Are robotaxis the future? Or now in the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or now in the past?
Politics
Cars, being fast moving and heavy, are quite dangerous. They should be well regulated for safety. But it turns out regulations can be bought and paid for by lobbying money…
Washington Post – San Francisco sues California over ‘unsafe,’ ‘disruptive’ self-driving cars
Teslarati – Waymo has applied to expand driverless operations to Los Angeles
404 Media – ‘Student Should Have a Healthy-Looking BMI’: How Universities Bend Over Backwards to Accommodate Food Delivery Robots
Reuters – GM robotaxi unit Cruise offers $75,000 to resolve crash probe
Government sources of information
There are several very useful sources of information on robotaxis from government agencies: San Francisco City DMV and CPUC NHTSA
Forbes – Buttigieg Seeks Robocar Safety. Here’s How He Should Do It
See full original article by Brad Templeton at Forbes. In the wake of the recent tumultuous period for General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi unit, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeieg recently declared, “We’re going to do everything we can with the authorities we do have, which are not trivial,” to ensure self-driving vehicles…
In Which We Find More Evidence the CPUC Is Thoroughly Captured
See original article by Sue Vaughan at Burning Planet, which contains more useful articles about climate change and transportation. The California Public Utilities Commission is now reneging on a possible evaluation of the environmental impacts of Waymos and Cruises – and other commercial autonomous vehicles that may be authorized to…
SF Standard – How Cruise Secured Support From Local Groups as It Pushed To Expand Robotaxis
Robotaxis Won’t Get Us There, So Let’s Stop Being Used to Sell a Future that Doesn’t Serve Us
SF Standard – Cruise Hired a Lobbyist Close to Newsom. Then a Crash Changed Everything
The Lever – The Lobbying Surge Behind San Francisco’s Robo-Taxi Mayhem
Driverless taxi companies Cruise and Waymo wined and dined officials and landed a plum regulatory appointment before they scored free rein on San Francisco’s streets. See full original article on The Lever by Freddy Brewster. In the lead-up to California regulators voting earlier this month to allow driverless taxis to…