• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, February 7, 2020

The state of California has granted Uber a permit to test its self-driving vehicles on public roads.

The Department of Motor Vehicles gave the approval to the Uber Advanced Technologies Group to test autonomous vehicles as long as a driver is in the vehicle.

Uber is the latest company to be added to the entities with autonomous vehicle testing permits in California. These include Waymo, Mercedes Benz, Apple, Volkswagen, Tesla and BMW.

The state has now issued permits to a total of 66 companies.

Uber plans to explore autonomous driving in California in the near future, according to the company.

“San Francisco is a great city to gather key learnings for self-driving technology given its complex and ever-changing environment,” an Uber spokesperson said. “While we do not have an update as to exactly when we’ll resume autonomous testing, receiving our testing permit through the California DMV is a critical step towards that end in Uber’s home city.”

The company has no immediate plans to engage in autonomous driving in San Francisco.

Uber had been testing self-driving in San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Phoenix but halted trials after a fatal accident in Arizona in 2018.