Self-driving car: Uber’s project coming soon

Uber Technologies’ self-driving cars could be returning to California soon after state authorities permitted the company to test the vehicles. The ride-hailing company is now listed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles as one of over 20 companies, including Waymo, Tesla and Baidu,  that have been issued autonomous vehicle testing permits as of Wednesday.

Uber received a permit to test two Volvo SUVs on public roads, the California Department of Motor Vehicles said. Regulators also approved 48 people as backup drivers who must sit behind the wheel in case the prototype cars malfunction, according to agency spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez.

The permit resolves a conflict dating to December. That's when Uber, an aggressive player in the self-driving race to bring the technology to the market, rolled out a pilot program of more than a dozen cars in San Francisco, its hometown.

The conditions of the permit don’t forbid Uber from resuming its passenger pickups, but the company says it’s not going to be picking up riders as it begins testing again.

The company’s tech came under fire in San Francisco during the initial launch when the test vehicles were caught running red lights – Uber said that the car pictured on video was actually human-driven at the time, but a New York Times follow-up report later said it was actually in autonomous mode at the time.

Uber last month launched a pilot program in Tempe, Arizona, allowing passengers to hail a ride in a self-driving car through the Uber app. The company has a similar program in Pittsburgh.