14.17 - M&E
SmartDrivingCars.com
17h edition of the 14th year of SmartDrivingCars eLetter
M&E Morristown & Erie Railway Announces New Shareholder Group Led by Railroad Development Corporation.
Press Release, Oct. 31, "The Morristown and Erie Railway (M&E) is pleased to announce a restructuring of its ownership with a new shareholding group led by Railroad Development Corporation (RDC), effective October 31, 2026. The new structure consists of 50% individuals affiliated with RDC, with legacy shareholders retaining the other 50%.
The legacy shareholders consist of several families that have held M&E shares for two generations. The RDC group consists of the following individual shareholders:...”, Read more Hmmmm…Elizabeth & I are extremely please to be part of this substantive initiative focused on the enhancing quality of life in New Jersey by improving the mobility of freight and people. Alain
The Real Case for Driverless Mobility
Narrated by Fred Fishkin, Available now
Published in 2024 (but still relevant)!!! Go to Amazon.com…
SmartDrivingCars https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3WQrbQsCrAZoomCast 420 / PodCasts 420: Waymo & Toyota ... 30 second Promo
F. Fishkin, Nov. 8, "Cybertrucks will wind down to make way for more Cybercabs while Tesla agrees to lower speed limits for Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe. The Waymo Toyota deal, Yann LeCun, the elections and the Morristown and Erie Railway. Plus more...
0:00 open 0:43 Railroad Development Corp takes stake in Morristown and Erie Railway…and Alain is a part of that. 4:50 SpaceX video of first orbital Starship launch 7:40 Tesla to wind down Cybertruck to build more Cybercabs 12:41 Tesla in Europe capping how far over speed limit Tesla Assisted Driving can go at 10 mph. 18:29 Waymo grows partnership with Toyota and will use new Toyota EV. 26:36 Yahoo Autos on test driving Tesla hands free and Eliot Daley’s Daley Almanac 37:32 Alain links to YouTube video on Yann LeCun backing his view on the AI industry 39:00 NY Times piece on elections showing young people swung lefthttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFwuZ9jMeu5uwfTZP00zHjP7eSpG34Hsm
NYT Tesla Is Ending Production of Its Cybertruck and Refocusing on the Cybercab
L. McCarthy, Nov. 6, "Tesla is winding down production of its polarizing Cybertrucks, Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive, said in a social media post on Friday, suggesting an end to the model.
Production of the electric trucks at the company’s factory in Austin, Texas, will end around the middle of next year to make room for increased production of the Cybercab, an autonomous ride-share vehicle, Mr. Musk wrote in a post on X...", Read more Hmmmm… Not surprising. A bold move that lasted about as long as the Edsel... another bold move by a legacy automaker back in the day. Alain
SpaceX Go for Orbit
Staff, Nov. 6, "Tesla will cap how far its supervised driver-assistance software can exceed speed limits in Europe at 10%, down from 50%, after the Dutch vehicle authority RDW approved a set of changes the company requested, the regulator said on Tuesday.
The RDW said the system, sold elsewhere as Full Self-Driving (Supervised), will also be renamed Tesla Assisted Driving, or TAD, on the in-car display, in the owner’s manual and in all other information for the driver.." https://www.spacex.com/content/starship/go-for-orbitRead more Hmmmm… Talk about pressure filled decision making not dis-similar than giving rides without even an attendant inside. Just ask Kyle Vogt. Alain
Electrek Waymo picks Toyota bZ4X as its next robotaxi, starting in Japan in 2027
F. Lambert, Oct. 30, “Waymo is adding the Toyota bZ4X to its robotaxi lineup. Toyota will build a custom version of the electric SUV with the Waymo Driver integrated right on the line in Japan, and a test fleet will start operating there in 2027.
It’s the first actual vehicle to come out of the partnership the two companies signed last year. And it gives Waymo a Japanese-built car for its Tokyo launch, with the UK and other markets to follow. ..." Read more Hmmmm… This is really big news and signifies that Waymo is really in the automated-driver business and not in the ride-giving business. Alain
Tesla FSD Speed Margin Cut to 10% From 50% as Dutch Regulator Signs Off
C. Afonso, Nov. 3, “Tesla will cap how far its supervised driver-assistance software can exceed speed limits in Europe at 10%, down from 50%, after the Dutch vehicle authority RDW approved a set of changes the company requested, the regulator said on Tuesday.
The RDW said the system, sold elsewhere as Full Self-Driving (Supervised), will also be renamed Tesla Assisted Driving, or TAD, on the in-car display, in the owner’s manual and in all other information for the driver. ...” Read more Hmmmm… All very responsible changes by Tesla. Thank you.. Alain
Yahoo! I Drove Hands-Free All Week Using Full Self-Driving in a Tesla Model Y L. This Is Why I’m Hooked
S. Reiss, Nov. 2, "...Last week I did something I don't do often: I went to a Tesla dealership to pick up my weekly test drive, the Tesla Model Y L, the company's larger, 3-row electric SUV. As part of the pickup process, I got a walkthrough of the Model Y L from a lovely Tesla associate named Nolan. He was excited to show me around the Y L, but even more, he was excited to show me Full Self-Driving.
After our quick tour, I headed out of the parking lot and set my navigation destination and then, tapped a small box on the center display: Start Self-Driving.
That's when I felt my body relax a bit, sinking a bit deeper into the driver's seat, my hands in my lap but at the ready if needed. I was still "on call," attentive and watching the car's every move while letting it do its thing. ...” Read more Hmmmm… FYI. Pretty much why I don't drive any more. It simply drives substantially better better than I've ever been able to drive. It sees better, it reacts faster, it makes better decisions and it is more courteous. Alain
Eliot Daley This Changes Everything (Part II--How the magic happens)
E. Daley, Nov. 2, “...But now I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool. This crazy car has just driven Patti and me 852 miles from our home in Princeton to our farm in Maine, and back again—and I never touched the steering wheel or pedals even once. An utterly amazing experience. Impossible, actually. But it happened. So I just have to understand how that was possible. And that means renouncing my comfort zone.s..." Read more Hmmmm… An interesting read. Alain
NYT Extra Credit
M. Yan, Nov. 6, Young people swung left in the election. In Austin, Texas, honks, singing, cheers and chants filled the streets, and college students gathered to celebrate shocking upsets: ...” Read more Hmmmm… Wow. Not only the outcome but the interactive data graphics that the NY Times used were fantastic. No need to watch people yelling at each other on TV nor the senseless commercials. The "Shift Maps" tell it all. Alain
agigrid The AI Godfather Just Proved The Entire AI Industry Wrong
TheAIGRIDr, Nov. 5, “Yann LeCun has spent years telling the AI industry it's making a huge mistake, and a new paper might be the strongest evidence yet that LeCun was right. In "Proving and Improving the Platonic Representation Hypothesis with JEPAs", Randall Balestriero and Yann LeCun show that a 109 million parameter JEPA beat language models up to 72 billion parameters on how well it lines up with the way image models see the world, with about 42x less training data. In this video I explain what LeCun actually found, in plain English, and what it could mean if this idea is scaled up.” Read more Hmmmm… Very interesting. Alain
Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Vehicle Safety Report
Waymo Our Approach to Safety
zoox Purpose-built for safety
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/hc8bomo8rnjrmyj5gjhrf/Blue-OrangeHRCars.jpg?rlkey=vz1t450s2e7o1yrj1f3936bh3&dl=0HandyRides Update
Alain Kornhauser, Nov. 3 “... …” Hmmmm… Hit the magic 40 personTrips/car-day productivity metric serving Spelman. Elizabeth & Alain.
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