Uber offers self-driving car ride in San Francisco

Uber Technologies Inc. said it is offering its clients a chance to ride on a self-driving car in San Francisco starting Tuesday.

Anthony Levandowski, head of Uber's Advanced Technology Group, posted a message on the company's blog that "expanding our self-driving pilot allows us to continue to improve our technology through real-world operations."

Uber, a car-hailing service platform headquartered in San Francisco, Northern California, worked with Volvo Group, a Swedish manufacturing company, in September to bring a fleet of Volvo XC90 sports utility vehicles to Pittsburgh, a city in Pennsylvania.

"With its challenging roads and often varied weather, Pittsburgh provided a wide array of experiences," Levandowski wrote about the self-driving fleet, still as a pilot project. "San Francisco comes with its own nuances including more bikes on the road, high traffic density and narrow lanes."

While posting a photo and a video clip of self-driving Volvo XC90s on the street of San Francisco in his message, he did not specify the size of the fleet in the company's home town.

In response to the California Department of Motor Vehicles's demand that the company apply a permit to test self-driving vehicles in the Golden State, Levandowski argued that Uber has put a person behind the steering wheel to monitor the vehicle's operation. "We understand that there is a debate over whether or not we need a testing permit to launch self-driving Ubers in San Francisco. We have looked at this issue carefully and we don't believe we do." Endit