Thursday, August 6, 2026
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August 6, 2026
Hello from Peru
14h edition of the 14th year of SmartDrivingCars eLetter
Aligning Your Motive, Mission, and Method
M. Sena, August ‘26, “ Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Mahatma Gandhi
What are Waymo’s, Tesla’s, and Zoox’s motives?
WAS IT ALWAYS this way? …” Read more Hmmmm… An absolute must-read and must-understand and must-implement. Alain
The Real Case for Driverless Mobility
Narrated by Fred Fishkin, Available now
Published in 2024 (but still relevant)!!! Go to Amazon.com…
SmartDrivingCars ZoomCast 417/ PodCasts 417-
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Motives of Waymo, Tesla & ZooX
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0:00 F. Fiskin, August 2, “So what are the motives behind the robotaxi efforts of Waymo, Tesla and Zoox? Michael Sena, publisher of Mobility Insights and co-author of The Real Case for Driverless Mobility, joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for episode 417 of Smart Driving Cars. Plus Zoox vehicle gains NHTSA approval and seniors are buying Teslas for FSD. Tune in and subscribe!”open0:55Alain in ready to depart on a humanitarian trip to Peru1:53latest Mobility Industry Insights looks at motives of Waymo, Zoox and Tesla3:49Michael on Waymo wanting to be “most trusted driver”8:00Is giving a million rides a week by end of year proof that Waymo wants to be a robotaxi company11:15Mobility focus needs to be on quality of life19:57Robotaxi efforts can serve more affluent and those who really need rides23:15AV impact on trucking and where focus can be29:06Michael on the motives35:00NHTSA approves Zoox vehicle deployment40:20Detroit News headline..Forget Ride Share, How Seniors are Using Teslas for Transportation
8thBridging Transportation Researchers (BTR#8)
Online Conference! August 12 & 13, 2026
Jonathan Morrison’s presentation summary
Reuters, July 30 “… see video summary…“ Read more Hmmmm… fantastic. Now there may be a route for us to go beyond safety and begin to deliver substantive societal value from all that has been invested in this technology!! Alain
episode 1 AV Weekly. (Trailer for now)
S. Talbott, August 1, “… see video…“ Read more Hmmmm… Will be fantastic.Embargoed until September. Alain
Forget rideshare. How seniors are using Teslas for transportation
Henry Payne, July 9, “Tesla is expanding its Robotaxi rideshare service to include Florida, Texas, and California as it competes with Alphabet’s Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox, and other autonomous rideshare services. But consumers are already buying retail Teslas to self-drive them in cities across the United States.
Senior citizens most notably.
Determined to maintain their individual transportation independence, they are using Tesla’s hands-free Full Self Driving system as a driver assist. Though by no means exclusive to seniors in its ability to add another set of eyes to the road, FSD helps elderly drivers maintain a cocoon around their car as their confidence in reflexes and eyesight naturally deteriorate.
“It’s as good a driver as I am,” said Dick Amacher, 78, a retired General Motors engineer from Rochester Hills who drives his Model Y and Model 3 on FSD 98% of the time. “Here’s the thing: It will not go through a red light. It will not go through a stop sign. Every once in a while, I’ve driven through neighborhoods where stop signs were partially obscured by low-hanging branches, for example … and (the Tesla) sees them before I do.” …” Read moreHmmmm… That’s what I’ve been doing all this year, and why some of us are desperately trying to get NJ MVC to create a tiered operator’s license in NJ. One that would enable those who can’t perform the “20 millisecond” aspects of the Dynamic Driving Task (DDT) as well as they did or should do, but can perform all the other aspects just fine. Creating tiers would allow more people to continue to have the mobility privilege that they’ve enjoyed since they were 16, if only they had (supervised) FSD or its equivalent in the car that they were permitted to be a user. Seems like such a no-brainer to delivering both improved safety and quality of life. Alain
Tesla Now Has Nearly 1.5 Million FSD Subscribers
Fred Lambert, July 9, “The adoption of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software is skyrocketing. In its quarterly earnings report published on Wednesday, Tesla revealed just how many drivers have been buying into its (now) subscription-only driver assistance feature, and it’s finally accounting for some serious revenue.
Tesla revealed that a total of 1.48 million cars around the world currently have access to Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) driver assistance feature. This includes the number of people who purchased FSD up-front and those who pay monthly for the feature, specifically excluding any free trials of the software. …” Read moreHmmmm… The silence is deafening. So many daily users and essentially no click-bait material. THE Webster poster child of “It works.” Alain
Amazon’s Zoox wins first US approval for paid robotaxis without human controls
Reuters, July 30, “ Amazon’s Zoox unit has received US approval for limited commercial deployment of its steering-wheel-free robotaxis, marking the first such authorisation for the autonomous ride industry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Thursday.
The exemption from NHTSA rules requiring human controls, first reported by Reuters, represents a major step for companies developing purpose-built robotaxis rather than adapting traditional vehicles under safety regulations created before self-driving technology emerged.
Zoox’s electric carriage-style vehicle features two rows of inward-facing seats and has a top speed of 75 miles per hour. Other companies, including Tesla and Alphabet’s Waymo, are also racing to expand autonomous ride-hailing services in the United States.
NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison told Reuters that Zoox had received permission to deploy up to 2,500 vehicles annually for the next two years….” Read more Hmmmm… Congratulations, Jesse and everyone @ ZooX. Watch Jonathan Morrison’s summary of his talk @ SAE AV Conference. Certainly the highlight of the conference, which also included a very frank and interesting fireside chat also with Jesse. 2026 SAE AV Conference in San Diego. Alain
Amazon’s Zoox to launch paid robotaxi service in Las Vegas on Aug. 10
A. Palmer, August 5, “Amazon-owned Zoox said Wednesday it will start offering paid robotaxi rides in Las Vegas, Nevada, beginning Aug. 10, marking the company’s first commercial launch as it seeks to scale up and compete with Alphabet’s Waymo.
Zoox has been offering free driverless rides to the public in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco, California, since last year. In July, federal regulators issued Zoox a temporary exemption from rules requiring human controls, giving it the green light to begin charging fares. …” Read more Hmmmm… Nice!!
Princeton Professor Alain Kornhauser, Always on the Move, Advances Mobility for All
P. Hersh, March 21, “Alain Kornhauser, professor of Operations Research & Financial Engineering at Princeton University, realized early on in his academic career that his dream of going to Mars was unrealistic in his lifetime.
“So, I had to pivot,” says Alain, who has been on Princeton University’s faculty since 1972.
He moved on to far more down-to-earth dreams. He has achieved an academic and business career revolving around the movement of people and cargo from point a to point b on this earth. Alain obsesses about mobility, just not the kind you might expect for an 81, almost 82-year-old. …” Read moreHmmmm… Gave Pam (& Ryan) a typical, high-quality and what could be affordable ride as soon as we are successful at getting ”… sensible AV laws that would create a pathway to allow New Jerseyans to benefit from the quality-of-life improvements and safety advancements offered by AVs… ” passed in NJ or US . Alain
HandyRides Update
Alain Kornhauser, August 2, ”… …” Hmmmm… . Service agreement signed with Spelman College; pausing in NJ Elizabeth & Alain. 🙂
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