Sept 19 (Reuters) - General Motors' ( GM ) self-driving

unit Cruise said on Thursday it will begin supervised testing

with up to five autonomous vehicles in fall this year in

California's Bay Area.

Cruise will deploy several manual mapping vehicles in

Sunnyvale and Mountain View, following which the testing will

start, it said in a post on social media platform X.

The company resumed operations in the United States with a

small fleet of human-driven vehicles in Arizona in April, about

six months after the self-driving car unit paused operations

following an incident in San Francisco.

Cruise had suspended operations last October after a

pedestrian in San Francisco hit by another car was dragged by

one of its robotaxis.

"Resuming testing in the Bay Area is an important step

forward as we continue to work closely with California

regulators and local stakeholders," Cruise said.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles issued draft

regulations on the operation of autonomous vehicles on highways

in August, paving the way for self-driving trucks to commence

long-haul deliveries.