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

Uncategorized

Non-commercial, non-Temu

Michael Smith
01/4/24

Robotaxi.rodeo is a non-commercial site that is not funded nor backed by any organization. It is completely volunteer based and requires almost no funding ($40/year) to operate. This means that all content is solely based on the opinions of the authors. It also means that you won’t see ads, including…

$$$, Cruise

GM $120M Lawsuit against San Francisco

Michael Smith
12/28/23
Rev 12/29/23

In a clear sign that GM and Cruise have given up on trying to succeed in San Francisco, they have filed a lawsuit to attempt to law back taxes paid to the city back to 2016.

Disability, Waymo

Waymo providing truly accessible service, for now

Michael Smith
12/26/23
Rev 02/28/24
1 Comment

Waymo appears to be trying to provide appropriate service for those with disabilities. They provide a genuine human driver and a true accessible vehicle. Service animals of course welcomed.

Crash, Cruise, Safety, Untruths

High-speed crash due to red-light runner AND Cruise stopping inappropriately

Michael Smith
08/18/23
Rev 02/28/24

Crash Analysis: 8/18/23 Cruise vehicle crashed with other vehicle at 26th St & Mission St in San Francisco. When a Cruise vehicle detects a problem it stops for “safety”. But this crash shows that doing so can actually be incredibly dangerous and result in serious damage. Cruise never acknowledged the dangerous behavior and apparently never addressed it.

Crash, Cruise, Safety, Untruths

Cruise collides with firetruck on an emergency call

Michael Smith
08/17/23
Rev 01/22/24

Crash analysis: 8/17/23 Cruise vehicle crashed with a firetruck on an emergency call. Cruise seriously misrepresented what went went wrong and appeared to never address the root problem of their vehicles not stopping for emergency responders.

Crash, Cruise, Safety, Untruths

Cruise encounters a turning semi-truck

Michael Smith
08/7/23
Rev 01/22/24

Crash analysis: 8/7/23 Cruise crashed with a semi-truck on Stanyan St in San Francisco. Definitely not safe to try to overtake a truck that is clearly turning in front of you. Once again, the Cruise robotaxi stopped exactly in the wrong place and was damaged because of lack of defensive driving abilities.