[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="44" height="44" border="0"> The SmartDrivingCars eLetter, Pod-Casts, Zoom-Casts and Zoom-inars are made possible in part by support from the Smart Transportation and Technology ETF, symbol MOTO. For more information: www.motoetf.com. Most funding is supplied by Princeton University's Department of Operations Research & Financial Engineering and Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering (PAVE) research laboratory as part of its research dissemination initiative
O. Holland, Sept. 6, "The cleanliness of Tokyo, the diversity of New York and the social services of Stockholm: Billionaire Marc Lore has outlined his vision for a 5-million-person "new city in America" and appointed a world-famous architect to design it.
Now, he just needs somewhere to build it -- and $400 billion in funding.
The former Walmart executive last week unveiled plans for Telosa, a sustainable metropolis that he hopes to create, from scratch, in the American desert. The ambitious 150,000-acre proposal promises eco-friendly architecture, sustainable energy production and a purportedly drought-resistant water system. A so-called "15-minute city design" will allow residents to access their workplaces, schools and amenities within a quarter-hour commute of their homes...." Read more Hmmmm... Whew!!! Just when I thought people preferred quaint neighborhoods. I hope that the "social services of Stockholm" aspect is to help SF & BART with its homeless challenge. That would be one very positive aspect of this concept. Count me in if it is. AlainPress release, Sept. 6, "...The automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler and Mobileye, an Intel Company and leading provider of automated driving solutions, have agreed on a long-term cooperation...
The rolling
chassis from
Schaeffler, a
modular
platform for
new mobility
concepts, is
combined with
the Mobileye
Drive™
self-driving
system. The
goal: to
develop a new,
flexible
platform for
self-driving
shuttles and
other vehicle
products at
full
automation
level 4 and to
offer
customers
worldwide
solutions for
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS).
“Mobileye
Drive™ is a
versatile,
scalable
solution that
enables any
vehicle type
to become
self-driving...
" Read
more Hmmmm...
Seems
perfect. I'm
assuming that
since MobilEye
is supplying
the driver, it
will also be
clearly
specifying the
Operational
Design Domain
(ODD, where
& when
that driver
can drive
safely),
ensuring that
the platform
remains within
the ODD and
accepting all
driver-related
liabilities
within each
ODD. Very
nice (as long
as the ODD has
enough
customers to
enable a
viable
mobility
business).
Alain
K. Pyle,
Sep 12, "As
technologists
literally
reach for the
stars with
amazing new
technologies,
it is
important that
the fruits of
their exciting
breakthrough
developments
are available
for everyone.
At the same
time, will
developments
reach their
full
potential, if
only a select
group makes
the decisions
for the rest
of us? How can
professional
associations,
academics, and
industry work
together to
ensure the
most good can
be done for
the greatest
benefit
possible?
Reaching
across
disciplines
will be
critical, as
well as
reaching out
to the various
communities
impacted by
new
technologies.
These are some
of the
questions
addressed in
this
interactive
ViodiTV
real-time
conversation
with the
cofounders of
Locomation, a
company that
is bringing
automation to
the trucking
industry, and
Tom Coughlin,
past IEEE-USA
president,
current IEEE
President-Elect
candidate, and
storage expert
and
consultant..."
Read
more Hmmmm...
Also see
Video.
Alain
P. Stopher,
Aug. 2021, "In
2016, the
Valley Metro
Regional
Public
Transportation
Authority
(Valley Metro)
of the Greater
Phoenix
metropolitan
area was
awarded a
grant as part
of the Federal
Transit
Administration
(FTA) Mobility
on Demand
(MOD) Sandbox
program.
Through the
grant, Valley
Metro and
Waymo
partnered to
pilot the use
of Waymo
autonomous
vehicles (AVs)
as certified
vehicles for
Valley Metro’s
RideChoice
program, a
subsidized
curb-to-curb
individual
mobility
service (via
taxi or
ride-hailing
services) for
paratransit-certified people under the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) and for
older adults
age 65 and
over living in
Greater
Phoenix. ..."
Read
more Hmmmm...Nice,
except what
seems to be
missing here
is any
semblance of
equity wrt
other people
that are too
poor or too
young to drive
their own
car. I guess
unless they
are also old
or
"paratransit
certified
(hopefully
that where the
poor fit in",
they are stuck
with the
mobility
offered by
Valley Metro.
Maybe the FTA
should also
investigate
how Waymo's
on-demand
service, if
adopted by VM,
could actually
improve the
VM's service
to
some/many/most
of these
customers and
incur a lower
cost in
delivering
that service.
Alain
P. McGee,
Sep.12,
"Minutes after
the news broke
this week that
Doug Field,
the former
Tesla
executive who
led Apple’s
car project,
was defecting
to Ford, the
Cupertino
company’s
venture called
an all-hands
meeting.
Field, who
explained he
was joining
the Detroit
carmaker for
the chance “to
try to make a
difference”,
was the latest
in a long line
of exits from
Project Titan,
Apple’s
secretive plan
to build a
self-driving
car.
He was the
fourth head of
the project to
depart in
seven years,
and the team
has bled three
other senior
executives in
the past few
months. Staff
were jittery
as the media
speculated
that Apple
might pull the
plug on the
car.
But in a
half-hour
briefing,
Apple
executives
said there
would be a
reorganisation,
but no
lay-offs,
according to
two people
present. By
Thursday,
Bloomberg
reported that
Kevin Lynch,
who has been
leading
Apple’s Watch
and health
projects,
would take
over at
Project Titan.
The car was
still on the
road.
Despite the
turbulence, it
was too early
to call time
on Apple’s
seven-year
effort to
build a car,
said Laurie
Yoler, a
founding board
director at
Tesla and a
former board
member at
Zoox. ...
For
Manuela
Papadopol, a
car industry
veteran and
chief
executive of
Designated
Driver, a
start-up
focused on
operating cars
remotely, all
indications
are that Apple
is paring down
its ambitions
from the
vehicle to
enhancing the
digital
cockpit and
redefining
elements of
the passenger
experience.
“There’s no
way on Earth
that Apple is
building a
car,” she
said.
“Don’t get me
wrong: I think
the
opportunity
for Apple is
incredible in
automotive —
not in
building cars,
but in the
interior
space. They
could project
augmented and
virtual
reality into
the windows.
That’s where
the
opportunity
lies.”..."
For Manuela
Papadopol, a
car industry
veteran and
chief
executive of
Designated
Driver, a
start-up
focused on
operating cars
remotely, all
indications
are that Apple
is paring down
its ambitions
from the
vehicle to
enhancing the
digital
cockpit and
redefining
elements of
the passenger
experience.
“There’s no
way on Earth
that Apple is
building a
car,” she
said. “Don’t
get me wrong:
I think the
opportunity
for Apple is
incredible in
automotive —
not in
building cars,
but in the
interior
space. They
could project
augmented and
virtual
reality into
the windows.
That’s where
the
opportunity
lies.”..." Read
more Hmmmm...I
agree with
Manuela.
Alain
R. Dato,
Sep. 7,
"Autonomous
vehicles will
have a bigger
impact on the
future of
mobility than
the
transformation
to electric
vehicles.
That's
according to
Johann
Jungwirth, the
Vice President
MaaS at
Mobileye,
which is
testing
driverless
vehicles in
locations
around the
world. ..." Read
more Hmmmm...Agreed.
EVs make
little change
on mobility,
they just
change
mobility's
energy
source. The
value of
driverless is
that it can
substantially
improve the
quality and
price of
mobility for
those that,
for what ever
reason, don't
have access to
a car power by
either and ICE
or an EV.
Alain
S. Nicola, Sep. 7, "...For a fraction of the price of an Uber, customers will be able to order a remote-controlled car, drive themselves to their desired destination and then get out, leaving it to a human teledriver miles away to either park the vehicle or steer it to a next client. In a later step, Vay plans to introduce a ride-hailing service that’s entirely remote-controlled..." Read more Hmmmm... Operational Design Domain is unlikely to be large enough to be viable. Alain
Press release, Sep. 9, "WeRide, a world-leading autonomous driving company, forayed into urban logistics industry with the unveiling of WeRide Robovan, the very first L4 self-driving cargo van in China. The company will work with Jiangling Motors (JMC), a major Chinese automobile manufacturer, and ZTO Express, a leading express delivery company in China, in a strategic cooperation, promoting mass production and the commercialization of WeRide Robovan. WeRide orchestrates this trilateral cooperation and creates an autonomous driving (AD) ecosystem for China’s urban logistics. WeRide now is not only dedicated to L4 autonomous driving mobility, but also smart urban logistics..." Read more Hmmmm... Seems all about gonna rather isa. Fundamental question is ... Whena??? . Video is largely smoke & mirrors (gonna rather than isa). Alain
H. Poser'77, Sept 13, 2020. "Creating Value for Light Density Urban Rail Lines" . See slides, See video Hmmmm... Simply Brilliant. Alain
These
editions re
sponsored by
the SmartETFs
Smart
Transportation
and Technology
ETF, symbol
MOTO. For more
information
head to www.motoetf.com
R.
Duffy, Aug 23,
"Chandler,
Arizona, is a
city of just
over 250,000
that’s located
southeast of
Phoenix. Like
most of
Arizona, it's
hot, dry, and
lined with
cacti and palm
trees.
But unlike
most of
Arizona—or
virtually
anywhere else
in the
world—Chandler
residents
share the road
with fully
driverless
robotaxis,
courtesy of
Waymo. As
Stacy, a
Chandler
resident, told
us, “Waymos
are like
rabbits in my
neighborhood.”
Since October
2020, the
Alphabet
subsidiary has
been running
its driverless
ride-hail
service, Waymo
One, in a
50-square-mile
service area
that
encompasses
parts of
Chandler,
Tempe, Mesa,
and Gilbert.
Anyone with a
smartphone,
credit card,
and GPS
coordinates in
the service
area can hail
a completely
driverless
ride of their
own.
In
December 2018,
Waymo opened
Waymo One
(with safety
drivers) to
the general
public,
expanding
beyond an
early rider
program
available to
pre-approved,
NDA-bound
Phoenix
residents. The
company’s
current
testing zone,
for driverless
and safety
operator-supervised
vehicles,
stretches
across roughly
100 square
miles.
And although
residents
living in or
near the
service area
may be used to
seeing Waymo’s
glossy-white,
sensor-laden
Chrysler
Pacificas
roving around,
the chances
they’ve ridden
in one are
much, much
lower. .." Read
more As I've been writing, Chandler is a great place to
test
Driverless
mobility to
make sure it
at least
begins to
work; however,
the value in
the technology
is not as
amusement or
thrill ride or
as circus
sideshow. The
value is its
ability to
affordably
deliver high
quality
on-demand
mobility. It
will be a long
time before it
can provide a
higher quality
of service
that a
chauffeured
"Black car" or
limousine, so
it can't
compete for
those
traveling on
an expense
account or the
well to do.
It also can't
really compete
to serve the
Drive-it-Yourself
(DiY) folks
that can
afford to buy
their own cars
and park them
for free when
not in use.
Conventional
mobility
serves all of
these folks
very well.
Where this form of mobility has a real advantage is
to serve folks
who are
required to
conform to
mobility whose
very limited
service is
provided on a
"take-it-or-leave-it" operational philosophy. Services that operate
between few
fixed
locations at
strictly
stipulated
times
specified by
the service
provider. The
disparity in
service is
incredible
between
mobility
options that
respond
directly to
customer needs
in terms of
from/to/when
(walking, DiY
personal car,
Uber/Lyft/taxi/limousine/WaymoOne)
and public
transit's "take-it-or-leave-it"
customer
service
approach.
M. Sena,
Issue (08-10)
, Aug. 25,"
Some of you
are fans of Douglas Adams and
will enjoy
this month's
Musings.
Sometimes a
little humor
helps to get a
serious point
across better
than trying to
be seriously
persuasive.
The lead
article in
this issue is
the first part
of a two-part
series. This
month I
discuss why
there is still
a chance for
the Western
automotive
OEMs to stay
in the game of
manufacturing
cars, rather
than being
relegated to
assemblers of
battery
electric
vehicle
components.
Next month I
examine why
the position
they have held
for the past
century, King
of the Hill,
is about to be
challenged.
In the second
article is
focused on the
need for
cooperation
between robot
and driver in
highly
automated
driving. If
Tesla had done
a better job
on this score
it could have
avoided being
called on the
carpet by the
National
Highway
Traffic Safety
Administration. We'll see where that leads.
Dispatch
Central, as
usual,
attempts to
have something
for everyone.
I've called
the European
Commission out
for a major
miss in its
intelligent
speed
assistance
regulation,
not for
passing it but
for not making
it as robust
as it should
be.
Yes, I did use
these summer
months to
start work on
a follow-up to
the Princeton
SmartDrivingCars Summit, and I did enjoy a very pleasant summer here in
Sweden. I hope
you enjoyed
your summer as
well wherever
and however
you spent it.
M. Sena"
Read more Hmmmm... Enjoy & Learn this month's Dispatcher ( especially how to "... turn... pig’s ear into a silk purse...; no-brainers (P. 17); Some interesting Statistics on World energy & BEVs (P.18, thank you Fred Dryer), a possible upside for coal mines (P. 19), why 'Level 3' is even less probable than 'Level 5' which is reached only 'in the limit as time goes to infinity' and Evolutionary Domesticity (P. 29) and the answer is '42' ! Listen/watch to the Pod/Zoom-Cast 231 with Michael, Fred and me centered on this issue. Alain
M
Henninger, Aug
11, "A bright
orange,
battery-powered
train breaks
the lush green
stillness of
Rockhill
Furnace,
Pennsylvania,
as it
traverses
track
originally
laid in 1876.
At the helm in
a bright
green/yellow
safety vest,
Meg Richards
tweaks the
throttle and
brakes as the
two-car train
passes by
baseball
fields,
crosses
streets and
completes the
day's test
run.
Along for the
ride, Henry
Posner III,
the chairman
of Railroad
Development
Corporation
(RDC) and an
adjunct
instructor at
Carnegie
Mellon
University,
sits eager to
demonstrate
his vision for
a rail-based
mass transit
system in the
United States.
The original
concept for
Pop-Up Metro —
a
battery-powered,
modular train
that can be
inserted onto
existing
infrastructure
— evolved in
parallel with
his Department
of History
class, The
American
Railroad-Decline
and
Renaissance in
the Era of
Deregulation.
CPUC, Nov
23, '20, "This
decision
creates two
new autonomous
vehicle
programs that
authorize fare
collection
(deployment
programs), one
for drivered
autonomous
vehicles and
the other for
driverless
autonomous
vehicles.
Among other
requirements,
applicants to
the existing
driverless
pilot program
and the new
driverless
deployment
program must
submit
Passenger
Safety Plans
that outline
their plans to
protect
passenger
safety for
driverless
operations.
In addition,
the decision
establishes
four goals
that apply to
both the
existing pilot
programs and
the new
deployment
programs; 1.)
Protect
passenger
safety; 2.)
Expand the
benefits of AV
technologies
to all of
Californians,
including
people with
disabilities;
3.) Improve
transportation
options for
all,
particularly
for
disadvantaged
communities
and low-income
communities;
and 4.) Reduce
greenhouse gas
emissions,
criteria air
pollutants,
and toxic air
contaminants,
particularly
in
disadvantaged
communities.
The Commission
will collect
data to
monitor permit
holders’
progress
toward each of
the goals...."
Read
more Hmmmm...
Sorry for not
reporting this
sooner, and
thank you Doug
Coventry for
bringing it to
my attention.
It is must
reading
for any
jurisdiction
making
regulations
regarding the
provision of
autonomousTaxi
mobility.
Its four goals are laudable, especially the 3rd, even if
it may end up
violating part
of the 4th.
Moreover, the
clauses of the
3rd should be
re-ordered to
be: ...
Improve
transportation
options for
disadvantaged
communities,
low income
communities
and those with
disabilities,
and, if
possible, for
all... This
also reduces
the goals to 3
important
ones, ...
safety, the
environment
and improved
mobility for
those that
have been left
behind by the
personal
automobile
Of course, one wants to improve mobility for those that
drive their
own personal
car; however,
that is a entrenched
well-served
set of
customers that
are not
readily going
to flip from
driving their
car to
something that
isn't really
better and may
largely be
perceived as
no cigar.
Certainly, the
public sector
should in no
way use public
resources to
give car
drivers yet
another good
but inferior
choice as was
done with many
public transportation investments
that actually
provide
inferior
mobility to
those that
were to be
attract as
customers.
These systems
are rebuffed
by many that
they were
intended to be
taken off the
road for the
trips they
already make,
let alone
deliver
quality-of-life
benefits by
providing
mobility to
new places
that they
couldn't
previously
access.
A properly designed Operational Design Domain focused on from and where low income communities want to go is, to my mind, where the best opportunity exits for these safe, environmentally responsible systems . In such ODDs these driverless aTaxis can actually improve quality-of-life; and thus, deserve accommodation and promotion by public agencies such as CPUC. Alain
July 12
-> 15,
"..." Read
more Hmmmm...I haven't been able to
find a public
source for any
of the content
from the
symposium but
there were at
least three
sessions (of
the few that I
was able to
attend) that
were really
good. One
was B-101-
An inside Look
at
Policy-Making
for Automated
Vehicles,
moderated by
Baruch
Feigenbaum of
the Reason
Foundation.
Pay particular
attention to
the insights
offered by
Kevin Biesty
of Arizona
DoT. So far,
no one in the
world has done
it better.
A second one was