Michael Smith

Transportation and disability advocate. Created and administer the site Robotaxi.rodeo . Co-founded Walk San Francisco (walkSF.org), Swiftly (goSwift.ly), and NextBus (NextBus.com). Working to make transportation accessible and safe for all. Been disabled by serious long COVID since 2022.

Joined: 12/17/2023
Articles: 51

News, Waymo

Just Some More Waymo Shenanigans. They Sure Don’t Drive Good!

Michael Smith
09/28/24
Rev 10/9/24

A bunch of examples of Waymos doing dumb things, over just a short couple of weeks.

News, Waymo

A robot stole my luggage!

Michael Smith
09/4/24

Now we know Waymo's full business plan: stealing luggage when dropping people off at the airport. No wonder they aren't allowed at SFO.

$$$, News, Waymo

Waymo likely making 100,000 empty trips per week now!

Michael Smith
08/20/24

Waymo reports that they served 100k paid trips in a week. They should have also mentioned that they have about the same number of completely empty trips, clogging our roads and generating pollution.

$$$, Cruise, News, Untruths

Cruise Q2 financials are much worse than presented

Michael Smith
07/23/24

Michael Smith digs into the GM Q2 2024 financial returns and finds out that the financial situation of Cruise is far more precarious than presented.

Safety, Tesla

Tesla very confused about usefulness of Lidar

Michael Smith
06/21/24

Lidar is essential for a safe robotaxi system since computer vision is completely inadequate for detecting certain objects, such as pedestrians at night, or even large semi-trucks crossing the road. But Elon Musk and Tesla are actively refusing to work towards creating a safe autonomous vehicle system.

Politics, Safety, Waymo

Senator Cortese statement on the ‘Gutting’ of Key Vehicle Safety Legislation: SB 915

Michael Smith
06/21/24

Unfortunately SB 915, legislation to allow local regulations for AVs, was pulled by the author due to other legislatures gutting it. The press release by Senator Cortese is provided here so that readers can understand what happened.