[log in to unmask]" class="" width="143" height="36">
REQUEST
FOR EXPRESSION
OF INTEREST:
Trenton MOVES
P, Murphy,
Dec. 6, "The
New Jersey
Department of
Transportation
(“NJDOT”), an
instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, has issued a Request for
Expression of
Interest
(“RFEI”) to
identify
experienced
firms capable
of introducing
a safe,
equitable,
affordable,
sustainable,
and efficient
on-demand
automated
vehicle
mobility
systems in and
beyond
Trenton, NJ.
NJDOT is
soliciting
written
Expression of
interest from
qualified and
experienced
vendors to
gain valuable
insight from
the private
industry
regarding the
goals set
forth in the
Trenton MOVES
(Mobility
&
Opportunity:
Vehicles
Equity System)
potential
project and
assess its
viability.
If and when
NJDOT elects
to proceed
with a
potential
project, NJDOT
may issue
formal
Request(s) for
Qualifications
or Proposals.
The RFEI is
available to
be downloaded
at https://www.nj.gov/transportation/business/procurement/ems/current.shtm...
1. Potential
Project
Summary
The State of
New Jersey is
exploring a
transportation
equity and
sustainable
energy
opportunity
within the
capital city
of Trenton.
Trenton MOVES
(Mobility
&
Opportunity:
Vehicles
Equity System)
will be led by
the Governor’s
Office, NJ
Department of
Transportation, the City of Trenton, and one or more institutions of
higher
education.
Trenton MOVES
is exploring
the
feasibility of
deploying ~100
AVs to serve
as lowcapacity
(4-8
passenger),
high-quality
(on-demand,
kiosk-to-kiosk)
shuttles to
serve the
90,000
residents who
live in the
City of
Trenton’s 8
square miles.
The effort
will be phased
in over two
(2) years and
will serve the
population of
New Jersey’s
capital city,
a population
where 70% of
households
have one or
fewer cars. A
proof-of-concept Operational Design
Domain (“ODD”)
is described
in Section
3.1. ... "Read more Hmmmm... How fantastic is this!
Plus, Governor
Phil Murphy's
Press Release
announcing
Trenton MOVES.
All substance!! I also
presented
relevant testimony
to NJ's
Assembly
Transportation
Committee
Thursday
morning. An
ALK trifecta
this week😁.
The "welcoming
environment"
now exists in
New Jersey.
We are no
longer tied
for last with
Mississippi as
was reported
at last week's
Florida AV
Conference.
We're looking
like "first in
the world"
focused on
substantive
deployment to
real
customers.
We've built
the "Field of Dreams" and
awaiting the
technology "to
come". We
only need
one! Or we'll
assemble
volunteers
(and
not hostages
as Mike Tomlin
would put it)
and build a
winning team
ourselves.😎
Alain
![]()
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SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 245,
Zoom-Cast
Episode 245
Trenton
MOVES
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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
[log in to unmask]" alt="" width="43" height="45">
Orf
467F21
Symposium:
Evolutionary
Deployment of
a State-wide
aTaxis system
starting from
MyVillage
J. Woll'22, A.
Lau'23, M.
Wasserman'22,
C. Larson'22,
J. Sun'23,
Dec. 10,
"Slides of:
Making It
Happen":
Hawaii -
California -
Washington -
Florida -
Connecticut" Read more Hmmmm...Video
of
Presentation,
Slides,
Report
Format. I
coudn't be
more proud.
😁 Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="46" height="39">
Robotaxi
race opens up
as top
contender
Waymo in low
gear in
Arizona
P. Dave, Dec.
1, "Alphabet
Inc's Waymo
(GOOGL.O)
risks losing
its lead in
the U.S. race
to prove
robotaxis are
a viable
business as it
sticks to a
limited
service and
rivals backed
by automakers
near their own
launches.Companies including Ford Motor Co's (F.N) Argo AI and General Motors Co's (GM.N) Cruise are competing for the billions of dollars in financing needed to automate driving through artificial intelligence software and expensive sensors.
Waymo has led the field. In the first and only fully driverless taxi service in the country, Waymo has driven thousands of people since opening a year ago east of Phoenix to anyone who downloads its ride-hailing app. And since August, hundreds in San Francisco have trialed cabs with safety drivers aboard....
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="156" height="24">
Car
crash deaths
have surged
during
COVID-19
pandemic.
Here’s why
R.
Mitchell, Dec.
8. "It was a
tally that
shocked the
experts:
38,680 deaths
on U.S.
roadways last
year, the most
since 2007
even though
pandemic
precautions
had
dramatically
reduced
driving.
“This was
completely
unprecedented,”
said Ken
Kolosh, a
researcher at
the nonprofit
National
Safety
Council. “We
didn’t know
what was
happening.”
One
possibility
was that
stressed-out
Americans were
releasing
their
anxieties on
the wide-open
roads. He
guessed that
fatal
accidents
would decline
in 2021 when
traffic
returned.
He was wrong.
The latest
evidence
suggests that
after decades
of safety
gains, the
pandemic has
made U.S.
drivers more
reckless —
more likely to
speed, drink
or use drugs
and leave
their
seatbelts
unbuckled.
“I fear we’ve
adopted some
really unsafe
driving
habits, and
they’re going
to persist,”
Kolosh said.
“Our roads are
less safe than
they were
pre-pandemic.”..."
Read
more Hmmmm...
I prefer to
call it
mis-behavior.
Driving is a
dangerous form
of "letting
off steam".
Unfortunately,
I find myself
engaging in
it. Not good!
We all need to
relax!. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="">
Robotic
Research
raises $228M
Series A to
build out
commercial
autonomous
offerings
Crescent Cove Advisors, Henry Crown and Company and Luminar, a lidar company, also participated in the investment.
RR.AI, as the company has branded its commercial arm, currently has its vehicle-agnostic autonomy kits, called AutoDrive, in about 150 heavy-duty transit buses, Class 8 trucks and yard trucks operating on roads across the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Saudi Arabia, according to Alberto Lacaze, CEO of Robotic Research. Now, it’s just a matter of scaling.
Robotic Research has historically automated trucks for the U.S. Army and Navy, operating in areas that aren’t mapped and don’t have GPS, good communications or lined roads. The company’s autonomy stack also adds sensors that commercial autonomous vehicles usually don’t use, such as stereo and structure for motion, a range imaging technique for estimating 3D structures from 2D image sequences, says Lacaze. As a result, RR thinks it has a leg up...." Read more Hmmmm... Congratulations Alberton. 😎 Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class=""> Intel
stock rallies
amid plan for
Mobileye IPO
that could
‘obviously’
unlock value
for chipmaker
E. Bary,
Dec. 7, "Intel
Corp. shares
were up 2.6%
in Tuesday
trading after
the chipmaker
won praise for
its plans to
take its
Mobileye
self-driving
unit public.
Intel INTC,
-2.45% bought
Mobileye in
2017 and will
now be sending
the company
off to the
public markets
again—but in a
different way.
The company
announced late
Monday that it
planned to
launch an
initial public
offering for
Mobileye in
2022, though
Intel will
hang onto a
majority stake
in the
company.
Retaining that
majority
ownership is
key for Intel,
according to
some analysts,
since Mobileye
will remain
consolidated
for the
purposes of
Intel’s
financial
statements...."
Read
more Hmmmm...
Impressive.
😎. How much
does that make
The FSD part
of Tesla
worth? Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt=""> Finally,
a Fusion
Reaction Has
Generated More
Energy Than
Absorbed by
The Fuel
M. Star,
Dec.3, "A
major
milestone has
been breached
in the quest
for fusion
energy.
For the first
time, a fusion
reaction has
achieved a
record 1.3
megajoule
energy output
– and for the
first time,
exceeding
energy
absorbed by
the fuel used
to trigger
it...." Read
more Hmmmm...
Impressive. However...The
"triggering"
energy" has to
come from
someplace...
Electricity!
And the
"energy
output" has to
become
usable...
Electricity!
Converting "Electricity" -> "triggering energy"
consumes a
substantial
amount of
energy and
converting the
"energy
output"
->"Usable
Electricity"
uses/wastes
more energy.
The societal objective is develop a process that takes
some
"Electricity"
and creates
more "Electricity";
else the
process is
useless
irrespective
of some
niceties that
might be
occurring
inside the
process.
Unfortunately,
even with
this
"achievement"
we are very
far away from
"Fusion
Generating
More
Electricity
Than Absorbed
by the Fuel".
The "smoke
& mirrors"
here are
reminiscent to
those used in
pitching
Autonomous
Vehicles.
Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="46" height="39">
Transit-tech
startup Via
valued at $3.3
bln after
latest funding
round
R. Wilking,
Nov. 30, "Via
said on
Tuesday it has
raised $130
million in
fresh capital
as part of a
late-stage
financing
round led by
asset manager
Janus
Henderson,
valuing the
transit-tech
startup at
$3.3 billion.
The Series G
funding also
includes
investments
from accounts
managed by
BlackRock, ION
Crossover
Partners, Koch
Disruptive
Technologies
and existing
investor Exor.
The New
York-based
company
develops
public
mobility
systems by
building a
network of
buses,
shuttles,
wheelchair-accessible
vehicles and
autonomous and
electric
vehicles. It
plans to use
the funding to
fuel expansion
into new
markets, hire
employees and
improve its
products...."
Read more Hmmmm... Who would have thought
that a transit
company that
relies on
public
subsidies such
a high
valuation
level.
Congratulations!
Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23"> Tesla is selling fleet of hundreds of Model 3
electric cars
to New York
City
F. Lambert,
Dec. 9 ".The
city of New
York is
currently
proposing a
contract to
buy a fleet of
Model 3
vehicles from
Tesla.It would create a fleet of hundreds of electric cars for the city.
The proposed contract has been revealed through a notice for public hearing obtained by Electrek.
The city wrote in the notice:
“IN THE MATTER OF a proposed contract between the Department of Citywide Administrative Services of the City of New York and Tesla, Inc., located at 3500 Deer Creek Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94304, for procuring Tesla Model 3 All-Electric Sedans. The contract is in the amount of $12,360,000.00. The term of the contract shall be five years from date of Notice of Award. PIN #: 8572200042, E-PIN #: 05622S0005001.”...
The number of Model 3 vehicles involved in the contract wasn’t disclosed, but if the value of the fleet is around $12,360,000, it should be between 200 and 300 electric vehicles.
It’s not clear what the Tesla vehicles are going to be used for by the city, but New York operates a large fleet of vehicles throughout many departments.
Earlier this year, we reported on the New York Police Department buying a Tesla Model 3 to turn it into a police patrol car.
It became the latest of many police departments across the US that decided to buy Model 3s to replace gas-powered patrol cars. The gas savings have proven to make a massive difference in their fleet costs....." Read more Hmmmm... Impressive. Alain
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="110" height="23"> Tesla
is under
scrutiny by
NHTSA for
enabling
in-car video
games while
driving
F. Lambert,
Dec. 9 "People
doing things
they shouldn’t
while driving
is nothing new
nor unique to
Tesla, but the
automaker is
now under
scrutiny by
the NHTSA for
going a step
further and
enabling
in-car video
games while
driving.Other than common sense and/or fear of getting caught, there’s nothing stopping anyone from using their phones, including playing video games on them, while driving...." Read more Hmmmm... Absolutely irresponsible of Tesla who can instantly put a stop to it using Over-the-Air updating. C'mon Elon! Alain
[log in to unmask]" class="" width="143" height="36"> 5th Annual SmartDrivingCars
Summit:
Deployment of
Equitable
Affordable,
High Quality
Mobility
throughout New
Jersey
Date Change: Thursday evening, May 5,
through
Saturday May
7, 2022. Live
in Trenton,
New Jersey.
"Everything" was going well wrt the 5th Summit Nov 18->20; however...
Time is very short, we must focus on the election and the realities of where we remain with Covid really put cold water on some aspects of our vision for November.
Consequently. I've become convinced that it is very much better, that we take our time and reschedule for the first week on May 2022 rather than rush for what isn't as good as could be.
By May we will have received responses to our upcoming https://www.cartsmobility.com/ for "Equitable ... Mobility in Trenton". We will thus have a better idea on "Who", from the "What & How" communities, "Want & Can" Deploy "Equitable ... Mobility" starting in Trenton with real expectations of scaling throughout New Jersey.
In May the 5th Summit can better achieve its fundamental purpose by allowing all of us in New Jersey to better learn from others around the world the "Whats & Hows" and have the possible "Whos" get a better appreciation of the "Equitable ... Mobility" desires of Trentonians and other New Jersians.
Rescheduling the Summit to be between the RfI and the RfP steps of our Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Deployment Process, will better enable our Community Engagement initiative to shape our ultimate deployment. We'll thus deliver even better mobility equitably and best improve quality-of-life in Trenton and throughout New Jersey.
Please pencil into your calendar the new dates of May 5 (Thursday evening) though May 7 (Trenton Mobility Festival Saturday). 😎 Please let me know if these dates work for you.
Sorry about the delay, but many will be relieved by this change. Plus, early May is really nice in NJ.😁
Alain
This
5th
Summit is
inspired by
the many
levels of
public-sector,
community and
neighborhood
welcoming and
support that
now exists in
New Jersey for
the deployment of
equitable,
affordable,
high-quality
mobility. This
is now made
possible by
automated
driving
technology
that is
especially
targeted to
serve
those who, for
whatever
reason, don't
have access to
their own
personal
car.
The
Princeton SDC
Summits were
initiated in
2017 to
provide a
venue for the
open
discussion of
how
technology, in
particular
automation,
can be shaped
to improve
mobility of
people and
goods between
and within
cities. Early
on, we
realized that
this form of
mobility could
easily provide
yet another
alternative to
those who are
fortunate
enough to
enjoy one or
many high
quality
mobility
options.
But, more importantly, it became obvious that substantial improvement in quality-of-life and equitable mobility can readily be made available to the un-served and under-served. Those who cannot drive themselves, cannot afford the transport alternatives that exist for them, or who live in areas where, for either economic or other reasons, neither public nor private desirable forms of transport are offered. Furthermore, such initial Operational Design Domains (OODs) can be readily expanded and replicated to allow the vast investments continuing to be made in this technology to actually yield their envisioned societal and financial benefits.
The
recently
completed 4th
Summit set the
groundwork for
these initial
deployments to
benefit under-served communities. Communities with many households
having access
to one or
fewer cars and
with
challenged
transit
alternatives.
We concluded
the 4th Summit
by envisioning a deployment throughout Trenton, NJ, a
community
where 70% of
the households
have access to
one or fewer
cars.
We
believe that
Trenton is a
perfect ODD to
begin to
deliver Equitable,
Affordable,
High-quality
Mobility,
in addition to
being
environmentally
responsible,
safe and
comfortable.
The
opportunity to
expand
throughout
Mercer County
and replicate
this
deployment
scenario
throughout the
State exists.
This
deployment
will serves
as a blueprint
for the future
for many other
"Trentons" of
this world.
The
groundwork set
by the 4th
Summit and the
NJ Autonomous
Vehicle Task
Force has
enabled us to
create a "most
welcoming
environment"
in New Jersey
for creating a
Public-Private
Partnership to
deliver this
enhanced
mobility to
the residents
of Trenton and
all New
Jersians. The 5th Summit will
focus directly
on deployment in Trenton and will take place in Trenton. We also
envision its
expansion
throughout
Mercer County
and its
replication in
and around New
Jersey's other
major
cities.
C'mon Man! (These folks didn't get/read the memo)
Sunday Supplement
Half-Baked
Click-Bait
More On....
![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="126" height="36"> Making
Driverless
Happen: The
Road Forward
(Updated)
K. Pyle, April
18, "It's time
to hit the
start button,"
is Fred
Fishkin's succinct
way of
summarizing
the next steps
in the Smart
Driving Car
journey.
Fiskin, along
with the LA
Times' Russ
Mitchell co-produced
the final
session of
the 2021
Smart Driving
Car Summit,
Making It
Happen: Part 2.
This 16th and
final session
in this
multi-month
online
conference not
only provided
a summary
of the
thought-provoking
speakers,
but also
provided food
for thought on
a way forward
to bring
mobility to
"the Trentons
of the World."Setting the stage for this final session, Michael Sena provided highlights of the Smart Driving Car journey that started in late December 2020. Safety, high-quality, and affordable mobility, particularly for those who do not have many options, was a common theme to the 2021 Smart Driving Car Summit. As Princeton Professor Kornhauser, the conference organizer put it,....." Read more Hmmmm.... We had another excellent Session. Thank you for the summary, Ken! Alain
15th Session Making it Happen - Part One: Elected Officials' Role in Creating a Welcoming Environment in the Trentons of this World
6th Session 2/ 4/21 Safe Enough in the Operational Design Domain
5th Session 1/28/21 At the Tipping Point
4th Session 1/21/21 Why Customers are Buying Them
2nd Session 1/ 7/21 A Look into the Future
1st Session: 12/17/20 Setting the Stage
Re-see: ![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class=""> Pop Up Metro USA
Intro 09 2020
H. Poser'77, Sept 13, 2020. "Creating Value for Light Density Urban Rail Lines" . See slides, See video Hmmmm... Simply Brilliant. Alain
Calendar of Upcoming Events
On the More Technical Side![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="22" height="22">
and ![]()
[log in to unmask]" _mf_state="1" title="null" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="56" height="22"> The SYMPOSIUM
ON THE FUTURE
NETWORKED CAR
2021 VIRTUAL
EVENT
R.
Shields, 22 -
25 March,
"Recordings
from the
conference:Session 2: (Cybersecurity): https://youtu.be/ppp2hxlvebY
Session 3: (Automated Driving Systems): https://youtu.be/uL2dRHuX2Cc
Session 4: (Communications for ADS) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFQcL6yfBso
![]()
[log in to unmask]" src="cid:[log in to unmask]" class="" width="62" height="63">
These
editions are
sponsored by
the SmartETFs
Smart
Transportation
and Technology
ETF, symbol
MOTO. For more
information
head to www.motoetf.com
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="137" height="17" border="0">
https://www.cartsmobility.com/
provides
technical
support
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 244,
Zoom-Cast Episode 244
w/Michael
Sena... Germany’s
Automotive
Industry in
Transition…
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 243,
Zoom-Cast Episode 243
Progress
with
Driverless
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 242,
Zoom-Cast Episode 242
w/Gabe Hinton
& Dick
Mudge
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 241,
Zoom-Cast Episode 241
w/Danny
Shapiro,
nVIDIA
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 240,
Zoom-Cast Episode 240 AEB&FSD
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 239,
Zoom-Cast Episode 239 w/Michael
Sena, Editor
of The
Dispatcher
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 238,
Zoom-Cast Episode 238 w/Chunk Mui, Futurist
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 237,
Zoom-Cast Episode 237 Aurora aTaxi & aTrucking
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 236,
Zoom-Cast Episode 236 w/Russ
Mitchell, LA
Times Staff
Writer
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 235,
Zoom-Cast Episode 235 w/Michael
Sena, Editor,
The
Dispatcher
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 234,
Zoom-Cast Episode 234 1st Preview
of 5th
Princeton
SmartDrivingCar
Summit
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 233,
Zoom-Cast Episode 233
w Prof.
Adriano
Alessandrini at
the U. of
Florence
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 232,
Zoom-Cast Episode 232
w Steven
Shladover
SmartDrivingCars
Pod-Cast
Episode 231,
Zoom-Cast Episode 231
w Michael
Sena, Creator
of The
Dispatcher
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 230, Zoom-Cast Episode 230 w/Tim Higgins, author: POWER PLAY: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century
Or you can listen to Episode 230 of Smart Driving Cars on Tesla's AI Day and more with guest Tim Higgins of the Wall Street Journal ..author of POWER PLAY... Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century.
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 229, Zoom-Cast Episode 229 w/Russ
Mitchell, Los
Angeles Times
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 228, Zoom-Cast
Episode 228
Planes,
Trains &
Automobiles
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 226, Zoom-Cast Episode 226 w/Tim Higgins, author: POWER PLAY: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 225, Zoom-Cast Episode 225 w/Kevin Biesty, Deputy Director for Policy @ Arizona DoT
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 224, Zoom-Cast Episode 224 w/Selika
Josiah Talbot,
Principal,
Autonomous
Vehicle
Consulting
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 223, Zoom-Cast Episode 223 w/Richard
Mudge, Compass
Transp. &
Baruch
Feigenbaum,
Reason
Foundation
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 222, Zoom-Cast
Episode 222
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 221, Zoom-Cast
Episode 221
w/Mark
Rosekind,
Chief Safety
Innovation
Officer, Zoox
SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast
Episode 220, Zoom-Cast Episode 220 w/John
Thornhill,
Innovation
Editor,
Financial
Times
Recent Highlights of:
[log in to unmask]" class="">
Monday, December 6, 2021
[log in to unmask]" class="" width="143" height="36">
Murphy
Administration
Announces RFEI
for Project to
Create the
First
Autonomous
Vehicle-Based
Urban Transit
System in
America
Press
release, Dec.
6, " Governor
Phil Murphy
and New Jersey
Department of
Transportation
(NJDOT)
Commissioner
Diane
Gutierrez-Scaccetti
today
announced an
Request for
Expressions of
Interest
(RFEI) for the
Trenton
Mobility &
Opportunity:
Vehicles
Equity System
(MOVES)
Project.
Trenton MOVES
will act to
provide safe,
equitable,
affordable,
and
sustainable
high-quality
mobility
through the
deployment of
100 Autonomous
Vehicles (AVs)
throughout the
state capital.
This on-demand
automated
transit system
will serve
90,000
residents of
Trenton.
“Since
taking office,
we have worked
relentlessly
towards making
New Jersey the
innovation
center of
America,” said
Governor
Murphy. “There
is perhaps no
initiative
that embodies
this goal more
than the
Trenton MOVES
project, which
will attract
tech talent
from around
the country
and the world
with the
mission of
creating an
autonomous
vehicle-based
transit system
in our Capitol
that will
provide a new,
affordable
transportation
solution for
underserved
areas of
Trenton. This
is an exciting
project with
immense
potential, and
I look forward
to the day
that the first
vehicle hits
the road.”
“Mobility
is about
equity and
access to
opportunity,”
said New
Jersey
Department of
Transportation
Commissioner
Diane
Gutierrez-Scaccetti.
“Trenton MOVES
represents an
opportunity to
utilize
innovation to
sustainably
improve the
quality of
life of the
mobility-constrained
in many of our
cities. By
starting in
Trenton, we
will have the
opportunity to
work with a
close and
effective
partner;
ultimately our
vision is that
this effort
will ideally
scale
throughout the
state and the
region”.
“We’re grateful to Governor Murphy and the N.J. Department of Transportation under Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti for investing in an innovative mobility solution that will considerably improve the lives of the average Trentonian,” said Trenton Mayor W. Reed Gusciora. “Trenton MOVES means our residents can get to work on time without transfers or connections. It means state workers can explore restaurants and businesses throughout the entire city. It means more safe and equitable transportation options for everyone ranging from students involved in school activities to seniors going to their doctor appointments.”
The Trenton
MOVES
(Mobility
&
Opportunity:
Vehicles
Equity System)
project is
being
developed by
the Governor’s
Office, NJDOT,
the City of
Trenton, and
Princeton
University.
This will
be the first
large-scale
urban transit
system in
America to be
based entirely
on
self-driving
shuttles. Each
vehicle will
carry four to
eight
passengers at
a time. The
AVs will be
low cost to
users in
underserved
neighborhoods.
During the
initial launch
there will be
in-vehicle
attendants to
demonstrate
the safety and
operational
integrity of
the service.
Full
deployment
will occur
after a
detailed
planning and
testing phase.
This new
system will
allow
Trenton’s
households
(70% of which
have limited
access to a
single
automobile or
no access at
all) as well
as traditional
road users to
get acclimated
to the
presence of
AVs on the
streets of the
state
capital.
NJDOT
offers this
Request for
Expressions of
Interest
(RFEI) to help
gather
information
from firms in
the design,
build-out and
operation of a
safe and
equitable
automated
vehicle
transportation
system for
Trenton. The
deadline for
the RFEI
response is
February 11,
2022.
Following the
solicitation
of the RFEI,
NJDOT may
issue formal
requests for
Qualifications
or Proposals.
However,
responses to
the RFEI will
not
necessarily
impact or be
connected to
any call for
Proposals or
Qualifications.
The deadline
for the RFEI
response is
February 11,
2022.
Copy of Request for Expression of Interest" Read more This is all about deployment that will begin to enable New Jersey and the nation to finally begin to capture societal benefits from the vast investments that have been made in this techology since the DARPA Challenges. I'm so humbled to be a part of this most substantive intitiative. Alain
Saturday, December 4, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="133" height="21">
December 2021
Issue: Germany’s
Automotive
Industry in
Transition
M. Sena, Dec. 1, "Germany’s automotive industry is important for the country’s economy, the welfare of a large number of its citizens and for the prestige of the nation. It is also very important for Europe as a whole. VW, DAIMLER and BMW had total 2020 revenue of €476 billion and hold respectively positions 2, 3 and 8 amongst the largest companies in the EU...
Hydroelectric
power has not
disappeared,
but it isn’t
directly
driving
machines; it’s
driving
turbines to
generate
electricity.
If you are
among those
who classify
hydroelectric
power as a
renewable
energy source
(a club in
which I am not
a member),
then it is
interesting to
note that
hydropower
accounts for
70% of global
electricity
production
from renewable
sources. But
it definitely
is not top of
the list of
investments
recommended
for high
returns. Solar
and wind are
the darlings
of investors.
But imagine
what would
have happened
if electricity
had not been
invented and
we got stuck
on steam.
Hydropower
would have
disappeared
completely.
Now imagine if
the internal
combustion
engine didn’t
make it out of
the lab and
electric- and
steam-driven
engines
continued to
compete for
investments.
What happens
to TESLA’s
stock, which
is now trading
at just over a
$1,000/share
(it was up to
$1,239 on the
4th of
November!) if
the U.S.
decides that
it will stop
financing its
rival’s
military
buildup by
banning the
sale of all
battery
electric cars
using
lithium-ion
batteries or
any other
material on
which its
rival holds a
monopoly. Or,
what happens
if the country
that currently
has the
monopoly
decides not to
sell batteries
or allow the
sale of any of
the raw
materials that
are used to
make
batteries?
Steam trains got the chance to pull coal cars when the price of oats that fed the horses became prohibitively high due to the wars in which Britain was engaged. Anybody who owned stock in a steam engine company did very well at that point. But if that company tried to buck the ICE trend and continue to build steam trucks, like SENTINEL and FODEN, the paper was eventually worthless..." Read more Hmmmm... Once again,excellent fundamentals here. Read, learn and enjoy! Also check out our SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 244, Zoom-Cast Episode 244 w/Michael Sena, Editor of The Dispatcher, Alain
Friday, November 26, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="160" height="31">
Gatik
and Walmart
Achieve Fully
Driverless
Deliveries in
a First for
Autonomous
Trucking
Industry
Worldwide
Press release, Nov. 8, "Gatik and Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) announced today that Gatik is operating daily without a safety driver behind the wheel on its delivery route for Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas, moving customer orders between a Walmart dark store and a Neighborhood Market in its fleet of multi-temperature autonomous box trucks.
Gatik’s
deployment
with Walmart
in the state
represents the
first time
that an
autonomous
trucking
company has
removed the
safety driver
from a
commercial
delivery route
on the middle
mile anywhere
in the world.
Gatik’s fully driverless operations, which began in August 2021, involve consistent, repeated delivery runs multiple times per day, seven days per week on public roads and unlock the full advantages of autonomous delivery for Walmart’s customers: increased speed and responsiveness when fulfilling e-commerce orders, increased asset utilization and enhanced safety for all road users..."...
This milestone signifies a revolutionary breakthrough for the autonomous trucking industry,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder, Gatik. “Our deployment in Bentonville is not a one-time demonstration. These are frequent, revenue-generating, daily runs that our trucks are completing safely in a range of conditions on public roads, demonstrating the commercial and technical advantages of fully driverless operations on the middle mile. We’re thrilled to enable Walmart’s customers to reap the benefits.”
In December 2020, Gatik and Walmart received the Arkansas State Highway Commission’s first ever approval to remove the safety driver from Gatik’s autonomous trucks, following the completion of 18 months’ successful operations. As part of its roadmap to operating fully driverless, Gatik undertook a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy, involving state and local leadership and emergency services, and will continue to hold ongoing informational workshops concerning its ground-breaking autonomous operations.
In December 2020, Gatik and Walmart received the Arkansas State Highway Commission’s first ever approval to remove the safety driver from Gatik’s autonomous trucks, following the completion of 18 months’ successful operations. As part of its roadmap to operating fully driverless, Gatik undertook a comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy, involving state and local leadership and emergency services, and will continue to hold ongoing informational workshops concerning its ground-breaking autonomous operations..." Read more Hmmmm... If you are trying to do it for real , this is the way to do it. I appreciate the showing showing some humility as opposed to making Houdini-style Snake & Mirrors announcements focused on getting more from the "SoftBanks" of this world. Congratulations! This looks like a real "dida milestone"! Update 12/4... It is driverless but there is an attendant on-board for now. Progress but not PrimeTime. 🙁 Alain
Saturday, November 20, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="70" height="17"> The
impact of
Advanced
Driver
Assistance
Systems (ADAS)
on insurance
claims (True
Impact of ADAS
Features on
Insurance
Claim Severity
Revealed)
J. Kanet,
Nov 9,
"Advanced
Driver
Assistance
Systems (ADAS)
have improved
automobile
safety by
minimizing the
factor most
frequently
associated
with car
accidents –
human error.
The
conventional
wisdom has
been that ADAS
technologies
should
mitigate the
number of
insurance
claims, but
the impact of
ADAS on claim
severity has
been less
clear. ADAS
features
include
expensive and
complex
technical
components and
are often
installed on
exposed areas
of vehicles,
making them
susceptible to
damage from a
collision.
This white
paper examines
the
multivariate
effect of ADAS
features on
claim
severity. It
is a follow up
to our earlier
report, ADAS
Analysis
Creates Path
for Auto
Insurance
Rating,
which analyzed
the impact of
ADAS systems
on claim
frequency. For
both analyses,
LexisNexis
Risk Solutions
considered the
same sample of
11 million
vehicles from
model years
2014-2019, and
reviewed
industry-wide
claims loss
data for
bodily injury,
property
damage and
collision
coverages.
For this
follow-up
report, we
looked at the
interactions
between a core
list of ADAS
features and
quantified the
claim severity
differential
across all 648
possible
combinations
of those
features. ...
" Read
more Hmmmm...
Excellent. Finally there is
data that
supports that
ADAS is indeed
fundamentally
good for the
insurance
industry in
that it allows
them to make
more money.
Not to be
crass, but
"crash
mitigation"
(airbag, energy
absorbing car
design,
...) has been
great for
safety...
saving lives,
reducing
occupant
severity , ...
but,
the
liabilities
associated
with crash
mitigation
have
increased. Claim
Severity
for both Physical
Damage and
Bodily Injury
have gone
up. Cars are
more expensive
to repair and it
costs more if
you live than
if you die.
🙁,.
For years I've been arguing that ADAS focused
squarely on
Crash
Prevention {automated
collision avoidance
(that actually
works well...
does kick
automatically
to avoid
collision 😎),
not just
"warning"
(that is
annoying.
Because since it is just a warning
there is no
pressure to
make it work
well... just
cover your
butt! So, no
pressure to
make it work
well. Consequently,
"everyone"
turns it off
to avoid being
annoyed... 🙁}
is
Automation's
best
opportunity to
deliver real
safety...
Save lives,
..., and make
$$$ for the
Insurance
industry!
For years, I've postulated that as soon as {"the
expected
liability
savings for
ADAS (the
difference in
the expected
liability for
me
with&without...)"
< (less
than)
"incremental
cost of ADAS
on the price
of a car that
I am about to
buy
(difference
with&without)"},
my insurance
agent (the Gecko, Flo,
NJM,
or ???) should
insist on
picking up the
tab on the
price
difference as
long as I
continue to
pay my
existing
premiums!
Nothing but a
win-win! I
win because
the
probability
that I die...
is lower and
the Gecko,
Flo,
NJM,
or ??? smile
all the way to
the bank😎.
These are real
market
forces.
This
is the first
report that
I've seen that
begins to
quaintly the
reduction in
"expected
liability" of
ADAS based on
real
experiential
data. To me,
this is major!
Be sure to see the white paper True Impact of ADAS Features on Insurance Claim Severity Revealed and listen/watch the SDC Pod/ZoomCast 242. Alain
Friday, November 12, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="87" height="15" border="0">
First
across the
Forth – and a
royal visit
H. Posner,
Nov 10,
"UK-based
rolling stock
& battery
technology
manufacturer
Vivarail noted
a number of
achievements
during the
first week of
the COP26 UN
Climate Change
Conference in
Glasgow. The
opening
Saturday of
the conference
on Saturday
October 30 saw
a historic run
across the
Firth of
Forth,. as the
first electric
train across
the iconic
bridge.
Vivarail was
asked to
operate its
battery train
for
demonstration
runs through
the conference
as part of the
official
Network Rail
Green
Trains@COP26
event. Each
day the train
has taken
delegates and
invited guests
from around
the world to
showcase the
best of new
emission-free
technology. In
the first week
the train
carried
hundreds of
people from
government,
industry,
academia,
media and
advocacy
groups. ... "
Read
more Hmmmm...
But you know that the Pop-Up Metro train was the
First Across
the Atlantic.
Video,
Slides
and ZoomCast
re: Pop-Up
Metro.
And there is
always Alain
climbing on #6988.😎
.
Absolutely
Fantastic
Henry. Alain
Saturday, November 4, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="156" height="24">
Tesla’s
handling of
braking bug in
public
self-driving
test raises
alarms
R. Mitchell,
Nov. 3, "Tesla
pushed out a
new version of
the
experimental
software suite
it calls Full
Self-Driving
to approved
drivers Oct.
23 through an
“over the air”
update.The next morning, Tesla learned the update had altered cars’ behavior in a way the company’s engineers hadn’t intended.
In a recall report to federal safety regulators Friday, Tesla put the problems like this: The company discovered a software glitch that “can produce negative object velocity detections when other vehicles are present.”
In everyday English, Tesla’s automatic braking system was engaging for no apparent reason, causing cars to rapidly decelerate as they traveled down the highway, putting them at risk of being rear-ended. Forward collision warning chimes were ringing too, even though there was no impending collision to warn about...
Friday, October 29, 2021
[log in to unmask]" class=""> Tesla
pulled its
latest ‘Full
Self Driving’
beta after
testers
complained
about false
crash warnings
and other bugs
R. Lawler, Oct
24, "Tesla’s
decision to
test its “Full
Self Driving”
advanced
driver
assistance
software with
untrained
vehicle owners
on public
roads has
attracted scrutiny
and criticism,
and that was
before this
latest
release.Version 10.3 began rolling out on Saturday night / Sunday morning with a long list of release notes. The list mentions changes starting with introducing driver profiles that can swap between different characteristics for following distance, rolling stops, or exiting passing lanes. It’s supposed to better detect brake lights, turn signals, and hazard lights from other vehicles, along with reduced false slowdowns and improved offsetting for pedestrians.
However, on Sunday afternoon Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla is “Seeing some issues with 10.3, so rolling back to 10.2 temporarily.” Read more Hmmmm... The problems stem from version 10.3 loading with Automated Emergency Braking (AEB) enabled. Most everything is OK if AEB is disabled. Which, of course, is the fundamental problem with AutoPilot and FSD...
Sunday, October 24, 2021
[log in to unmask]" alt="" class="" width="117" height="16">
Amazon’s
self-driving
cars are
coming to
downtown
Seattle.
Safety
advocates are
not pleased
Sunday, October 10, 2021
[log in to unmask]" class="" width="156" height="24">
A
Tesla mystery:
Why didn’t
auto-braking
stop these
crashes?
In
Spanish
R. Mitchel, Oct 7, "Compared with so-called advanced driver assistance systems such as Autopilot, a forward collision avoidance system is relatively crude. It is designed to answer one question — is a frontal impact imminent? — and respond to danger by sounding a warning and, if necessary, triggering a subsystem called automatic emergency braking. Unlike Autopilot, which must be selected manually and is available only under some driving conditions, automatic emergency braking runs by default unless manually turned off....
Tesla calls its vehicles “the safest cars in the world,” citing their combination of structural engineering and advanced technology. But when it comes to the forward collision avoidance system, Tesla owners have been reporting problems at a substantially elevated rate compared with similarly equipped cars....
“Teslas are running into stationary objects,” said Alain Kornhauser, who heads the driverless car engineering program at Princeton University. “They shouldn’t be.” If the company’s cars can’t avoid crash scenes marked by flares or traffic cones, he said, “how can you trust anything else they do with Autopilot?”...
One
possibility,
according to
Missy
Cummings, a
former Navy
fighter pilot
who studies
human-machine
interaction at
Duke
University, is
that Autopilot
is designed to
preempt or
suppress
emergency
braking to
minimize
what’s known
as phantom
braking.
“I haven’t
seen the code
to say how
Tesla works,
but I suspect
the AEB is
turned off in
some
situations,”
she said. “If
it were left
on it may
detect what
are called
phantom
objects and
would be
slamming on
the
brakes.”... "
Read
more Hmmmm...
This story is
great and is
not what
anyone else
has written.
Thank you,
Russ, for
doing all of
the research
and hard work
that you put
into this
article.
I agree with Missy, (I haven't
seen the code
either), but,
rest assured,
a perception
algorithm is
part of each
of Tesla's
automated
systems that
"drive" their
cars some of
the time, be
it its forward collision avoidance
system (FCAS),
autoPilot or
FSD. They may
each have its
own or the
best one is
used in all
three, but
each has an
FCAS; else,
Teslas would
never know to
invoke any of
the driving
sub-tasks,
like slow down
or speed up or
stay in the
lane, or don't
hit me, or
... If a
Tesla
perception
system detects
an objects
that doesn't
exist and
locates it as
being in the
lane ahead,
i.e. a
"stationary
phantom object
in the lane
ahead", then
that
perception
system will
signal to the
automated
driving
system... to
slow down and
don't hit it.
If Tesla's
human driver
is paying
attention to
what is going
on and, of
course,
doesn't see
the phantom
object (it is
phantom = not
real), then
the alert
driver is
justified in
losing trust
that FCAS,
autoPilot or
FSD is
reliable and
won't kill.
The erosion of
that trust
leads to
complaints,
demands for
refunds and
substantial
problems for
Tesla.
Tesla
has simply
gotten ahead
of itself in
trying to get
to Driverless
too quickly,
rather than
making sure
that Automated
Emergency
Braking (AEB)
works better
than "good
enough". My
guess is,
Tesla
perception
algorithm
simply ignores
stationary
objects
detected in
the lane
ahead and
those detected
to be to the
side of the
lane ahead.
Ignoring detected stationary objects is perfectly appropriate when following a car ahead. The car ahead didn't crash into that detected stationary object ahead, so the coast is clear! I'll be able to pass under/to the side/over it too! If the car ahead crashes into that object, Its sudden deceleration is readily perceived by the trailing Tesla's AEB. As long as the Tesla has not been tailgating (which a good AEB should disallow), the Tesla should be able to stop in time to avoid crashing into the new pileup ahead. All easy, and likely not the scenario in any of the NHTSA crash investigations.
Not
so easy if the
Tesla is the
lead vehicle,
especially if
the vehicle
that the Tesla
was following
suddenly
changes lanes
and is no
longer
explicitly
confirming
that the
Tesla's road
ahead is
traversable,
It is now the
Tesla's job to
determine if
it can pass
under a
stationary
object in the
lane ahead.
That is simply
not easy
to do
reliably. Not
easy to
determine the
clearance
under an
overpass/sign/traffic
light/tree
canopy while
approaching
said
overpass/...
at any
significant
speed. If the
object is
classified as
an overpass/sign/traffic
light/tree
canopy,
the chance are
really good
that "passing
under" is a
breeze.
However, if
classification
of the object
is uncertain,
then all bets
are off.
I strongly suspect that Tesla's perception algorithm disregards all stationary objects ahead when leading as well as when following. NHTSA has to tell Tesla to not do that any more!!! Tesla must go back, essentially to the beginning, and figure out how to reliably determine if it can pass under, beside or over stationary objects detected in the road ahead. Alain
Friday,October 1, 2021
[log in to unmask]" class=""> Cruise
gets the green
light to give
driverless
rides to
passengers in
San Francisco
A.
Hawkins, Sep
30, "Waymo and
Cruise, two of
the leading
autonomous
vehicle
companies in
the US,
received
permits from
the California
Department of
Motor Vehicles
to offer rides
to passengers
in their
robotaxis.
But while
Cruise was
approved to
give rides in
its fully
driverless
vehicles
without safety
drivers, Waymo
only is
allowed to
deploy its
autonomous
vehicles with
a human
monitor behind
the wheel. In
order to give
rides to
paying
passengers in
its fully
driverless
vehicles, as
it does in
Arizona, the
Google spinoff
would need to
apply for an additional
permit from
the California
Public
Utilities
Commission.
... "
Read more Hmmmm...
Congratulations Kyle, Robert and everyone else!!!! This is a non-trivial
accomplishment!
Given all of the additional knocks
on your door
that will
naturally come
your way, we
hope that
you'll keep us
in mind. We
here in NJ
have assembled
an enormously
welcoming and
realistic
environment
for Deployment
to a customer
base that will
fundamentally
benefit and
cherish the
Equitable,
Affordable,
High-Quality,
Safe Mobility
that is
delivered by
your
Driverless
Technology.
Hopefully
you'll divert
a little
bandwidth to
our upcoming "5th Annual
SDC Summit",
New Jersey's
next step in
our process to
help you and
possibly
others get to
where you've
gotten in
California.
We are new
kids on the
block, but
we've really
gotten our act
together to
work with you
and others to
catch up
quickly and
really improve
the
quality-of-life
for many here
in New
Jersey, and
the rest of
the NorthEast.
Again... Congratulations! So pleased and so well deserved! Alain