San Francisco's public transportation operators challenged Cruise's application to charge for the robotaxis, saying on Wednesday that a promotional video owned by General Motors Co (GM.N) showed Cruise passengers illegally jumping up and down in the middle of the street rather than on the curb.
In a 24-page letter, SFMTA Director Jeff Tumlin said Cruise's recent video shows the self-driving travel technology company allowing illegal behavior that also endangers people nearby and slows down buses. The agency also faulted Cruise's application for failing to plan for services in low-income and minority communities or for wheelchair accessibility.
"The Cruise video documents 14 stops where passengers pick up and drop off passengers; They provided evidence that none of these stations met the requirements of the Vehicle Act and the Traffic Act.
Cruise says it will respond to those questions in a letter to the CPUC next Monday.
Gm's Cruise, Alphabet Inc. 's (GOOGL.O) Waymo and others see San Francisco as a good testing ground for robo-taxi services. As the federal government has been slow to write rules for self-driving cars, states have stepped in to regulate them. But local authorities in San Francisco and elsewhere have sought a greater say over new technologies, including Tesla Inc's (TSLA.O) Autopilot.
The San Francisco Transit agency's letter responds to a Cruise application filed last month with the California Public Utilities Commission, which has the final say on whether the company can charge rides.
In its letter, SFMTA called for Cruise's application to be denied unless it can demonstrate that its self-driving system can recognize legitimate curbside parking, parallel parking and parking in parking lots.
The agency also criticized Cruise's initial deployment plan because it ignored virtually all of the city's low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods, serving only 19 percent of San Francisco's Hispanic population and 24 percent of its black population. The company also hasn't tested wheelchair-accessible trips, the agency wrote.
In addition, Cruise said it would avoid streets with light rail lines, but it did not acknowledge a long train route in its planned service area, SFMTA wrote.
