INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Voyage has cleared a regulatory hurdle that will allow the company to expand its self-driving service from the private roads of a
retirement community in San Jose, Calif
to public roads throughout the rest of the state.
The California Public Utilities Commission issued a permit Monday that gives Voyage
permission to transport passengers in its self-driving vehicles on the state public roads
The permit, which is part of the state Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service pilot, puts Voyage in a new and growing group of companies
seeking to expand beyond traditional AV testing
Aurora, AutoX, Cruise, Pony.ai, Zoox and Waymo have all received permits to participate in the CPUC Drivered Autonomous Vehicle Passenger
Service Pilot program.
The permit also puts Voyage on a path toward broader commercialization.
The company was operating six autonomous
vehicles — always with a human safety driver behind the wheel — in The Villages, a community of more than 4,000 residents in San Jose,
(Those activities have been suspended temporarily under a statewide stay-at-home order prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.) Voyage also
operates in a 40-square-mile, 125,000-resident retirement city in central Florida.
Voyage didn&t need a CPUC permit because the community is
made up of private roads, although CEO Oliver Cameron said the company wanted to adhere to state rules regardless of any technicalities
Voyage was also motivated by a grander ambition to transport residents of The Villages to destinations outside of the community.
&We want to
bring people to all the things that live outside The Villages, facilities like hospitals and grocery stores,& Voyage CEO Oliver Cameron told
TechCrunch in an interview Monday.
Voyage strategy was to start with retirement communities — places with specific customer demand and a
simpler surrounding environment
The demographic that Voyage serves has an average age of 70
The aim isn&t to change its customer base
Instead, Cameron wants to expand the company current operational design domain to give Voyage a bigger reach.
The end goal is for Voyage
core customers — people Cameron dubs power users — to be able to use the service for everything from heading to a neighbor house for
dinner to shopping, doctor visits and even the airport.
Announcement time! We recently received a CPUC permit granting permission to
move CA residents in driverless cars.
We join a tiny group of companies with this permit (
@zoox @Cruise @Waymo @aurora_inno) - can&t wait
to get back on the road to serve seniors
We miss you
pic.twitter.com/VBPtNQjRI1
— Voyage (@voyage) April 20, 2020
The CPUC authorized in May 2018 two pilot programs for
transporting passengers in autonomous vehicles
The first one, called the Drivered Autonomous Vehicle Passenger Service Pilot program, allows companies to operate a ride-hailing service
using autonomous vehicles as long as they follow specific rules
Companies are not allowed to charge for rides, a human safety driver must be behind the wheel and certain data must be reported
quarterly.
The second CPUC pilot would allow driverless passenger service — although no company has yet to obtain that permit.
Under the
permit, Voyage can&t charge for rides
However, there might be some legal wiggle room
Voyage can technically charge for rides within The Villages; in fact, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic-related shutdown, the company had
started charging for a ride-hailing service.
Rides outside of The Villages would have to be free, although it unclear if the company could
charge for mileage or time until the vehicle left the community.
Voyage has aspirations to take this further
The company is also applying for a traditional Transportation Charter Permit, which is required for limousine, bus and other third-party
Cameron said the company had to go through the stringent application process for the CPUC Drivered AV permit first.
The CPUC programs
shouldn&t be confused with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates and issues permits for testing autonomous vehicles
on public roads — always with a safety driver
There are 65 companies that hold autonomous vehicle testing permits issued by the DMV
Companies that want to participate in the CPUC program must have a testing permit with the DMV.
