High-tech Uber vehicles back in SF — this time for mapping

They’re back. Five Ford Fusions bristling with rooftop equipment and labeled “Uber Advanced Technologies Center” were ready to hit San Francisco streets starting Wednesday morning, but they will not be functioning as self-driving cars. Instead, they will be mapping the city — presumably as a prelude to future self-driving pilots.

“These cars are being used for Uber’s mapping purposes only,” the San Francisco company said. “They are being driven manually at all times and their self-driving systems are disabled.”

Uber’s brief attempt at offering San Francisco passengers rides in autonomous vehicles (with engineers at the wheel) came to an abrupt halt in December, after just one week, when regulators revoked the cars’ registrations because Uber refused to get a state permit for testing autonomous vehicles. The company claimed it was exempt from the registration requirement because its cars always had a human in the driver’s seat — an argument that the state Department of Motor Vehicles found lacking. The DMV noted that 20 companies had obtained the $150 testing permit and said Uber was operating illegally.

Five Uber Ford Fusions, to be used for mapping, are cleared to go on the road in San Francisco. Five Uber Ford Fusions, to be used for mapping, are cleared to go on the road in San Francisco. Photo: Courtesy Uber, Credit: Uber Photo: Courtesy Uber, Credit: Uber Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close High-tech Uber vehicles back in SF — this time for mapping 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

This time around, the DMV has no objections.

“The DMV worked with Uber to reinstate the registrations for five vehicles - with the full understanding that the vehicles will be used in a mapping capacity only,” said Melissa Figueroa, a spokeswoman for the California State Transportation Agency. “Several companies in California use vehicles such as this for the same purpose. Should Uber decide they want to revisit the issue of self-driving technology on the streets and roads in California, the offer to help them secure proper permitting stands.”

During the ill-fated December pilot, Uber experienced a number of glitches besides the clash with regulators. Several reports — including one documented by a dash camera video — emerged of the self-driving cars running red lights. Uber attributed all those incidents to human error.

In one case, a cafe owner saw a self-driving car stop at a red light while the driver and a companion chatted, with the driver’s hands clearly not on the wheel. The car then surged through the intersection while the light was still red, according to Christopher Koff, owner of AK Subs.

The cars also made illegal “right-hook” turns through bike lanes, neglecting to merge right before making the turns, according to Brian Wiedenmeier, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, who took a test drive. Uber responded that drivers would henceforth assume control of the cars for such turns.

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After being spurned in California, Uber loaded up its self-driving Volvo XC90s on flatbed trucks to move them to Arizona for a pilot that has not yet begun.

The tricked-out Ford Fusions — the same vehicles deployed in Uber’s self-driving pilot for passengers in Pittsburgh — previously were seen on San Francisco streets in the late summer and early fall. Such spottings triggered speculation that the company was trying out self-driving in its hometown, but Uber said that the vehicles were being used to collect data for mapping.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid