Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
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…
SF Chronicle reports on on Supervisor Jackie Fielder of San Francisco is trying to push for state legislation to allow local control of robotaxis. This was motivated by Waymo killing a beloved bodega cat.
TechCrunch covers how Waymo wants to arrest people who vandalize Waymo vehicles. Meanwhile they kill pets with impunity.
The Lever reports that a regulator, who is more interested in promoting rather than regulating AVs, has been appointed as the new head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
ArsTechnica reports on how Tesla FSD has actually been performing worse lately. And the NHTSA opens up a new investigation due to numerous reports of FSD traffic violations.
Reuters reports that NHTSA is once again investigating problems with the Tesla FSD system, this time due to numerous reported traffic violations and crashes.
kGW8 reports that once again, Waymos simply do not follow laws. This time it passed a school bus that had its stop sign out and lights obviously flashing red.
SF Chronicle reports that since a Waymo robotaxi made an illegal U-turn it was pulled over by the police. Unfortunately robotaxis cannot be given tickets currently.
David Zipper reports in the Vox on exactly why robotaxis are not a solution for cities. They inherently cause more traffic, exactly what we do not want.
SF Chronicle reports that Waymo robotaxis will be serving San Jose airport
SFist reports on how Tesla has opened up their robotaxi app for parts of the Bay Area but questions whether it is legal at all. They should also have mentioned that you can't actually take the vaporware service.
Tim Redmond of 48hills reports on how the SFMTA Board has completely handed its authority over to the mayor, illegally.
Susan Vaughan reports in 48hills that SF Mayor Lurie is both gutting transit and subverting the political process in trying to bring Waymos, Ubers, and Lyfts to car-free Market Street.
SF Standard reports that while the San Francisco mayor has (falsely) decreed that ride hailing cars can go back onto Market Street, fortunately the ride-hailing companies are still avoiding it.
Gothamist reports that the opposition to NYC's Waymo pilot is quickly growing, especially amongst actual humans who drive taxis.
KRON 4 reports that Waymo is allegedly now picking up passengers on Market Street. Interestingly, they have zero examples of that actually happening.
