General Motors–backed autonomous driving startup Cruise said on Tuesday that it has opened up its self-driving car fleet in San Francisco to the public.
While capacity is limited with only a handful of cars available, the opportunity to sit in the back seat of a car that steers itself as if by ghostly hand is no longer reserved for a select few engineers, test drivers, and GM chief executive Mary Barra.
“We’re opening a sign-up page on our site today so you can get a driverless ride soon—and free, for now,“ Cruise interim CEO and cofounder Kyle Vogt said in a post. “We’re starting with a small number of users and will ramp up as we make more cars available.”
In a letter to shareholders, CEO Barra said, “This major milestone brings Cruise even closer to offering its first paid rides and generating $50 billion in annual revenue by the end of the decade.”