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3rd Summit's 1st arrival:
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Sunday, May 12, 2019

http://SmartDrivingCar.com/7.20-SoftBank-051219
20th edition of the 7th year of SmartDrivingCars

3rd Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit
Achieving Safe, Inclusive,
Affordable, Energy Efficient, & Environmentally Responsible, On-Demand 24/7 Mobility for All People ,
especially the Mobility Marginalized
evening May 14 through May 16, 2019
Register; Sponsor

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="197" height="16"> Self-driving car company Cruise raises $1.15bn

S. Bond, May 7, "Cruise, the self-driving division of General Motors, has landed a fresh $1.15bn in funding, boosting its valuation to $19bn including the new funds and giving it additional firepower to launch a planned robo-taxi service this year.

The investment came from T Rowe Price, the mutual fund manager, as well as existing Cruise investors SoftBank’s Vision Fund, Honda and GM, the carmaker said in a statement. Including the latest round, Cruise has raised $7.25bn in equity in the past year, following previous injections from Honda and SoftBank.
.. "  Read more  Hmmmm...   Refer back to  Inside SoftBank's push to rule the road . What if SoftBank added Tesla to this chart.  That really creates a 2-person race with Waymo.  Duopolies aren't bad.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 103

April 26, F. Fishkin, "GM's Cruise gets ready to take on Google's Waymo and its new partnership Lyft. Meanwhile Uber's IPO stalls and Tesla restructures its autopilot team. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more on the coming week's Smart Driving Car Summit."  Just say "Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!" .  Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ...  Alain

3rd Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit
Achieving Safe, Inclusive,
Affordable, Energy Efficient, & Environmentally Responsible, On-Demand 24/7 Mobility for all People,
especially the Mobility Marginalized
evening May 14 through May 16, 2019
Register; Sponsor

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">   Uber’s Stock Disappoints, Capping a Rocky Path to Its I.P.O.

M. Issac, May 10, "Over the past decade, Uber changed urban transportation, disrupted entrenched taxi industries, defied regulators the world over and beat back questions about how it was altering the nature of work.

On Friday, it was tamed by Wall Street.

The ride-hailing giant’s first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange began with a drop from its initial public offering price of $45, and its stock closed down 7.6 percent. By the end of Friday, Uber’s market capitalization, accounting for stock options and restricted stock, stood at $76.5 billion — barely above the $76 billion that private investors pegged it at in August. .."  Read more  Hmmmm... and see next...Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="50" height="39">  Uber’s Dismal Debut Is a Rare Event on Wall Street

S. Grocer, May 10, "Uber has done something that few other big technology companies can claim: open below its initial public offering price.

Shares of the ride-sharing company began trading Friday at $42 a share, down 6.7 percent, and finished the day at $41.57, well below the $45 at which it sold shares to investors late Thursday.

How a stock trades in its debut is often used to gauge the success of the offering and investor sentiment about a company. If a stock falls below its I.P.O. price on the first day or even in the weeks that follow, the offering is considered a flop — a red flag that investors have concerns about a company’s outlook.

Uber’s share performance capped several months of falling expectations for its offering. Investment bankers floated a valuation of $120 billion last fall. A month ago, Uber suggested to some investors that its stock sale might value it at up to $100 billion. About two weeks ago, Uber set an expected price range that would value it at up to $91 billion. (READ MORE: Uber’s Stock Disappoints, Capping a Rocky Path to Its I.P.O.)

Then on Wednesday, the guidance seemed to be that it would be priced in the bottom half of its offering range. On Thursday, it sold the shares at a $82.4 billion valuation, and by Friday’s close, investors were valuing Uber at $76.5 billion. That was not far above the $76 billion that private investors had valued it at in August.."  Read more  Hmmmm...  See also... Uber’s Stock Disappoints, Capping a Rocky Path to Its I.P.O.  especially figure 1Who’s Getting Rich When Uber, Slack and Other ‘Unicorns’ Go Public and Uber Is Going Public: How Today’s Tech I.P.O.s Differ From the Dot-Com Boom  (has excellent charts).  My view is that the killing of Elaine Herzberg cost Uber at least $45B in valuation. Had it not happened, Uber's Market cap would be above $120B.  That irresponsible action by Uber (operating its self-driving car in a domain where its Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) System was explicitly turned off allowed possibly the most expensive crash ever to occur.  That's just the loss to Uber.  The "losses"  experienced by Waymo, GM_Cruise, Ford, ... and others adds to that number.  This is why Safety is everyone's responsibility and why the industry must work together to ensure safety.  Safety is absolutely in the very best interest of each of these companies.   Being irresponsible is very expensive and much more painful than any public sector penalty (more than the $33B VW has had to pay so far for DieselGate).  Hopefully, Elon Musk recognizes this fact.  Alain

 [log in to unmask]" alt="" width="99" height="22">  Waymo’s self-driving cars are now available on Lyft’s app in Phoenix

A. Hawkins, May 7, "Lyft riders in the Phoenix area will soon be able to summon one of Waymo’s self-driving minivans for a ride, the companies said Tuesday. It’s the culmination of a partnership that was first announced almost two years ago exactly.

To start out, just 10 vehicles will be available on Lyft’s app in the handful of towns around Phoenix. Lyft customers will have the option to select a ride in a Waymo self-driving car through the ride-hail company’s app. There will be safety drivers behind the wheel, much like with Waymo One, Alphabet’s commercial ride-hailing service.

But despite looking limited on the surface, it represents a pretty big leap forward for both ride-hailing and autonomous vehicles..." Read more  Hmmmm...  Yup!   To get anywhere, one must first start.  This is a real start.  Waymo would not be wasting its time if it wasn't a start to something big.  May even have added to Uber's IPO woes.  Some rideHailing cars will always to have an attendant along for some rides.  Why not it be a gig worker?  Actually, some Waymo Attendants could have just signed up to be Lyft drivers and brought along their Waymo Pacificas.   Lyft might have never known.  Hey, I may begin to do that with my Tesla 3 at the end of 2020 and collect cash from Lyft while I play video games in my parent's basement.   And I won't have to deal with Elon.  :-)  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="32" height="31">  Velodyne Showcases World’s Most Advanced Lidar for Autonomous Vehicles at SmartDrivingCar Summit

Press release, AP, "Velodyne Lidar, Inc. today announced it is sponsoring the SmartDrivingCar Summit, which takes place on May 15-16 in Princeton, N.J. and brings together buyers, sellers, and facilitators of autonomous cars, trucks, and buses. At the summit, Velodyne will discuss and demonstrate their smart, powerful lidar solutions as an essential technology for autonomous vehicles (AVs) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS)...."  Read more  Hmmmm...  Very nice!! Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="100" height="26">  L.A. Drivers Strike Against Uber and Lyft

E. Witt, May 9, "Shortly before noon on Wednesday, several dozen rideshare drivers walked out of Los Angeles International Airport to hold a rally in a nearby park. The sky was gray, and a dull brightness bathed the parking decks and palm trees, the modernist street lamps and knotted traffic. The demonstrators held signs that read “Regulate Rideshares” and “Uber and Lyft Stop Stealing from People.” They waved these slogans toward an endless river of cars delivering passengers to their flights...."  Read more  Hmmmm...  Talk about non-smooth Internet IPOs.   Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23">  Tesla restructures Autopilot software team, Elon takes the reins

F. Lambert, May 10, "Tesla is again restructuring its Autopilot software team, according to sources talking to Electrek.

CEO Elon Musk is taking the reins with now even more people reporting directly to him and some senior staff being let go while others being promoted...."  Read more  Hmmmm...  Since Tesla is becoming the first true software car company, where the quality of the software is the most critical aspect of the product, it stands to reason that Elon would/should take the reins.  He's gotten the "car" aspects of Teslas to be as good as any made by the legacy "car companies" (It has styling, comfort, handling, acceleration, "Corintian leather" , and vinyl roof with opera windows as good if not better than any of them).    But Teslas are ahead of all cars in the showroom today in the "software" aspects. Elon has the opportunity to place all legacy OEMs  hopelessly in his dust by putting the "pedal to the software".  Software is emerging to be the fundamental differentiator. If he puts a conventional engine in Teslas and make an "F-150" version, it would really be lights out for the legacy OEMs.  See also.. Tesla’s software lead is so big it should worry other automakers, AI expert says...   Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="42" height="37">  Two thirds of consumers think connected devices are "creepy"

News, May 7, "Two thirds of consumers (65 per cent) are concerned with the way connected devices such as smart meters and personal digital assistants collect data, a new study finds.

A similar proportion think connected devices are creepy in the way they collect data about people and their behaviours and more than half (55 per cent) do not trust their connected devices to protect their privacy. More than half (53 per cent) also do not trust connected devices to handle their information responsibly..."  Read more  Hmmmm...  Not surprising.  No one likes the prospects of 1984? IoT = 1984?  IoT -> 1984? Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Why organizing Uber and Lyft drivers is a big challenge

T. Lee, May 8, "Lyft and Uber drivers around the world are striking on Wednesday to protest low pay, arbitrary terminations, and other concerns. The protest comes just before Uber's debut as a publicly traded stock on Friday.

The movement is decentralized, with drivers' groups in different cities organizing strikes and protests. Drivers in some cities plan to disconnect for 24 hours, while in other cities drivers are striking for only a couple of hours. In New York, for example, drivers switched off their apps during the morning rush hour, from 7am to 9am.

There's a list of driver demands on the website of Rideshare Drivers United, a Los Angeles-based drivers group. ..."  Read more  Hmmmm...  True internet companies aren't supposed to have these kinds of labor challenges.  Without Driverless, Uber needs a 180 degree (or maybe even a 900 degree) pivot in order to survive.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23">  Watch what Tesla Autopilot can see in a rainstorm

F. Lambert, May 7, "One of the main concerns with self-driving vehicles is how they will react to different climates and weather conditions. Now we get an idea of the potential as we take a look at what Tesla Autopilot can see in a rainstorm at night.... In a new video, verygreen is now sharing footage showing what Tesla Autopilot is able to detect during heavy rain at night:... Those are not perfect representations of what Tesla’s system is able to detect through its sensor suite, but it’s the best we have and it’s coming from a third-party...."  :   Read more  Hmmmm...  Must see video 1, video 2.  Very impressive!  Alain  

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  A BET ON UBER IS A BET ON SELF-DRIVING

A.  Marshall, May 10, "...But the most important activity Friday for Uber’s future may happen 370 miles away, in Pittsburgh, headquarters of the company’s Advanced Technologies Group. If Friday is like any other for ATG, autonomous vehicle safety drivers will pilot a handful of sensor-laden SUVs on short test trips around the city’s Strip District. ... “I’m not sure [automated vehicle tech] is necessary for ride-hail companies to get to profitability, but it does feel like once they’re able to achieve that, then they have an opportunity to be wildly profitable,” says Barrett Daniels, a partner in the national IPO practice at Deloitte..."  Read more  Hmmmm...  Without Driverless profitability will require cutting back to serving only "rich guys on an expense account". The bet if you are a buyer is that Uber will be first with Driverless and that will happen soon; else, you are a shorter.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Elon Musk is wrong on robotaxi timing, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says

L. Kolodny, May 10, "Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC he agrees with Tesla CEO Elon Musk that the future of mobility is electric, but he disagrees with Musk that truly autonomous “robotaxis” will debut next year.

In an interview that aired on Uber’s IPO day on Friday, “Squawk Box ” co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked him what the future of mobility looks like.  ...

When the Uber CEO first heard Musk’s predictions about this, Khosrowshahi said, “I thought: If he can do it, more power to him. Our approach is a more conservative approach as far as sensor technology and mapping technology. The software’s going to get there. So I don’t think that his vision is by any means wrong. I just think we disagree on timing.”..."   Read more  Hmmmm...  Whew!! That is not good coming from Uber leadership.  If he is wrong, Uber loses.  What Elon is foreseeing is an absolute necessity for Uber to scale to become sufficiently profitable.  (I'm assuming there is little likelihood that Uber will beat Elon getting there). 

If he is right, Uber loses.  Uber can't scale profitably soon enough to survive the hemorrhaging.  ( He never even hinted that he might beat Elon to Driverless.). 

Uber loses both ways.  Not a pretty sight.  Alain

 [log in to unmask]" alt="" width="93" height="15">‘Uber Was Supposed To Be Our Public Transit’

L. Bliss, April 29, "In 2017, the growing Toronto exurb of Innisfil, Ontario, became one of the first towns in the world to subsidize Uber rides in lieu of a traditional bus. Riders could pay a flat fare of just $3-$5 to travel to community hubs in the backseat of a car, or get $5 off regular fares to other destinations in and around town.

People loved it. By the end of the Uber program’s first full year of service, they were taking 8,000 trips a month. Riders like 20-year-old Holley Hudson, who works for daycare programs at YMCAs around the area, relied on it heavily, since she doesn’t drive. To get to the college course practicums she was taking when the service launched, “I used Ubers on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday basis,” she said.

Now “Innisfil Transit” is changing its structure. As of April 1, flat fares for the city-brokered Ubers rose by $1. Trip discounts dropped to $4, and a 30-ride monthly cap was implemented. Town leaders say this will allow Innisfil to continue to cover costs....“Uber was supposed to be our public transit,” she said. “Now we have to think about whether we can take an Uber or not.”..." Read more  Hmmmm...  Unless it can get to Driverless, its not going to scale.  :-(Alain


Half-baked stuff that probably doesn't deserve your time


[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="38" height="24"> Will this be the world's most accurate streetmap? Ambitious project launches in UK

S. Ranger, May 7, "...Highly precise maps are vital for everything from 5G deployments to smart city planning and autonomous driving projects.

For example, 5G signals are easily blocked by common street features like signs, hanging baskets, trees or bus shelters...." Read more  Hmmmm... Does anyone really believe such statements?  Vital???  If they are essentially free, then maybe is some "vital" places, but all streets... half-baked.  Alain


 C'mon Man!  (These folks didn't get/read the memo)


Simply Click Bait

[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="57" height="11">  https://www.inverse.com/

Hmmmm... Totally irresponsible Click Bait by this site.  Do NOT go there and please, if you happen to land there, boycott all of their advertisers.  Alain


 Calendar of Upcoming Events:

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3rd Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit
Achieving Safe, Inclusive,
Affordable, Energy Efficient, & Environmentally Responsible, On-Demand 24/7 Mobility for All People ,
especially the Mobility Marginalized
evening May 14 through May 16, 2019
Register; Sponsor

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Recent PodCasts

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 102

April 26, F. Fishkin, "VW unveils an Inclusive Mobility Initiative to help make future transportation better for all...a major theme of the upcoming Smart Driving Car Summit at Princeton. The University's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin tackle that...plus the latest of Uber, Tesla and more in Episode 102 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 101

April 26, F. Fishkin, "Tesla shakes up autonomous mobility with a new chip and promises of what's to come. The assessment from Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in this edition. Plus...Elon Musk on LiDAR, Via makes an Earth Day statement and the latest on the 3rd annual Princeton Smart Driving Car Summit. Less than 3 weeks away!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 100-A. Greenawalt/Via

April 5, F. Fishkin, "The success of on demand transit company Via is proving that ride sharing systems can work. Public Policy head Andrei Greenawalt joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a wide ranging discussion. Also: Uber, Tesla, Audi, Apple and Nuro are making headlines"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 98- Matt Daus

April 5, F. Fishkin, "Here comes congestion pricing in New York City...but what will it mean? Former city Taxi and Limousine Commission head and transportation expert Matthew Daus joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Also...Tesla, VW and even Brexit! All on Episode 98 of Smart Driving Cars."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 97 - Michael Sena

March 28, F. Fishkin, "The Future Networked Car? From Sweden, The Dispatcher publisher, Michael Sena, joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for the latest edition of Smart Driving Cars. Plus ...the Boeing story has much to do with autonomous vehicles and more. Tune in and subscribe."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 82 - Intel, Sciarappo & Jitsik, Loeb

F. Fishkin,  Jan. 9,  "One of the top chip makers in the world and a start up. Intel's strategic marketing director for autonomous driving Jill Sciarappo and the founder of Jitsik, Dr. Helen Loeb join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for Episode 82 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast from CES."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 81 - nVIDIA, Shapiro & Local  Motors / Olli, Hodge

F. Fishkin,  Jan. 9,  "How NVIDIA is paving the way for self driving cars and a new OLLI automated transport from Local Motors. NVIDIA's Senior Director for Automotive, Danny Shapiro and Kurtis Hodge of Local Motors join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for another edition of Smart Driving Cars from CES 2019.."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 76 - Zohdy   

F. Fishkin,  Jan. 9,  "Will Dubai lead the world in driverless transportation. In this special edition of the Smart Driving Cars podcast from CES, Dr. Ismail Zohdy, program manager for self driving transportation for the Dubai government joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a lively discussion."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 75 - PAVE; Nantel, Erlich, Riccobono   

F. Fishkin,  Jan. 9,  "From CES in Las Vegas, a new industry organization, PAVE, is formed. Partners for Automated Vehicle Education. And some founding members join co-hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and Fred Fishkin for an on site discussion. Guests include National Safety Council VP Kelly Nantel, Voyage VP Justin Erlich and National Federation of the Blind President Mark Riccobono."

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 71-Nader

F. Fishkin,  Dec. 13,  "When it comes to self driving cars, Ralph Nader says "Not so fast."  The renowned political activist and author takes the government and the industry to task in a super sized Episode 71 of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 70-Brulte

F. Fishkin, Dec. 6,  "We have liftoff! Waymo One begins offering a commercial self driving transportation service in the suburbs of Phoenix. How does it work? What's next? Autonomous Vehicle expert and consultant Grayson Brulte joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin on this episode of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast.

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 69 - Chunka Mui

F. Fishkin, Nov 29,  "What will it take for driverless vehicles to become a leading form of transportation? Futurist and author Chunka Mui joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 69 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast. Plus...Waymo, GM, Amazon and more. Tune in and subscribe! "

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 68 - Dick Mudge

F. Fishkin, Nov 22,  "The insurance industry hears about the outlook for automated vehicles. Co-author Dick Mudge joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 68 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast. Plus...Uber, GM Cruise, Waymo, VW and more. Tune in and subscribe!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 66 - Bishop & Zimmerman

F. Fishkin, Nov 8,  "Daimler is partnering with Bosch to bring an autonomous ride hailing service to San Jose next year. In this edition, the Director of Engineering at Bosch joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to outline how it will work. Plus Richard Bishop joins us fresh from an International Task Force on Vehicle Highway Automation in Denmark. And more!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 65 - Bernard Soriano, CA DMV

F. Fishkin, Nov 1,  "California gives Waymo the green light for fully driverless vehicle testing on public roads and the state's deputy director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, Bernard Soriano, joins the Smart Driving Cars podcast with the no nonsense details. Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin explore that and more. Tune in and subscribe!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 60-Ed Felten, Princeton & Bryant Walker-Smith, U S. Carolina

F. Fishkin, Oct 6,  "With Waymo poised to begin commercial driverless transportation in Arizona...is there reason to worry? In Episode 60 of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast, hosts Alain Kornhauser of Princeton and Fred Fishkin tackle that and more, joined by Ed Felton...a Princeton computer science professor who served as a technology advisor in the Obama administration and Bryant Walker Smith, legal expert from the U. of South Carolina. Tune in and subscribe!... Tune in and subscribe!"

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 59-Alex Roy, Basic Urban Mobility

F. Fishkin, Sept 28  "Basic Universal Mobility? Writer, editor, champion endurance driver and thought leader Alex Roy...joins Princeton University's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for Episode 59 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast. Plus...Alain's take on Tesla and Elon Musk....Toyota...and more..

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 58-Keith Code, Motorcycles

F. Fishkin, Sept 22  "In this edition of the Smart Driving Cars Podcast, Alain Kornhauser of Princeton University and co-host Fred Fishkin are joined by the founder of the Superbike School, Keith Code. Keith is an instructor, coach, author and researcher into motorcycle safety...and a champion racer. Beyond that....he's an old high school friend of Alain's! And there's more on BMW, Apple, VW and more! . Tune in and subscribe!"

 Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 55-Larry Burns, Autonomy

F. Fishkin, Sept 6,  "The coming new world of driverless cars! In Episode 55 of the Smart Driving Cars podcast former GM VP and adviser to Waymo Larry Burns chats with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and Fred Fishkin about his new book "Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car and How it Will Reshape Our World"


Recent Highlights of:

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[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  VW Inclusive Mobility aims to make sure tech takes care of everyone

A. Krok, May 2, "You can't please all the people all the time, but Volkswagen wants to make sure that when it moves into the next era of mobility, it won't leave any groups behind. 

Volkswagen this week unveiled its Inclusive Mobility Initiative, which sees the automaker working directly with outside groups to ensure that its future vehicles are capable of catering to people with disabilities..."  Read more  Hmmmm...This is fantastic and may well be in line with the focus we've taken with the upcoming 3rd Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit 10 days from now.  Our focus is on all people who have been marginalized by the unnecessary/non-inclusive/exclusive designs of our current forms of mobility, .  These designs are especially irresponsible when one no longer needs a person to drive... to keep the car from crashing while on its way from where people are to where the want to go.   What an enormous opportunity to be of service to so many that for what ever reason don't want or can't perform that task.  Yes, there are situations in which a professional is required.  At times, we all need we all need that the help of a professional.  But for all of those situations in which a professional is not needed, we have an enormous opportunity to be so much more inclusive by removing the other unnecessary exclusivities  that have consciously or unconsciously crept into our cars and transit systems.  Our mobility systems no longer need to be big and hold many people to make them affordable, no driver needs to be paid.  They no longer need to be constrained to only go between the few places than many want to go between at only certain times.  They can readily serve where only a few, even one, want to go between at whatever time.  The skill set needed to use and be served diminishes to the skill set needed by the easiest to use elevator. And so on...

Be sure to look VW's Inclusive Mobility Initiative.  Hopefully it encompasses and levels the mobility field  for the people that its cars have marginalized for 100 years.  Alain

Friday, May 3, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Tesla’s autonomy event: Impressive progress with an unrealistic timeline

T. Lee. April 24, "There's an old joke in the software engineering world, sometimes attributed to Tom Cargill of Bell Labs: "the first 90 percent of the code accounts for the first 90 percent of the development time. The remaining 10 percent of the code accounts for the other 90 percent of the development time."...

You can think of self-driving car development as occurring in two stages. Stage one is focused on developing a static understanding of the world. Where is the road? Where are other cars? Are there any pedestrians or bicycles nearby? What are the traffic laws in this particular area?

Once software has mastered this part of the self-driving task, it should be able to drive flawlessly between any two points on empty roads—and it should mostly be able to avoid running into things even on crowded roads. This is the level of autonomy Musk has dubbed "feature complete." Waymo achieved this level of autonomy around 2015, while Tesla is aiming to reach it later this year....

In this second stage, a company also needs to handle a "long tail" of increasingly unusual situations: ...Waymo has spent the last three years in the second stage...

Tesla says that's a 21-fold improvement over the Nvidia chips the company was using before. Of course, Nvidia has produced newer chips since 2016, but Tesla says that its chips are more powerful than even Nvidia's current Drive Xavier chip—144 TOPS compared to 21 TOPS.

But Nvidia argues that's not a fair comparison. The company says its Xavier chip delivers 30 TOPS, not 21. More importantly, Nvidia says it typically packages the Xavier on a chip with a powerful GPU chip, yielding 160 TOPS of computing power. And like Tesla, Nvidia packages these systems in pairs for redundancy, producing an overall system with 320 TOPS of computing power.... Regardless, both companies are working on next-generation designs, so any advantage either company achieves is likely to be fleeting....", Read more  Hmmmm... An absolute MUST read.  Alain

Friday, April 12, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="152" height="21">  SpaceX Lands Three Falcon Heavy Rocket Boosters After One Launch

J. Torchinsky, April 11, "For the first time ever, yesterday, SpaceX managed to land and recover all three of the Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket boosters that, when combined, form the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle. While the idea of vertically landing a rocket after launch for re-use has been around a while, SpaceX was the first to actually do it, and this triple-landing, part of the Arabsat-6A launch, is the first time three boosters from one launch have been recovered...."   Read more  Hmmmm... If you weren't watching live, then you must watch the video.  2 side landing @ T+7:30+ (also), center@ T+9:40+ See this aerial pictureSee also  [log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="59" height="17" border="0"> SpaceX Falcon Heavy Sticks Triple Rocket Landing with 1st Commercial Launch.

In the 70's, after putting a man on the moon, we felt empowered that technologically, everything was possible! However, going 3for3 on bull's eye landings on earth is totally mind boggling.  Technologically, I'm fully confident we soon can have aTaxis serving the mobility disadvantaged throughout our communitie.  But, do we have the the societal/political will to risk even trying.  There simply may be too many gatekeepers of the status quo. Alain

Friday, April 5, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Congestion Pricing Plan for NYC is Coming!

M. Daus, Esq, April 1, "Over the weekend, the New York State legislature agreed to pass congestion pricing legislation as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget bill for FY 2020. The legislation was finalized in the early hours today, and the Governor is expected to sign the bill into law immediately. The toll is intended to reduce traffic congestion while raising $15 billion between 2020 and 2024 to fix NYC subways and commuter rails.  Starting no sooner than December 31, 2020, motorists will be charged a toll to drive into Manhattan south of 60th street, excluding the FDR Drive and the West Side highway....

Only two categories of vehicles are specifically exempt from the law: emergency vehicles and qualifying vehicles transporting a person with disabilities. The law does not specify what qualifies as a “vehicle transporting a person with disability,” leaving any such determinations to the TBTA. A recent Bloomberg article discusses exemptions for people with disabilities (click here to review full article)..."  Read more  Hmmmm... Congratulations NYC!!! I've never understood why this isn't called "Value Pricing".  Was it the SAE??? or is it just that I don't seem to ever like the semantics used by others? This has been a long time coming and is a tribute to William Vickery, the Canadian-born Columbia University Professor of Economics and Nobel Laureate who tragically passed away shortly after being announced as the winner of the 1996 award in Economics.  Alain

Friday, March 29, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="155" height="20"> 10 Lessons From Uber's Fatal Self-Driving Car Crash



Friday, March 22, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">   Benson, Zwicker & Lampitt Measure Creating Task Force to Study Autonomous Vehicles Now Law

Press release, March 19, "To ensure self-driving cars are safely integrated on New Jersey roads, legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Daniel Benson, Andrew Zwicker and Pamela Lampitt to establish a task force to evaluate autonomous vehicles was signed into law by the Governor Monday.

“As major auto companies explore developing semi and fully autonomous cars, we need to prepare for the day when we’ll see only self-driving vehicles on our roadways,” said Benson (Mercer, Middlesex). “The goal of this task force will be to assess how we can introduce autonomous vehicles to our roadways while keeping drivers safe.”

The new mandate (formerly bill AJR-164) creates the New Jersey Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Task Force, comprised of eight members. The panel will be responsible for conducting a study of autonomous vehicles and recommending laws, rules, and regulations that the state may enact to safely integrate these vehicles on the roads..."  Read more  Hmmmm.... New Jersey is now started.  Hooray!! Alain

Sunday, March 17, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="116" height="32">Automated vehicles could provide mobility to the ‘mobility disadvantaged’

A. Kornhauser, March 13, "The following testimony was provided to the New Jersey State Assembly’s Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee on Monday, March 11....

What we need, what my ask is, that we create in New Jersey a “welcoming environment” for the research, testing and demonstration of this technology and work to focusing it on improving the mobility of the mobility disadvantaged...

While such a demonstration is not prohibited in New Jersey, it is not permitted.  

Consequently, this provides excuses and hurdles to bringing such mobility to our communities and tarnishes any other welcoming efforts aimed at enabling New Jersey to lead instead of follow in what may well address the fundamental objective of this hearing."  Read more  Hmmmm....Seems so simple. I have found it so incredibly hard. Alain

Friday, March 1, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="35" height="38">  FORM S-1 REGISTRATION STATEMENT Lyft, Inc.

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">Autonomous Vehicles

Feb 25, " This workshop brought together experts in cyber-physical systems, machine learning, transportation engineering, and applied mathematics, both from academia and from industry, to help bridge the technical gaps and to facilitate exchange and collaboration across disciplinary boundaries..."  Read more  Hmmmm.... Slides and videos of the presentations are available here.   In particular, see..:

Friday, February 15, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  Facing opposition, Amazon scraps New York HQ2 plans

T. Lee, Feb. 14, "Amazon is canceling its controversial plan to build a new corporate campus in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens. The plan, which included almost $3 billion in subsidies and tax breaks, provoked a grassroots backlash... " Read more  Hmmmm....  An example of what happens when the "Welcome Mat' fails to include on one side...the grass roots... those who were supposed to be direct beneficiaries (those who were supposed to get the jobs) and those whose "back yards" were to be disrupted.  And on the other side ...  those being welcomed failed to "wipe their feet" by extracting too many incentives and failing to be respective of local values. 

Similarly with the California HSR.  California put out the Welcome Mat, but the technology didn't properly wipe its feet by promoting optimistic schedules and low-balling cost estimates, both of which finally caught up to them. 
Driverless Shared-ride mobility will have to avoid making similar faux pas; else, it simply isn't going to happen.  Alain

Friday, February 1, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  NYC NOW KNOWS MORE THAN EVER ABOUT YOUR UBER AND LYFT TRIPS

Friday, January 25, 2019

Friday, January 11, 2019

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> PAVE coalition launches broad-based public education campaign on automated vehicles

Staff, Jan. 8, "A coalition of industry, non-profit and academic institutions has launched a campaign to inform the public and policymakers about the potential and the reality of advanced vehicle technologies and self-driving vehicles.

Partners for Automated Vehicle Education (PAVE) will hold events across the country to introduce driver assistance and self-driving technology to consumers and policymakers; hold educational workshops to help federal, state and local officials make informed policy decisions; and develop educational materials to distribute to retail sales and customer service personnel...."  Read more Hmmmm....  Very important.  Listen to the PodCast.  Alain

Thursday, December 27, 2018

 [log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="116" height="18">   Top 10 Potential Surprises for

A. Jonas, Dec. 20, "... #6. Safety drivers not removed from autonomous car fleets. While we are optimistic on the direction and end-state of AVs, we do not expect the tech to be "ready for prime time" in 2019.  Look for expansion of AV fleets in the US to have at least one if not two safety drivers to satisfy regulations and mitigate risk for years to come. ..."  Read more  Hmmmm....  Yipes!!!  Sorry for not ending the year on an optimistic note.  What may be becoming obvious is that the AI technology that replaces the driver may no longer be the critical path item.

"Expansion"  and "safety drivers" are oxymorons.  Expansion, especially in the tech world is only possible if is associated with substantial labor productivity.  Do you think that it is expensive to for NJ Transit to employ bus drivers?  How much must those "Safety Drivers" cost Waymo, Apple, Cruise, etc with their "Silicon Valley"  narcissism  and self-worth.  Figuring out how use Driverless technology such that it is valued and respected by society may well be THE critical path item.   What is known for certain is that, if Driverless is to become mobility as a service, it is necessary that the service has substantially better labor proclivity than today's personal automobile or Uber/Lyft/DiDi Chauffeured mobility. 

The automobile has been able to thrive only because it leveraged its ability to have the driver, the beneficiary of the technology, personally absorb the labor cost of delivering that mobility.  We pay ourselves to Chauffeur ourselves  and never think about paying ourselves.  Our significant others, friends and children endear us to Chauffeur them.  Thus the automobile's labor cost has been elegantly internalized to such an extent that it is perceived to be completely free.  We also internalize the cost of our labor in watching over and maintaining out personal car(s).

All of these internalized costs spill out and become real tangible costs for any system for which we decide, for whatever reason, to not do them for ourselves any more.   So the critical contribution that we make when driving is not actually the shifting of the gears, etc, but, instead,  driving like everyone else.  In a sense, just blending in without being noticed.  Today's cars provide personal mobility without incurring an explicit labor cost.  Just to be even, Driverless cars must do the same.  That means No attendant nor Safety driver and  that's just to be even.  To be better than today's cars, then Driverless will need deliver shared rides.

 For Driverless technology to achieve any worthwhile scale, it will need to do it without one, let alone two, attendants on-board.   Alain

Thursday, November 22, 2018

 [log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="94" height="29"> Market Framework and Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems

R. Mudge, A. Kornhauser, M. Hardison, Nov, 2018 "The surface transportation industry is in the early stages of a series of profound changes, stimulated by the development of increasingly sophisticated driving safety and automation technologies.   Considerable uncertainty exists regarding the speed with which these changes will take place and the nature of their impacts on safety, the overall demand for travel, vehicle sales, and vehicle ownership.  This report does not attempt to forecast the pace of these changes, instead advancing a list of “trigger points” that might serve as leading indicators of change....

What might these changes mean for actuaries and the insurance industry? Since Driverless vehicles will most likely be available only to fleet operators and not the general public, their actuarial and insurance implication will differ substantially from the implications of Safe and Self technologies that will be on vehicles purchased by consumers. But, will these vehicles continue to be insured in the same way as personal vehicles are today or will this practice change in some way. For example, if the burden of
liability shifts to the technology rather than the driver, then should actuaries focus on product liability rather than personal liability? To what extent does technology rather than personal behavior or demographics become the important link to liability? "
Read more  Hmmmm....  This is a very good report. Listen to SmartDrivingCar Podcast 68 with Dick Mudge. (Of course, I'm biased. Alain 

Thursday, November 8, 2018

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> We Crash Four Cars Repeatedly to Test the Latest Automatic Braking Safety Systems

B. Tingwall, Nov  2018, "The kick-drum thump of a harmless 30-mph shunt into an inflatable faux car rouses the same visceral remorse as a real car crash. The stomach knots with nausea. Mortification burns deep in every muscle. Within seconds, the brain catalogs the near trauma under Things That Should Not Be Repeated, right next to beer pong played with Captain Morgan.

Against our instincts, we keep taking runs at the balloon car. We nudge, punch, and plow into the generic air-filled Volks­wagen again and again and again, not unlike American drivers, who, in 2016, drove into the back ends of other vehicles 2.4 million times. The rear-end collision is America's favorite way to bend sheetmetal, accounting for nearly one-third of all crashes. ...."   Read more  Hmmmm....  Bottom line.... AEB DOESN'T WORK!!!  Seems as if someone should go back and  start from the beginning.  The intent should NOT be to reduce ...  it should be to "... essentially eliminate the millions of rear-end collisions that happen each year.   Cars should NOT be able to tailgate, period!!!  These are public highways and tailgaters should NOT be enabled to put others at risk.  Cars should NOT be able to cut-in and cars should NOT be able to drive at an excessive speed.  If cars are misused, the car maker, the OEM, should be liable for enabling the car to be misused, ( unless the owner has modified the car, then the modifier should be liable for treble damages).   OEMs have the knowledge and capability to place controls on their cars so that they are NOT misused. OEMs should be held accountable for not implementing those safeguards.   Alain

Thursday, November 1, 2018

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">  A Green Light for Waymo’s Driverless Testing in California

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

New Jersey Pending Legislation re: Autonomous Vehicles

Oct 16, Establishes fully autonomous vehicle pilot program A4573 Sponsors:  Zwicker (D16); Benson (D14)

Oct 16, Establishes New Jersey Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Task Force AJR164 Sponsors:  Benson (D14); Zwicker (D16); Lampitt (D6)

Oct 16, Directs MVC to establish driver's license endorsement for autonomous vehicles A4541 Sponsors:  Zwicker (D16); Benson (D14); Lampitt (D6)..."  Read more Hmmmm.... Things are beginning to move in New Jersey.  Alain

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="39" height="43"> Testimony of Alain Kornhauser, Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="42" height="39"> Audio Recording of Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

Friday, August 31, 2018

Customers Died. Will That Be a Wake-Up Call for China’s Tech Scene?

Waymo’s Big Ambitions Slowed by Tech Trouble

Why Waymo Is Worth A Staggering $175 Billion Even Before Launching Its Self-Driving Cars

Friday, June 15,  2018

Tuesday, June 12,  2018

 CPUC AUTHORIZES PASSENGER CARRIERS TO PROVIDE FREE TEST RIDES IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES WITH VALID CPUC AND DMV PERMITS

Sunday, June 3,  2018

  Waymo’s fleet of self-driving minivans is about to get 100 times bigger

Friday, May 25,  2018

PRELIMINARY REPORT: HIGHWAY: HWY18MH010 (Uber/Herzberg Crash)

May 24, "About 9:58 p.m., on Sunday, March 18, 2018, an Uber Technologies, Inc. test vehicle, based on a modified 2017 Volvo XC90 and operating with a self-driving system in computer control mode, struck a pedestrian on northbound Mill Avenue, in Tempe, Maricopa County, Arizona.

...The vehicle was factory equipped with several advanced driver assistance functions by Volvo Cars, the original manufacturer. The systems included a collision avoidance function with automatic emergency
braking, known as City Safety, as well as functions for detecting driver alertness and road sign information. All these Volvo functions are disabled when the test vehicle is operated in computer control..." Read more  Hmmmm.... Uber must believe that its systems are better at avoiding Collisions and Automated Emergency Braking than Volvo's.  At least this gets Volvo "off the hook". 

"...According to data obtained from the self-driving system, the system first registered radar and LIDAR observations of the pedestrian about 6 seconds before impact, when the vehicle was traveling at 43 mph..." (= 63 feet/second)  So the system started "seeing an obstacle when it was 63 x 6 = 378 feet away... more than a football field, including end zones!   

"...As the vehicle and pedestrian paths converged, the self-driving system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object, as a vehicle, and then as a bicycle with varying expectations of future travel path..." (NTSB: Please tell us precisely when it classified this "object' as a vehicle and be explicit about the expected "future travel paths."  Forget the path, please just tell us the precise velocity vector that Uber's system attached to the "object", then the "vehicle".  Why didn't the the Uber system instruct the Volvo to begin to slow down (or speed up) to avoid a collision?  If these paths (or velocity vectors) were not accurate, then why weren't they accurate?  Why was the object classified as a   "Vehicle" ??  When did it finally classify the object as a "bicycle"?  Why did it change classifications?  How often was the classification of this object done.  Please divulge the time and the outcome of each classification of this object.  In the tests that Uber has done, how often has the system mis-classified an object as a "pedestrian"when the object was actually an overpass, or an overhead sign or overhead branches/leaves that the car could safely pass under, or was nothing at all?? (Basically, what are the false alarm characteristics of Uber's Self-driving sensor/software system as a function of vehicle speed and time-of-day?)  

"...At 1.3 seconds before impact, (impact speed was 39mph = 57.2 ft/sec) the self-driving system determined that an emergency braking maneuver was needed to mitigate a collision" (1.3 x 57.2 = 74.4 ft. which is about equal to the braking distance. So it still could have stopped short.

"...According to Uber, emergency braking maneuvers are not enabled while the vehicle is under computer control, to reduce (eradicate??) the potential for erratic vehicle behavior. ..." NTSB:  Please describe/define potential  and erratic vehicle behavior   Also please uncover and divulge the design & decision process that Uber went through to decide that this risk (disabling the AEB) was worth the reward of eradicating " "erratic vehicle behavior".  This is fundamentally BAD design.  If the Uber system's false alarm rate is so large that the best way to deal with false alarms is to turn off the AEB, then the system should never have been permitted on public roadways. 

"...The vehicle operator is relied on to intervene and take action. " Wow!  If Uber's system fundamentally relies on a human to intervene, then Uber is nowhere near creating a Driverless vehicle.  Without its own Driverless vehicle Uber is past "Peak valuation".  

"...The system is not designed to alert the operator. " That may be the only good part of Uber's design.  In a Driverless vehicle, there is no one to warn, so don't waste your time.  If it is important enough to warn, then it is important enough for the automated system to start initiating things to do something about it.  Plus, the Driver may not know what to do anyway.  This is pretty much as I stated in PodCast 30 and the March 24 edition of SmartDrivingCar, See below.Thursday, May 10,  2018

Thursday, April 26,  2018

 This startup’s CEO wants to open-source self-driving car safety testing

Saturday, March 24,  2018

Experts say video of Uber's self-driving car killing a pedestrian suggests its technology may have failed

 

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Tuesday, April 17, 2017

  Don't Worry, Driverless Cars Are Learning From Grand Theft Auto

[log in to unmask]" alt="imap:[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.36&filename=ajafjpkfaclhelpc.png" class="" width="44" height="50" border="0">Extracting Cognition out of Images for the Purpose of Autonomous Driving

announce historic commitment of 20 automakers to make automatic emergency braking standard on new vehicles

Sunday, December 19, 2015

[log in to unmask]" alt="imap:[log in to unmask]:993/fetch%3EUID%3E/INBOX%3E3022058?part=1.38&filename=ccalfjfhllohpdpa.png" class="" width="96" height="63" border="0">Adam Jonas' View on Autonomous Cars

Video similar to part of Adam's Luncheon talk @ 2015 Florida Automated Vehicle Symposium on Dec 1.  Hmmm ... Watch Video  especially at the 13:12 mark.  Compelling; especially after the 60 Minutes segment above!  Also see his TipRanks.  Alain


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