Tesla received permission from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Tuesday to operate transportation services in the state. This is the beginning of a long, regulated road that could ultimately lead to the company running the Robotaxy Service.
The permits Tesla filed in November 2024 do not cover autonomous vehicle testing or deployment. And that’s technically different to the permissions that ride companies Lyft and Uber have.
Tesla has been granted a Charter of Transportation or TCP. TCP means that the company owns the vehicle and uses employees as drivers, according to the state’s CPUC, which regulates human-driven, driverless riding services. According to the committee, TCP is for businesses that want to provide pre-located transportation services, such as RoundTrip Sightseing.
Uber and Lyft Hold Transportation Network Company (TNC) permitted. TNCS uses online-enabled applications such as smartphone apps to connect using passengers who pay for drivers using personal vehicles.
Tesla plans to first use a TCP permit to transport employees in vehicles owned by the automaker according to its application. Tesla has agreed to notify the CPUC when it moves to transporting the public.
Importantly, Tesla applications do not require participation in the Commission’s Self-Driving Vehicle Passenger Services Program, either with a driver’s license or with an unmanned capacity. That doesn’t mean that Tesla will not end up applying for those permits. If so, Tesla will also need to obtain permission from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which regulates the testing and deployment of self-driving vehicles in the state.
According to state regulators, Tesla does not have authority from the DMV to provide unmanned vehicles for testing or deployment purposes.
Meanwhile, Tesla is planning to launch its Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has pledged to launch the Robotaxi service in June using its own fleet vehicle equipped with a “unsurveillanced” version of its entirely self-driving software that has not yet been released.
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