Following the incident, a spokesperson from Cruise told FOX 26 that their vehicles are programmed to be cautious when driving in complex situations.
"Our vehicles were stopped at an intersection where the lights were not cycling and showed all red," said a Cruise spokesperson. "While some vehicles took a little time to safely navigate the intersection, all vehicles were able to clear the intersection autonomously. Safety is embedded in everything we do, and our vehicles are designed to adhere to traffic signals and follow rules of the road."
This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation into the company, following reports of two incidents involving self-driving cars and pedestrians.
"Cruise’s safety record over 5 million miles continues to outperform comparable human drivers at a time when pedestrian injuries and deaths are at an all-time high," said a spokesperson from Cruise. "Cruise communicates regularly with NHTSA and has consistently cooperated with each of NHTSA’s requests for information –– whether associated with an investigation or not –– and we plan to continue doing so."
Currently, there are roughly 20 Cruise vehicles operating in Houston and only at night. However, this service could soon increase.
"Yeah, I’ll try it," said Woodard. "Especially if I’m going out and don’t want to drive."