Cruise, the autonomous vehicle division of General Motors, supported by investments from SoftBank Vision Fund, Honda, and T. Rowe Price & Associates, has received authorization from California regulators to conduct trials of driverless vehicles on public roads within San Francisco.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the state agency overseeing autonomous vehicle testing, announced that the permit enables the company to evaluate five self-governing vehicles without a human driver present on designated streets in San Francisco. Cruise has previously held permission to test vehicles with safety drivers since 2015.

“While we are not the initial recipient of this type of permit, we will be the first to deploy it in a significant U.S. metropolitan area,” stated Cruise CEO Dan Ammann in a blog post on Thursday. “Before the year concludes, we will be operating vehicles on San Francisco streets—vehicles that run on electricity and require no human operator. The genuine measure of a self-driving car is the secure removal of the driver, and reliance on fossil fuels is incompatible with the future of transportation.”

Ammann characterized the granting of the driverless permit as a significant, though understated, achievement for the company, which has dedicated six years to the development of autonomous vehicle technology.

“The significance of this event may not be immediately apparent. Observers will simply see a vehicle moving independently through the city—observing traffic laws and avoiding collisions, operating with quiet efficiency,” he explained. “However, despite the lack of a dramatic spectacle, this represents a pivotal moment for our company. The challenging urban environment of San Francisco serves as the ideal testing ground, representing the culmination of years of dedicated effort from the Cruise team and the practical application of over two million miles of urban testing. This will be an electric vehicle, operating autonomously, navigating one of the world’s most complex driving environments.”

The driverless permit, signifying operation without a human driver, is subject to specific conditions. Cruise vehicles are restricted to roads with speed limits of 30 miles per hour or less, and can operate at any time of day or night, but testing will be suspended during periods of heavy fog or rainfall, according to the DMV. Applicants for a driverless permit must demonstrate proof of $5 million in insurance or a surety bond, confirm vehicle capability for driverless operation, adhere to or be exempt from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, and utilize vehicles classified as SAE Level 4 or 5.

Cruise is the fifth organization to obtain a driverless permit in California, joining Waymo, AutoX, Nuro, and Zoox. The DMV currently lists 60 companies with active permits for testing autonomous vehicles with safety drivers.