Cruise Boosts Bay Area Food Banks With Autonomous Test Vehicles

(Bloomberg) -- Cruise, the self-driving car unit majority owned by General Motors Co., has made another foray into autonomous delivery by using its fleet of test vehicles in the San Francisco Bay area to help food banks transport meals.

The company has assisted with the delivery of more than 3,700 meals in eight days, according to an emailed statement. Two volunteer safety drivers wearing proper personal protective equipment are supervising each vehicle as they operate in autonomous mode.

Cruise’s cars are pulling up to SF New Deal and SF-Marin Food Bank, loading up on pre-boxed meals and making contact-less deliveries, according to the company. It isn’t being compensated, and San Francisco is aware of the effort and allowing the company to operate as an essential service.

The deliveries are more than just good headlines for Cruise. They’re another indication of how interested self-driving companies are in moving goods around autonomously. Cruise started a pilot with DoorDash early last year, and Waymo, the unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc., has said that autonomous trucking could catch on faster than robotaxis.

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