The California Department of Motor Vehicles approved autonomous vehicle deployment permits for GM-backed Cruise and Alphabet’s Waymo on Thursday. The companies can charge fees and get compensation for providing autonomous services to the public in some areas, like ride-hailing.

According to California’s DMV, the California Public Utilities Commission still needs to approve the company, however, it is one step closer in providing service to the public without the need for testing.

The permits allow the companies to provide driverless rides for passengers while testing autonomous vehicles. Both have also been operating fleets in California.

According to the new authorization, Cruise cars can be operated on the public roads of San Francisco between 10 pm and 6 am, except in heavy rains or fog. They cannot go faster than 30 miles an hour. Waymo may operate its fleet at 65 mph or less in San Francisco or San Mateo counties, even in light rain and fog.

While autonomous vehicles have been more complicated than most people anticipated, Waymo (and Cruise) are two of the main players in commercializing them.

Waymo and Cruise both applied in May for permits that would allow them to charge delivery and ride fees. Cruise applied to not have a safety driver present, while Waymo applied to have a safety driver, Reuters reported.

In June, Cruise earned a permit enabling it to offer driverless rides to passengers in test vehicles in California. Waymo opened self-driving car testing to some San Francisco residents through a program dubbed “Trusted Tester” last month.

Since acquiring Cruise in 2016, GM has brought on investors such as Honda Motor, SoftBank Vision Fund, and, more recently, Walmart and Microsoft.

Cruise became the first autonomous ride hail company in California to get a driverless permit through the California DMV. It brings us one step closer to achieving our mission to make transportation safer, better, and more affordable in cities with our fleet of all-electric, self-driving and shared vehicles,” Rob Grant, Cruise senior vice president of government affairs and social impact, said in an emailed statement to CNBC.

Nuro, a pioneer in autonomous vehicle development, was granted a permit for commercial deliveries by retail partners in December 2020.

Lora Kolodny, Michael Wayland, and Lora Wayland all contributed to the report