Uber gets OK to use self-driving cars in state
Firm receives DMV permits but won’t be picking up passengers in them just yet.
Uber’s self-driving cars will return to California’s streets. But the ride-hailing giant doesn’t plan to pick up passengers in them, at least not yet.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles said Wednesday that it has granted Uber permission to run two Volvo sport utility vehicles on public roads.
DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez said the DMV also approved 48 people as backup drivers who must sit behind the wheel in case the prototype cars malfunction.
The permits resolve a conflict that arose in December, when Uber rolled out a self-driving car service in San Francisco without the approval of state regulators. After a showdown that lasted several days, the San Francisco company packed up its self-driving cars and took them to Arizona.
Uber said in a statement that it does not plan to pick up paying passengers in California for now.
The move came a day after Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick — who last week pledged to get “leadership help” after a video surfaced of him berating one of the company’s drivers — announced that the ride-hailing giant is looking for a chief operating officer.
Kalanick announced the executive search in a brief statement that read: “This morning I told the Uber team that we’re actively looking for a chief operating officer: a peer who can partner with me to write the next chapter in our journey.”
Uber has been hit by a series of controversies, including allegations that it routinely ignores sexual harassment and the video of Kalanick clashing with a driver who confronted him about steep cuts in rates for a premium version of its service.
The video, released by Bloomberg News, shows Kalanick losing his temper toward the end of his exchange with the driver. “You know what? Some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own [problems],” he says, using a vulgarity. “They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!”
After the video surfaced, Kalanick, 40, issued an apology to all Uber employees, saying he was ashamed. “I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.”
Last week, Uber also acknowledged the existence of a program dubbed Greyball that it has used to thwart efforts to curtail or shut down its service. Uber served up a fake version of its app to make it appear the undercover regulators were summoning a car, only to have the ride canceled.