The General Motors driverless car subsidiary Cruise is seeking final approval from California to begin commercialising its driverless taxi fleet in San Francisco.

CNBC says the self-driving start-up has submitted a permit for an autonomous vehicle deployment with the California Public Utilities Commission. It is the last of six permits needed to begin charging the public for rides.

The report says it’s unclear how long the review and approval process may take. Cruise is the first company to apply for the permit. Cruise CEO Dan Ammann recently said the company expects to begin commercialisation as early as next year, pending regulatory approval.

CNBC adds that if approved, Cruise could become the first company to operate a taxi fleet without human drivers because, while Google’s Waymo vehicles have also received approval to charge for rides, its permit still requires a safety driver to be in the vehicle in case of a problem.

(Picture – Cruise)