A map of Cruise’s expanded service area in Phoenix. | Source: Cruise
Cruise has recently greatly expanded its service area in Phoenix, AZ, with its new service area being 20 times the size of its previous service area.
The new service area will first be available to Cruise’s “power users” and some friends and family, but eventually the company will open it up to members of the public. Cruise’s new service area will cover Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale, and part of the city of Phoenix.
Just weeks ago, Kyle Vogt, the co-founder and CEO of Cruise, announced that Cruise vehicles will be heading to Nashville. Nashville will become the seventh city that the company has started operations in.
Cruise’s journey started in San Francisco, and since then the company has deployed its robotaxis in Phoenix and Austin, and has started operations in Houston, Dallas, and Miami. According to Vogt, we can expect to start seeing Cruise robotaxis in Nashville within the next few months.
The company’s strategy for rolling out its robotaxi service has been to start in the most challenging places, like San Francisco which is notorious for heavy traffic, steep hills, and intense fog, and then apply what it has learned to other cities.
While Cruise has had much success in rolling out its robotaxi services, it hasn’t been without challenges. Earlier this year, the company issued a voluntary recall of 300 Cruise vehicles with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall was in response to a minor collision where a Cruise robotaxi hit the back of a San Francisco bus.
Cruise’s autonomous driving system is also currently being investigated by NHTSA. In a filing, NHSTA said it was interested in two different issues that had been reported to the administration that both result in the robotaxis becoming hazards for others on the road.
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