9.19 - SAFE

May 16, 2021Newsletter archive →

rgb(51, 51, May 15, 2021

blue; text-decoration: blue; text-decoration: none;">19h edition of the 9th year of SmartDrivingCars eLetter

Autonomous Vehicles: A Framework for Deployment and Safety

R. Diamond, May 13, "Join SAFE for an event focused on the importance of autonomous vehicles to our national and economic security and outlining pathways for the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles.

The event will feature remarks from Dr. Steve Cliff, Acting Administrator of NHTSA, a discussion between industry leaders, and the release of a report, "A Regulatory Framework for AV Safety," by O. Kevin Vincent, Associate General Counsel, Regulatory at Lucid...."  Read more  

Hmmmm... A must watch, complemented by the Vincent report and our latest PodCast below. Alain

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 213,

Zoom-Cast Episode 213 w/Robbie Diamond; Founder, Securing America's Future Energy

F. Fishkin, May 14 , "The autonomous mobility competition with China. What will it take to succeed? Securing America's Future Energy founder Robbie Diamond dives in with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus the latest on #AutoX,  #Tesla,  #GM,

TuSimple and

more. Remember to subscribe!

And check out this SAFE panel discussion too.. https://youtu.be/Z6NBRrtTDnI " Alexa, play the Smart Driving Cars podcast!". Ditto with Siri, and GooglePlay ... Alain

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 initiatives.

A Regulatory Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Deployment and Safety

K. Vincent, May 2021, "Promising step-changes in productivity for economic growth, an ability to maintain leadership in the transportation sector by competing with China, saving lives on our roads, and increases in efficiency and the acceleration of electric vehicle adoption, autonomous vehicles (AVs) hold the potential for U.S. economic and societal advancement on a scale unseen since the invention of the automobile itself. AVs can follow in the footsteps of the Interstate Highway System and the Internet as the next catalyzing technology to realize dramatic economic growth across all sectors.

The promise of affordable, point-to-point autonomous transportation, with novel vehicles redesigned from the ground up, also portends significant benefits for underserved communities. Improvements in emissions through a widespread deployment of electric, autonomous vehicles would positively impact public health and the environment. Moreover, AVs stand to greatly increase economic opportunities and provide upward economic mobility, as low-income communities can access low-cost transportation that plugs the systemic gaps in today's mass transit systems. For the disability and senior citizen communities, often unable to either access conventional mass transit or afford private or paratransit alternatives, AV transportation allows them the opportunity of greater participation in American public life.

Most importantly of all, however, is the tremendous potential of AVs to dramatically improve safety on our nation's roads...."  Read more  

Hmmmm...  This is a really good report for many reasons, including the global competition/political aspects of this technological transformation of motive power, vehicle control, mobility and the environmental responsibility.  My only caution is that when we talk about Autonomous Vehicles, we are really talking about 2 very different kinds... (I'll knuckle under and call them..) Level 2 and Level 4.

"Level 2" are simply technological extensions of conventional cars... OEMs design and build them; we buy them; we are responsible for them; we buy insurance for them; they happen to have gizmos that keep us from crashing (what I also call Safe-driving cars) and might include Comfort & Convenience features that entices us to buy them because they allow us to take our hands off the wheel and/or feet off the pedals (what I also call Self-driving cars).  Let's be clear... the way Level 2 should work is...  if we get a little ahead of ourselves and over-rely on the Comfort & Convenience features, by say, hopping in the back seat, then the "keep us from crashing features" keep us from running into a tree and avoid having the car catch on fire and cook us.

"Level 2" continues and in some ways may also enhance mobility, but the gizmos really bail us out when we misbehave and consequently substantially improve safety.  Mobility is largely Constant; Safety is Enhanced.

"Level 4" are vehicles that are capable of and have been certified as being able to drive themselves in an Operational Design Domain (ODD).  That ODD is NOT going to be "everywhere" any time soon or maybe even ever.  Please don't even bring it up... Level 5 will never exist except in some limit that will never be achieved! Stop talking about it!

What is important is that "Level 4" is all about improving mobility; for example, providing personal on-demand (aka auto-like) mobility for those that don't have access to a "Level 2" (or "Level 0") vehicle.  I contend that Safety is constant (as good as we can make it and, in the limit, as good as us when we are not misbehaving.) Our objective is to provide as much high-quality mobility as we can.  Here we are trying to extremize mobility without compromising Safety.  Safety is largely Constant; Mobility is Enhanced. Alain

NTSB: Autopilot could not have been engaged in fatal Tesla crash

K. Korosec, May 10, "... Only adaptive cruise control, one of the functions in Autopilot, could be engaged in that section of the road, according to the NTSB. Autosteer, another feature that keeps the vehicle in the lane, was not available on that part of the road, the report says. The preliminary report supports comments made by Tesla's vice president of vehicle engineering, Lars Moravy, who said during an earnings call that adaptive cruise control was engaged and accelerated to 30 miles per hour before the car crashed....." Read more  

Hmmmm...Must see...PRELIMINARY REPORT HIGHWAY: HWY21FH007... However: The question remains... Why didn't the Automated Emergency Braking System keep the car from hitting the tree?!!!!! Alain

Connected Vehicle (CV) Infrastructure – Urban Bus Operational Safety Platform

Battelle, May 2021, "ABSTRACT: This document is the project report for the Connected Vehicle Infrastructure – Urban Bus Operational Safety Platform project also known as the Enhanced Transit Safety Retrofit Package (E-TRP) project. The report describes the project's background and purpose, summarizes its activities and results, includes results from an independent evaluation, and provides insight into the lessons learned and experiences captured through the project...." Read more  

Hmmmm... In the interest of full disclosure, this project, which included Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, was selected by FRA in 2014 instead of one that I had submitted that included Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Unfortunately, at the time of submittal, I was unaware that Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority had also partnered with Battelle; else, I would have never wasted my time or other people's time finishing the proposal.  The probability that a competitive FRA solicitation makes two awards to the same Transit Company is as "slim2none" as one can get. Moreover, given that Batelle is located in Ohio, any influence forthcoming from Ohio would almost certainly lean towards the partnership with Battelle. Princeton might be strong, but not that strong. Consequently we didn't stand a chance.  Had we known (my fault for not knowing) we would have either found another Transit partner, or simply moved on earlier (as Jerome Lutin eventually did by crafting a very successful Active Safety-Collision Warning Pilot with the Washington State Transit Insurance Pool (WSTIP), Pierce Transit, U. of Washington and others.)

We, of course, felt we had an outstanding proposal. Reading the eventual findings of the effort that was selected over us, as are reported in Section 4, Project Results, I can only shake my head.  Page 37 and 38 on RoI is just ... Annual benefit reported to 6 significant digits ($106,452) and Annual costs (also to 6 significant digits are so obviously challenging that the research team should have realized  at the very beginning, or early in the study, that whatever they had proposed was extremely challenged and  pivoted. They certainly should not have written so many pages and just told us.. financially, what ever we were trying to do here is completely NOT in the public interest. This must be the worse RoI ever reported in any report that was over a few pages long.  Can you imagine investing $2M (sorry, I'll be a little sloppy and use only one significant number) in a new technology that necessarily involves substantial risk and getting 5% annual return in an RoI analysis (and apparently without uncovering a low probability up side).  The writing should have been on the wall years ago and the report should have simply said right from the beginning...the RoI of what we tried is bad, we found no upside that we can justify. We are sorry, our best advice is, please don't go here.

Moreover, since they couldn't even test DSRC even though this was supposed to be a "Connected Vehicle..." says something about the lack of quality/creativity to use the funding to really try to improve bus safety.  Did they really use the research money to achieve 6 digit precision on something that was DoA at single digit accuracy?

Again, please read as much as you can of this and reach your own conclusions. I admit that I'm looking at this report from a biased world view.  I apologize. Alain

Driving the Future of Transportation

Video of ValleyMetro - Waymo Partnership to create an Automated Vehicle Mobility on Demand (AV MoD) Project. Read more  

Hmmmm... Must watch!

China's Mars Rover Mission Lands on the Red Planet

S. Meyers & K. Chang, May 14, "The United States now has company on Mars.

A Chinese spacecraft descended through the thin Martian atmosphere and landed safely on a large plain on Saturday morning, state media reported, accomplishing a feat that only two other nations have before. (In the United States, it was still Friday— 7:18 p.m. Eastern time — when the spacecraft touched down.)

The landing follows China's launch last month of the core module of a new orbiting space station and a successful mission in December that collected nearly four pounds of rocks and soil from the moon and brought them back to Earth. Next month, the country's space program plans to send three astronauts back to space, inaugurating what could become a regular Chinese presence in Earth's orbit.

Just by arriving at Mars and orbiting the planet in February, China's space program confirmed its place among the top tier of agencies exploring the solar system. Now that it has executed a landing — with a deployment of a rover still to come — it has established itself as a principal contender in what some view as a new era of space competition. Read more... "  Read more  

Hmmmm... Congratulations!

AutoX marks first 100 days of fully driverless robotaxi operation

L. Butcher, May 7, "The launch of AutoX's fully driverless robotaxi in January 2021 was a major milestone for the company, as it provided the first commercial robotaxi service in China and made AutoX the second company in the world to operate a robotaxi service without a safety driver in the vehicle.

According to AutoX, the service has been well received by Shenzhen residents and officials alike. Within the first 100 days of operation, the company claims its service has won over a group of loyal users from the traditional ride-hailing market...." Read more  

Hmmmm...  Be sure to see video. Looks good; however, was it "driverless" or "driverless with an 'attendant' inside".  Not to be picky, but I couldn't find independent confirmation that "no disengagements" occurred during the two hour video. Also, it seems as if this was videoed early on a "Sunday morning". Anyway, it looks good. Alain

Union Pacific says autonomous trains are the answer to driverless trucks

B. Stephens, May 5, "How can railroads compete with autonomous or electric trucks that would dramatically reduce the cost of trucking?

"Ultimately, our answer to autonomous trucks is autonomous trains," Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz says. A first step toward automation is reducing crew size where feasible, Fritz said during the railroad's investor day Tuesday.

UP invested in autonomous truck company TuSimple in December to keep tabs on the technology, and so it can test driverless rigs for intermodal drayage service, Fritz says. TuSimple, which runs autonomous trucks in the Southwest with a driver aboard who can step in if necessary, plans to make its first driverless revenue move this fall.

Analysts say that autonomous rigs could threaten nearly a third of the traffic that currently moves by rail. Electric trucks are significantly cheaper to operate than diesel rigs and are likely to arrive sooner, and in greater numbers, than driverless rigs, according to consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Either would erode rail's cost advantage over trucks.... " Read more  

Hmmmm... If I was UP, I wouldn't be worried about Driverless trucks (they are way way out in the future).  I'd be worried about not having 200 car unit coal trains to move. Consequently, I'd be fully invested in driverless trains and prepared to buy out the two-man crews on the UP. Trains can always beat trucks on a carbon footprint basis.   If they can get out of their own way and better compete on a service frequency basis by running short few-car trains they can readily compete with trucks.  The hard part of getting to short few-car trains  the buying out of the last two crew members, not the automatic operation. Alain

Viodi View – 05/12/21

K. Pyle, May 12, "Things that were abstract dreams and nightmares in the early 1990s have become today's reality. Specifically, the idea of electronic viruses and cybercriminals wreaking havoc on the real world has sadly become a reality and the resulting gas shortages are a reminder of the 1970 era. Unfortunately, the cyberinfrastructure vulnerabilities we are seeing today are just a sliver of what could be if GPS is compromised, according to an excellent article by former DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Diana Furchtgott-Roth...." Read more  

Hmmmm...GPS must NOT be compromised. See also: "Resilient Positioning, Navigation, and Timing – Right Now" Alain

Volkswagen plans self-driving electric microbus with Argo AI by 2025

M. Wayland, May 12, "Volkswagen is planning to bring to market by 2025 a version of its upcoming microbus, a retro-styled electric van, with the ability to drive itself in certain circumstances, the automaker announced Wednesday.

VW is developing the vehicle with Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based autonomous vehicle start-up backed by the German automaker and Ford Motor. Testing of the ID.Buzz vans to transport people and goods is expected to begin this summer in Munich, according to the companies.

"Our aim with the self-driving version of the ID.Buzz is to facilitate commercial deployment of transport and delivery services starting in 2025," Christian Senger, head of autonomous driving at VW's van unit, said in a press release. ... "  Read more  

Hmmmm... "... starting in 2025 Another gonna rather dida. Alain

MADD Identifies 241 Examples of Auto Tech to Help Prevent Drunk Driving

Press release, May 12, "Today Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) released an updated analysis of vehicle technologies that are available now – or in various stages of development – that could be installed in vehicles to prevent drunk driving and other impairments and save thousands of lives a year.

The analysis was first submitted Jan. 11 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in response to the agency's Request for Information on drunk driving prevention technology. MADD also submitted the RFI to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee as part of the record for an April 27 auto safety hearing... In total, this updated report details 241 examples of technology that NHTSA should consider as part of a rulemaking to prevent impaired driving. Numerous technologies to correct dangerous and deadly driving behaviors are available today, and are now an option on almost all new vehicles. Driving performance monitoring systems are critical to the elimination of impaired driving and will likely be used in tandem with other driver monitoring systems, and potentially (but not limited to) breath or touch-based passive alcohol detection technology...." Read more  

Hmmmm... Very interesting.  Alain

Autonomous truck maker says it has nearly 7,000 driverless truck orders

Staff, May 11, "Self-driving technology company TuSimple said Monday it has received 6,775 reservations for a new line of purpose-built SAE Level 4 International LT Series autonomous trucks.

Level 4 automated driving means the vehicle does not require human intervention in the event of a problem or system failure.

The self-driving trucks, developed in partnership with Navistar, will be equipped with TuSimple's autonomous driving system and manufactured by Navistar beginning in 2024.... "  Read more  

Hmmmm... "... beginning in 2024. Another gonna rather dida.

Plus, who is responsible (picks up the tab) if something bad happens during: "... in the event of a problem or system failure..." Navistar??? TuSimple??? I'd love to see the fine print here. I'm enormously skeptical. Alain

Cruise expects GM to begin production of new driverless vehicle in early 2023

M. Wayland, May 13, "Cruise, a majority-owned autonomous vehicle subsidiary of General Motors, expects production of its driverless shuttle called the Origin to begin in early 2023, CEO Dan Ammann said Thursday.

The time frame given for the vehicle is the most detailed yet and also hints at when the commercial operation of Cruise's current autonomous vehicle test fleet is expected to start.

The Origin is the company's first vehicle specifically designed to operate without a driver on board. It does not have manual controls such as pedals or a steering wheel.... " Read more  

Hmmmm... "... begin in early 2023 Another gonna rather dida. Alain

More On....

See

(confidential) from yesterday (5/15/21). Then Re-see:

Pop Up Metro USA Intro 09 2020

H. Posner'77, Sept 13, 2020. "Creating Value for Light Density Urban Rail Lines"  . See slides,  See video

Hmmmm... Simply Brilliant. Alain

0, 0);">Annual PrincetonSmartDrivingCar Summit It is over!!! Now time to actually do something in the Trentons of this world.

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

Ken Pyle's Session Summaries of 4th Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit:

15th Session    Making it Happen - Part One: Elected Officials' Role in Creating a Welcoming Environment in the Trentons of this World

14th Session    What Will Power Safely-driven Cars

13th Session    Improving the Moving of Goods

12th Session    3/18/21 Human-centered Design of Safe and Affordable Driverless Mobility

11th Session    3/11/21 Incentivizing Through Regulation

10th Session    3/04/21 Incentivizing Through Insurance

9th Session    2/25/21  Can Level 3 be Delivered?

8th Session    2/18/21  Who Will Build, Sell and Maintain Driverless Cars?

Michael Sena's Slides, Glenn Mercer Slides

7th Session    2/11/21  Finally Doing It

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

3rd Session    1/14/21 The SmartDrivingCars We Can Buy Today

2nd Session1/ 7/21  A Look into the Future1st Session:12/17/20Setting the Stage

Kornhauser & He, April 2021 "Making it Happen:  A Proposal for Providing Affordable, High-quality, On-demand Mobility for All in the "Trentons" of this World"

Orf467F20_FinalReport "Analyzing Ride-Share Potential and Empty Repositioning Requirements of a Nationwide aTaxi System" Kornhauser & He, March 2021 "AV 101 + Trenton Affordable HQ Mobility Initiative"

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

Sunday Supplement

Half-Baked

Click-Bait

A driverless Waymo got stuck in traffic and then tried to run away from its support crew

A. Hawkins, May 14, "A rare unedited look at an autonomous vehicle in distress..." Read more  

Hmmmm...I'm sorry for piling on here.  No wonder John Kafcik "retired". When did we all have so little real content to report rather than stuff like this.  At least the Russian Crash videos are ... (I don't know what... they are useless too!).

So frustrating, yet so encouraging: it was really driverless, as opposed to everyone else's "driverless with a driver inside".  And, that this is the worst thing that anyone can dig up. I'll take this as a positive here...  It is really good that this is only as bad as its gotten. Just think if AutoX didn't have an attendant in the car and the video above was in this kind of traffic. Alain

A man arrested for riding in the back seat of his driverless Tesla got out of jail, bought a new one, and did it again

T. Levin, May 13, "A San Francisco man who was arrested for riding in the back seat of his Tesla as it drove on the highway says he'll keep pulling the stunt after being released from jail — and he'll keep buying more cars as they get impounded.

After getting booked on two counts of reckless driving, Param Sharma arrived for a Wednesday interview with the Bay Area news station KTVU riding in the back seat of a Tesla again. But it wasn't the same car that California Highway Patrol pulled him over in. ..." Read more  

Hmmmm... You can't make up this stuff. Anything for 15 seconds of fame.  Tesla is (or should be able) to remotely turn off autoPilot and/or FSD for repeated misbehaviors; else, Tesla must assume the responsibility/liability for tolerating the misbehavior. Alain

Calendar of Upcoming

Events

The 2021 TRB Annual

Automated Road Transportation Symposium

Virtual on July 12-15, 2021

5th Annual Princeton SmartDrivingCar Summit

Fall 2021 Live in Person To be Announced

June 9, 2021, Fully virtual

Georgia, serif;">

On the More Technical Side

http://orfe.princeton.edu/~alaink/SmartDrivingCars/Papers/

K. Lockean's AV Research Group at U of Texas

and

The SYMPOSIUM ON THE FUTURE NETWORKED CAR 2021 VIRTUAL EVENT

R. Shields, 22 - 25 March, "Recordings from the conference:

Session 1 plus opening: (Regulatory): https://youtu.be/UcDC8gXiUFk

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

Read more 

Hmmmm... Russ, thank you for sharing! Alain

These editions are sponsored by the SmartETFs Smart Transportation and Technology ETF, symbol MOTO. For more information head to www.motoetf.com

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 212, Zoom-Cast Episode 212 w/Ken Pyle

F. Fishkin, May 8 , "Where does Waymo go from here?   Is GM really going to market personal autonomous vehicles? Viodi View managing editor Ken Pyle joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin for a look at those issues plus Volkswagen, Tesla, Argo and more.

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 211, Zoom-Cast Episode 211 w/ Michael Sena, Editor of The Dispatcher

F. Fishkin, May 1 , "There's plenty of combustion around the issue of banning internal combustion engines (ICE). Consultant and The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena joins us for a look at what makes sense...and what doesn't. Plus #Tesla, #Toyota, #Volkswagen, #Baidu and progress in Florida. ..."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 210, Zoom-Cast Episode 210 w/Ken Pyle & Louis Aaron'23

F. Fishkin, April 26 , "Passengers at the Las Vegas Convention Center are about to get their first taste of the new underground mobility service from

Elon​ Musk's

The Boring Company. Princeton student Louis Aaron has been working there and he joins Viodi View Managing Editor Ken Pyle, Princeton's Alain .."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 209, Zoom-Cast Episode 209 w/Clifford Winston, Brookings Inst.

F. Fishkin, April , "The Texas #Tesla crash that killed two continues to make headlines. The impact on the electric and automated vehicle industries? From the Brookings Institution, senior fellow Clifford Winston joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a look at what the real focus should be on.."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 208, Zoom-Cast Episode 208 w/Prof. Stephen Still, U. of Buffalo

F. Fishkin, April 18, "What does it take to bring about mobility for all in the real world? With help from the federal DOT and a team at the University of Buffalo...some big steps are being taken there. Professor Stephen Still joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that...plus, Tesla, Uber, Cruise and more on Smart Driving Cars."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 207, Zoom-Cast Episode 207  w/Selika Josiah Talbott

F. Fishkin, April 10 , "When a driverless vehicle crashes...what should passengers, other vehicle owners, law enforcement and first responders do? American University Professor Selika Josiah Talbott says the time for planning is now. She joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla, Apple and more in the latest Smart Driving Cars."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 206, Zoom-Cast Episode 206  w/Stan Young, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

F. Fishkin, April 2, "When it comes to future mobility, what will fuel the vehicles? How can the shortcomings of electric vehicles be overcome? Stanley Young, Mobility Systems team lead for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin..."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 205, Zoom-Cast Episode 205  w/Michael Sena; Editor The Dispatcher. President, MLSena Consulting

F. Fishkin, March 26, "Every driverless car should take the same tests that we take..and have the same responsibilities. So says Michael L. Sena in the latest edition of The Dispatcher. He joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus the latest from Tesla and more...on Episode 205 of Smart Driving Cars..."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 204, Zoom-Cast Episode 204  w/Andrew Rose, President, OnStar Insurance Services

F. Fishkin, March 15, ".With GM aiming to upend the car insurance industry, the President of the automaker's new OnStar Insurance Services, Andrew Rose joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. What advantages will OnStar insurance bring to the table...and a look at the future of auto insurance.."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 203, Zoom-Cast Episode 203 AV 101: A. Kornhauser

F. Fishkin, March 13, ".GM's move to transform auto insurance through OnStar Insurance: Is it a win, win for all?      Is adaptive cruise control prompting some drivers to speed?     And what does Tesla really mean by "full self driving"? Just some of the questions tackled  in the latest edition of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 202, Zoom-Cast Episode 202 President & CEO, RoadDB

F. Fishkin, March 3, "When will we be able to purchase cars that can largely drive themselves? It may not be long...but don't expect to vacate the driver's seat.  That's the view of entrepreneur, tech pioneer and RoadDB CEO Russ Shields.   He takes an in depth look at where we are and where we're headed with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 201, Zoom-Cast Episode 201 w/Michael Sena, Publisher of The Dispatcher

F. Fishkin, Feb. 26, "Smarter cars need smarter assembly...and location matters.   The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for a look at that, politics, climate and carmakers...plus Tesla, Velodyne, Foxconn and more.." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 200, Zoom-Cast Episode 200 w/Edwin Olsen, CEO, May Mobility

F. Fishkin, Feb. 22, "How May Mobility is building confidence in autonomous transportation and creating a road map for growth through the pandemic and beyond. CEO and co-founder Edwin Olson joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 199, Zoom-Cast Episode 199 w/Marc Scribner, Senior Transportation Policy Analyst, Reason Foundation

F. Fishkin, Feb. 19, "How the Biden administration & Congress can pave the path for autonomous vehicles. Reason Foundation Sr. Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to focus on what's next. Plus jobs and autonomous trucking, Waymo, GM, Ford and more." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 198, Zoom-Cast Episode 198 w/Dick Mudge, CEO, Compass Transportation & Technology

F. Fishkin, Feb. 13, Which autonomous vehicle companies will be the last standing? And does private ownership of self driving cars make sense? Compass Transportation and Technology President Dick Mudge joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that...plus the latest on Tesla, GM, Toyota and more..." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 197, Zoom-Cast Episode 197 w/Michel Parent, Founding Member of SuburVan

F. Fishkin, Feb. 5, "Smart mobility innovation in France.    Dr. Michel Parent founding member of SuburVan is aiming to provide fully autonomous mobility on the outskirts of Paris and more.    He joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that...plus the latest on Ford, GM, Tesla, VW and more...."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 196, Zoom-Cast Episode 196 w/Steve Polzin, Recently US DoT

F. Fishkin, Jan. 24, "Will more safe vehicle technology dampen the push for driverless mobility? Measuring the progress and challenges ahead with Dr. Steven Polzin..former Sr. Advisor, Office of the Ass't. Secretary for Research and Technology in the DOT. He joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin ... plus GM going zero emission, Tesla, Waymo and more.."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 195 Zoom-Cast Episode 195 w/Diana Furchtgott-Roth, G. Washington U.

F. Fishkin, Jan. 24, "What progress has been made towards smarter, safer mobility? The push for a back-up to GPS. Why the jump in vehicle fatalities last year? Those issues and more as former deputy assistant U.S. Transportation Secretary for research and technology Diana Furchtgott Roth joins us. Plus...Microsoft, Cruise, Tesla and more on Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 194 Zoom-Cast Episode 194 w/Anuj Pradhan, UMass

F. Fishkin, Jan. 15, ""When it comes to vehicle safety technology...should manufacturers be sharing instead of competing? Should there be standardization? Anuj Pradhan, co-director of the Human Performance Lab at UMASS Amherst joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that...plus the latest from GM, Tesla, Mobileye, Nio and more." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 193 Zoom-Cast Episode 193 w/Bobby Hambrick, AutonomousStuff

F. Fishkin, Jan. 8, "Bobby Hambrick started AutuonomouStuff in a barn in Morton, Illinois....and has pioneered much of the technology moving the autonomous industry forward, now as part of Hexagon. Bobby joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to look back and look ahead. Plus...Apple, Hyundai, Waymo, Tesla and more! "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 192 Zoom-Cast Episode 192 w/Danny Shapiro, nVIDIA

F. Fishkin, Dec. 30, "NVIDIA continues on a roll powering the Zoox robo taxi unveiled this month by Amazon. NVIDIA senior director of automotive Danny Shapiro outlines the progress and looks ahead to 2021 in the latest Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. "

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 191 Zoom-Cast Episode 191 w/ Louis Aaron'23 and Joel Johnson

F. Fishkin, Dec. 20, "College student Joel Johnson has been keeping a log of dozens of trips in Waymo's self driving service in Chandler, Arizona, and posting videos on YouTube. Louis Aaron'23, another student, has been working with Elon Musk's Boring Company in Las Vegas. The two share their experiences with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in the latest Smart Driving Cars."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 190 Zoom-Cast Episode 190 w/Chris Urmson, Aurora

F. Fishkin, Dec. 15, "With Aurora taking over Uber's self driving efforts,  what is on the horizon for the start up whose leaders have roots at Waymo,  Tesla and Uber? Co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in this special edition of Smart Driving Cars."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 187  Zoom-Cast Episode 187 w/Michael Sena,  The Dispatcher

F. Fishkin, Nov 25, "What you should know about electric cars, climate change and more.  The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in an eye opening edition of Smart Driving Cars.."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 186  Zoom-Cast Episode 186 w/Kelly Funkhouser, Consumer Report

F. Fishkin, Nov 24, "When it comes to active driver assistance systems, what works and what needs improvement? Some answers from Kelly FunkhouserÃÆ'¢â‚¬Â¦ program manager for vehicle interface, head of connected and automated vehicles at Consumer Reports.  She joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for episode 186 of Smart Driving Cars."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 185 Zoom-Cast Episode 185 w/Dan Smith, Waymo F. Fishkin, Nov 20, "Only Waymo has been transporting customers in driverless vehicles without a safety monitor on board. What goes into that kind of decision? Waymo Assistant General Counsel Dan Smith joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in this special edition of Smart Driving Cars." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 184 Zoom-Cast Episode 184 w/Marjory Blumenthal, Rand F. Fishkin, Nov 20, "So when are driverless vehicles safe enough to be deployed? Senior Rand Corporation policy researcher Marjory Blumenthal joins Princeton University's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to examine her latest report and more."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 183 Zoom-Cast Episode 183 w/Kirsten Korosec F. Fishkin, Nov 13, "Rivian's hands free driver assistance will be standard equipment...while Ford unveils the E-Transit. TechCrunch Senior Transportation reporter and editor Kirsten Korosec joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Nuro, Tesla, Uber, Lyft, Cruise and more. Plus the coming changes for mobility under a new administration!"

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 182 Zoom-Cast Episode 182 F. Fishkin, Nov 6, "What will a new administration mean for autonomous mobility? And what about the passage of Proposition 22 in California after Uber's big campaign? That plus luxury EVs coming from Bentley....and cheap EVs from China. Join Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 181 Zoom-Cast Episode 181  w/Sheldon Sandler & Glenn Mercer F. Fishkin, Oct. 30, "Waymo releases self driving data...while traditional car dealers enjoy surprisingly strong profits during the pandemic. Why?  What about the coming autonomous mobility? Bell Air Partners' Sheldon Sandler and researcher-consultant Glenn Mercer explain in Episode 181 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin.  "

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 180  Zoom-Cast Episode 180 w/John Rich, Ford/Argo, part 2 F. Fishkin, Oct. 15, "Ford and Argo AI have unveiled their next generation self-driving test vehicle. Once again, Ford's Director of Autonomous Vehicle and Technology Development John Rich joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to unveil the technology and the company's self driving business plans." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 179 Zoom-Cast Episode 179 w/John Rich, Ford/Argo F. Fishkin, Oct. 15, "Which autonomous vehicle platforms will survive? The director of Ford's Autonomous Vehicle and Technology Development says there may only be two...and Ford /Argo AI will be one of them. John Rich joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more." SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 178  Zoom-Cast Episode 178 w/Andrew Hawkins, Verge F. Fishkin, Oct. 9, "Here we go! Waymo going fully driverless in Phoenix suburb service. The Verge senior transportation reporter Andrew Hawkins joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla... Amazon... Rivian and more. Subscribe!

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 177 Zoom-Cast Episode 177

F. Fishkin, Oct. 2, "New grades for assisted driving systems from Euro NCAP. But Princeton Professor Alain Kornhauser says the devil is in the details in this edition with co-host Fred Fishkin. And there's Amazon's success against Covid plusTesla, Uber, GM, Nikola and more. SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 176  Zoom-Cast Episode 176 w/Marc Scribner

F. Fishkin, Sept. 25, "A new government entity to oversee autonomous vehicles? Marc Scribner, Sr. Transportation Policy Analyst at the Reason Foundation on regulation and more with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus...Tesla, Nikola, GM and the California move to ban new gasoline vehicles."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 175   Zoom-Cast Episode 175 w/Michael Sena F. Fishkin, Sept. 18, "Automobility and the future of car dealers... "The Dispatcher" publisher Michael Sena offers a different take on how car dealers may battle automakers pushing for direct to consumer subscriptions. That and more in this edition of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 174 Zoom-Cast Episode 174 w/Kelly Funkhouser, Consumer Reports

F. Fishkin, Sept. 4, "Moving forward with autonomous vehicle testing, the head of safety at Uber's Advanced Technology Group is pledging safety data transparency. Nat Beuse joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co host Fred Fishkin for that and more on the latest mobility headlines." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 173 Zoom-Cast Episode 173 w/Nathanial Beuse F. Fishkin, Sept. 4, "Moving forward with autonomous vehicle testing, the head of safety at Uber's Advanced Technology Group is pledging safety data transparency. Nat Beuse joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co host Fred Fishkin for that and more on the latest mobility headlines." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 172Zoom-Cast Episode 172  Special Edition w/Danny Shapiro

F. Fishkin ,Sept. 2, "Mercedes unveils the latest S Class with more computing power than 60 average cars...with NVIDIA playing a big role. NVIDIA's Director of Automotive Danny Shapiro joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that and more." SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 171Zoom-Cast Episode 171 w/Henry Greenidge

SmartDrivingCars  PodCast 170  ZoomCast Episode170 w/Michael Sena SmartDrivingCars  PodCast Episode 169 ZoomCast Episode 169  w/Anthony Townsend SmartDrivingCars  PodCast Episode 168 ZoomCast Episode 168  w/Olaf Sakkers SmartDrivingCars  PodCast 167  ZoomCast Episode167 w/Robin Chase, Carlos Pardo & Daniel Sperling SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 166ZoomCast Episode 166 w/Jay Rodgers'95, CEO Local Motors

Zoom-inar Episode 005 AmaZooks

F. Fishkin, July 20, "Is Driverless home delivery the fastest route to Affordable Mobility for the Mobility Disadvantaged? ... "

• Zoom-inar Video (Video replay) AmaZooks

• PodCast (Audio Only) AmaZooks

SmartDrivingCars PodCast Episode 165,ZoomCast Episode165 w/Michael Sena

F. Fishkin 16, "Is the option to buy a car at a dealership going to vanish? The Dispatcher publisher Michael Sena has a provocative perspective in this edition with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser & co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus..an update on the Amazon Zoox deal, autonomous vehicles and how they can help battle discrimination in transportation, TuSimple, Mobileye, Uber, Tesla and more." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast 164 Episode 164,   Zoom-Cast Episode 163 w/Robbie Diamond

F. Fishkin, July 9, "Fostering economic opportunity through autonomous technology is the focus of an upcoming report from Security America's Future Energy. Founder and CEO Robbie Diamond shares details and more in this edition with Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus ..are armed police officers really needed for traffic enforcement? And the latest from Tesla, Waymo and more.  ..." SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 163, Zoom-Cast Episode 163 w/Henry Greenidge F. Fishkin, July 2, "Transportation, racial injustices and changing the thinking around the future of mobility. NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy & Research fellow Henry Greenidge joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin in an eye and mind opening episode of Smart Driving Cars. Plus Amazon, Zoox, Waymo, Tesla & more. ."

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 162,  Zoom-Cast Episode 162  w/Cliff Winston

F. Fishkin, June 25, "From the Brookings Institution, Cliff Winston, co-author of Autonomous Vehicles...The Road to Economic Growth? joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus..why are fatal crash rates rising in the midst of a pandemic...plus NVIDIA, Didi, Tesla and more."

Episode 004  Insurance: For or Against SmartDrivingCars?

F. Fishkin, June 23, "But the debate is not really about technology nor is it about who delivers the best value for the money or the most privacy. It is about ..."

• Zoom-inar (Video replay)  Insurance: For or Against SmartDrivingCars?

• PodCast (Audio Only) Insurance: For or Against SmartDrivingCars?

Listen/Watch more  

Hmmm...   We only scratched the surface. Alain SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 161,Zoom-Cast Episode 161 w/Alberto Stochino F. Fishkin, June 17, "Is less data sometimes more when it comes to driverless vehicle technology? Perceptive Founder and CEO Alberto Stochino joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus the DOT's new plan for sharing autonomous safety information, the latest from Tesla, EVs from China and more."

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 160, Zoom-Cast Episode 160  w/Jessica Cicchino F. Fishkin, June 12, "Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Research VP Jessica Cicchino co-authored a new study saying self driving vehicles could struggle to eliminate most crashes.   She joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin to discuss the study.  Plus the latest on Tesla, Ford & VW, Covid-19 and more.  "

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 159, Zoom-Cast Episode 159 w/Kara Kockelman F. Fishkin, June 4, "Prof. Kara Kockelman's focus on smart transportation to save lives, money and the environment has made her a sought after global expert.  The U. of Texas Transportation Engineering Professor joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin on the impact of Covid-19 and much more. Plus Tesla, Uber, Argo AI and the top smart driving headlines. For more on Dr. Kockelman's work....please visit...  http://www.caee.utexas.edu/prof/kockelman."

DrivingTheDebate Episode 003  Everyone's for Connectivity; but... F. Fishkin, June 2, "But the debate is not really about technology nor is it about who delivers the best value for the money or the most privacy. It is about ..."

• Zoom-inar (Video replay)  Everyone's for Connectivity; but...

• PodCast (Audio Only) Everyone's for Connectivity; but...

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 158,  Zoom-Cast Episode 158 w/Chunka Mui

F. Fishkin, May 28, "In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, what are the smartest ways to re-build and plan for the future? Futurist and author Chunka Mui joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Amazon, Zoox, Intel Mobileye, Tesla, Uber and more." SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 157,  Zoom-Cast Episode 157 w/Grayson Brulte

F. Fishkin, May 21, "Global auto makers must completely re-think their autonomous mobility strategy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. So says innovation strategist Grayson Brulte of Brulte & Company....who joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus...Waymo, Tesla, Uber and more."

DrivingTheDebate Episode 002  The Future of Public Roadway Transit F. Fishkin, May 14, "Will the Bus be Thrown Under the Bus?...

• Zoom-inar Video (Video replay)Smart Driving Cars: The Future of Public Roadway Transit

• PodCast (Audio Only) Smart Driving Cars: The Future of Public Roadway Transit

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 156,  Cars Zoom-Cast Episode 156 w/Danny Shapiro2 F. Fishkin, May 14, "With new hardware and software capabilities NVIDIA is expanding into new areas of driver assistance technology. Sr. Director of Automotive Danny Shapiro joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that...plus the latest on Waymo, Voyage, Ford and more. listen and subscribe!"

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 155,Zoom-Cast Episode 155 w/Alex Roy2 F. Fishkin, April 29, "The continuing impact of Covid-19 on autonomous vehicle progress. But it may not be all bad news. Alex Roy...host of the No Parking Podcast and Director of Special Operations at Argo AI joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla, Intel, Lyft, Uber and more. Listen and subscribe!

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 154, Zoom-Cast Episode 154   w/Dan Sperling F. Fishkin, April 29, "Can ride sharing rebound after the pandemic? Daniel Sperling, founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis joins Princeton's Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for that plus Tesla, Waymo, Ford and more."

DrivingTheDebate Episode 001 The Driverless "New Normal" Debate F. Fishkin, April 27,

• Zoom Video

• SmartDrivingCar PodCast (Audio Only) Smart Driving Cars: The Driverless New Normal Debate

• Zoom Audience Questions (Only a few were addressed in Zoom-inar)

• Zoom Audience Comments

• YouTube Video

SmartDrivingCars  Pod-Cast Episode 153, Zoom-Cast Episode 153 w/Dick Mudge2

SmartDrivingCars Pod-Cast Episode 152,Zoom-Cast Episode 152 w/Brad Templeton

SmartDrivingCars Podcast Episode 148 w/Richard Bishop

SmartDrivingCars Zoom-Cast Episode 148 w/Richard Bishop

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 147 - Michael Sena

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 142 - J. Hughes

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 141- A. Roy

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 139- Randal O'Toole

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 138-Nick Zart

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 136

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 135 - with Jim Atkinson

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 130 with Dick Mudge & Michael Sena

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 112 - J. Hardiman NJM

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 110 - Lance Elliot

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 108 3rd Summit Wrapup

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 107 3rd Summit Leilei Shinohara & Staff Sergeant Terence McDonnell

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 106 3rd Summit David Kidd & Cecillia Feeley

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 104 3rd Summit Anil Lewis & Katherine Freund

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 97 - Michael Sena'69

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 71-Nader'55

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 69 - Chunka Mui

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

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 58-Keith Code,Motorcycles

Smart Driving Cars Podcast Episode 55-Larry Burns, Autonomy

Recent Highlights of:

May 8, 2021

Why has't Waymo expanded its driverless service? Here's my theory

T. Lee, May 7, "Suburban ride-hailing is a lousy business to be in.

Last October, Waymo did something remarkable: the company launched a fully driverless commercial taxi service called Waymo One. Customers in a 50-square-mile corner of suburban Phoenix can now use their smartphones to hail a Chrysler Pacifica minivan with no one in the driver's seat.

And then... nothing. Seven months later, Waymo has neither expanded the footprint of the Phoenix service nor has it announced a timeline for launching in a second city.

It's as if Steve Jobs had unveiled the iPhone, shipped a few thousand phones to an Apple Store in Phoenix, and then didn't ship any more for months—and wouldn't explain why.

Last Friday, two Waymo employees participated in an "ask me anything" thread on the SelfDrivingCars subreddit, a watering hole for self-driving industry insiders. Questions about expansion plans dominated the conversation.

"How are you going to scale?" one redditor asked. "What are the impediments to service expansion at this time?"

The Waymonauts responded with maddening generalities.

"We feel the same urgency to scale quickly that others do, but a ton of work goes into doing it safely," wrote Waymo's Sam Kansara."  Read more  

Hmmmm... Not at all surprising. Can you imagine trying to be better than one's own Land Rover or Porsche in car country.  That is a heavy lift.  Making it heavier is the focus on today's most entitled yuppies. That's as bad as the original focus of driverless cars on 1%ers.  Waymos are pure and simple mobility machines to get you from/to places horizontally, just as elevators do vertically ... just get you up to the "8th floor".  Why are elevators so successful at what they do?... Second best is the stairwell! They win all the time, hands down.

In Chandler, the "stairwell" is your car parked in your garage.  You don't even have to go outside in all that heat. Waymo's got to be really good to beat that! Waymo might end up getting close to that good, but in the beginning chances "slim-to-none".  Not that the car in the garage doesn't have an enormous amount of "excess baggage". Everyone seems to have conveniently forgotten about it. When even with all of its LiDars, radars and deepLearning, whereas the car with the Mad Men fantasies is way more than half full and your go-to mobility is your car. Your car allowed you to consider the Chandlers of this world as a place whee you want to live.  That's a challenging market place for Waymo. It's worse than Bing v Google

A better place for Waymo  ( or Ford/Argo or GM/cruise) the place to start is to focus on a market where they can easily deliver better service.  The obvious market is to provide Waymo mobility to concentrations of households that have zero or only one car.  Folks that have been left behind by the automobile and don't have access to one.  Those that have been relegated to take the staircase thereby not even having the opportunity to reach "the eighth floor"; which, once they can using Waymo,  would substantially improve their lives. They might in fact appreciate Waymo right out of the box.

Manhattan is one such place, but it has a great subway and safely driving its roads is enormously challenging, so that's arguably the last place for Waymo to go. However, the census identifies many communities and "inner suburbs" that have substantial densities of zero and one-car household. For example: Trenton New Jersey. Waymo would be the obvious mobility choice. Numerous Trenton residents would readily perceive Waymo as the "Google" in their trip mode-choice.

Another note... trying to sell Waymo technology on its ability to improve safety is a fool's gambit. Since Waymos don't misbehave, it is "easy" to make them safer, but that argument is hard to get across Misbehaviors are core to the fantasies of driving and are thus excused and forgotten about.  Alain May 1, 2021

May 2021 Issue: To Ban or Not to Ban: Should That Be the Question? M. Sena, May 1, " They banned spray cans with chloro-fluorocarbons, didn't they? Why not ICE?

TAKING THE PLEDGE to stop selling cars with internalcombustion engines (ICE). That's what cities and states and provinces and countries are doing all around the world. It's become a competition: Who will ban them

sooner and who are the most credible in making their bans stick? Gas stations and car repair workshops like Pee Wee's Texaco Service Center pictured left are already relics of a bygone era. How long will it take for gas pumps to disappear?..." Read more  

Hmmmm... Another great issue discussed in Pod/Zoom-Cast Episodes 211 below.  As well as two excellent articles on V2X and the continuing discussions about spectrum allocation, DSRC and Cellular V2x. Read these two sections thoroughly and carefully. Alain

April 23, 2021   Scrutiny of Tesla crash a sign that regulation may be coming T. Krisher, Feb 19, "The fiery crash of a Tesla near Houston with no one behind the wheel is drawing scrutiny from two federal agencies that could bring new regulation of electronic systems that take on some driving tasks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety board said Monday they would send teams to investigate the Saturday night crash on a residential road that killed two men in a Tesla Model S.

Local authorities said one man was found in the passenger seat, while another was in the back. They're issuing search warrants in the probe, which will determine whether the Tesla's Autopilot partially automated system was in use. Autopilot can keep a car centered in its lane, keep a distance from cars in front of it, and can even change lanes automatically in some circumstances.

On Twitter Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote that data logs "recovered so far" show Autopilot wasn't turned on, and "Full Self-Driving" was not purchased for the vehicle. He didn't answer reporters' questions posed on Twitter...." Read more  

Hmmmm...  I'll stand by my quote... "..."Elon's been totally irresponsible," said Alain Kornhauser, faculty chair of autonomous vehicle engineering at Princeton University. Musk, he said, has sold the dream that the cars can drive themselves even though in the fine print Tesla says they're not ready. "It's not a game. This is serious stuff."..." ... even though it isn't the most critical comment.

What is more concerning.... "Why didn't Tesla's Automated Emergency Braking System prevent the Tesla from hitting the tree?"   The common theme in the Joshua Brown, Elaine Herzberg, Walter Huang,  Firetruck/Derrick Monet, 2nd_Firetruck_Tesla crash ..., Teslas seem to disregard stationary objects directly ahead, or certainly doesn't avoid hitting them enough of the time.   The Tesla code must assume that it can pass underneath them. Can such an egregious oversight in Tesla's AEB computer code really exist? Is the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) involved in this oversight because it has made Tesla and maybe others so adverse to false positives that they simply assume that Teslas can pass under any and all stationary objects in the road ahead? Not a pretty situation. Alain

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,

"We want the value [of safe driving and driverless] to be captured by society."....." Read more 

Hmmmm.... We had another excellent Session. Thank you for the summary, Ken!  Alain

April 17, 2021

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UB, partners receive $8.2 million to help vulnerable populations with transportation issues P. Murphy, Feb 18, "University at Buffalo researchers are part of an $8.2 million effort to improve transportation options for vulnerable people in the City of Buffalo.

The project, called "Complete Trip Deployment," is led by Virginia-based ICF International and funded by an $8.2 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant.

The project brings together researchers from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the School of Architecture and Planning (SAP), who will serve as technical leaders.

Local partners include the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition, New York State Department of Transportation, and the City of Buffalo.

The project focuses on addressing the transportation needs of three distinct populations: people with mobility, visual and hearing disabilities, people living in low-income neighborhoods and older adults."  Read more  

Hmmmm...  Absolutely the right focus and absolutely necessary. Alain

April 2, 2021

Waymo Chief John Krafcik Resigns, Co-CEOs Tapped To Run Alphabet's Self-Driving Tech Giant A. Ohnsman, April 2, "John Krafcik, the auto industry veteran who's run Waymo for over five years, is stepping down as CEO of the Alphabet Inc. self-driving tech giant and is being replaced by two high-ranking company executives.

...Takedra Mawakana, Waymo's chief operating officer, and Dmitri Dolgov, its long-time CTO, are both being promoted to co-CEOs, the company said. Krafcik will continue to work with Waymo as an advisor.

"After 5 exhilarating years leading this team, I've decided to depart from my CEO role at Waymo & kick-off new adventures," he said on Twitter. "To start, I'm looking forward to a refresh period, reconnecting with old friends & family, and discovering new parts of the world."..."  Read more  

Hmmmm...  John, thank you for a fantastic 5 years and for keeping Waymo focused on bringing high-quality, affordable mobility to all.  Doing good for many isn't easy. Enjoy and thank you!! Alain March 26, 2021   Labor to DOT: Scrap Trump administration's automated vehicles plan J. Gallagher, March 24, "Two prominent labor unions want the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to reject the Trump administration's automated vehicle (AV) strategy for relying too much on the viewpoint from industry without enough attention paid to potential damage to worker safety and jobs.

The 38-page Automated Vehicles Comprehensive Plan (AVCP), one of the last documents released for public comment by DOT under Secretary Elaine Chao before she left the administration in January, laid out the previous administration's vision for integrating AVs – both cars and heavy trucks – into the U.S. transportation system.

The plan received 23 comments before the comment period closed on Tuesday, with trucking technology companies generally supporting the strategy and labor rejecting it.

"This document doubles down on the previous administration's irresponsible, hands-off approach to AV deployment and regulation and mostly boosts the agency's role as cheerleader and enabler rather than safety regulator," wrote John Samuelsen, international president of the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), which represents transit workers...." Read more 

Hmmmm...  One might suggest that TWU's position is enormously short sighted. Transit pre_Covid served 1% of the person-miles in the US. That is a niche of a niche.  During Covid, almost anyone who could affords a car and didn't have one, bought one. Transit ridership took an enormous hit. Even with enormous subsidy, Transit, especially bus transit, is hardly ever the "mode of choice" for anyone because its level-of-service is fundamentally poor. It serves relatively few locations, loosely connected by a route which delivers service only at infrequent fixed times. Essentially no other consumer commodity today operates with so little regard to its customer's real-time needs and desires.  Even network television has adapted to become demand-responsive as opposed to take-it-or-leave-it.

Conventional transit is labor intensive because it needs a chauffeur for each vehicle and that chauffeur deserves nice working conditions and a living wage. Unfortunately, the service that a chauffeur can deliver can't attract enough customers to make that service a going concern. However, an automated driver can arguably deliver demand-responsive service while having the total cost of its working conditions and level-of-effort be substantially less than a TWU driver.  This might let a Transit entity to actually develop a going concern that would serve 10x or more person-miles and create better paying and better working conditions for all TWU members.

More importantly, there is no downside for the TWU with these automated drivers.  If they aren't substantially better than a TWU driver, they won't be adopted by any Transit operator.  If they are, they'll so improve the level-of-service that ridership will boom and there will be better jobs for all TWU members and more.  There is no downside here. All of this is in the TWU's best interests. Alain March 19, 2021

Tesla's "Full Self Driving" Beta Is Just Laughably Bad and Potentially Dangerous M. Hogan, March 19, "A beta version of Tesla's "Full Self Driving" Autopilot update has begun rolling out to certain users. And man, if you thought "Full Self Driving" was even close to a reality, this video of the system in action will certainly relieve you of that notion. It is perhaps the best comprehensive video at illustrating just how morally dubious, technologically limited, and potentially dangerous Autopilot's "Full Self Driving" beta program is...." Read more 

Hmmmm...  The Videois MUST watch. This is what I would call a "Semi-SelfDriving Alpha" product in this Operational Design Domain (non-dense city/commercial suburban streets, during daylight, in clear weather with moderate temperature conditions).

Drivers have four (4) "responsibilities". 1. Feet/foot on/near the pedals, 2. Hand(s) on the wheel, 3. Eyes on the road, and 4. Butt in the driver's seat (and possibly 5.... Have reasonable cognitive brain functions). If the Operational Design Domain is a straight lane with a slight downgrade and nothing else around, my "55 Chevy" can "Self-drive" and even be "Driverless". I don't even have to be in it.  However, we must all agree, that we can't call my "55 Chevy" a "Driverless" car. We can't even call it a Self-driving because I'm going to need to have my butt is the driver's seat to do something when the ODD changes (the road turns , ...) and it is, at best, Semi-Self driving because my eyes will need to be on the road for me to realize that the "55 Chevy" is about to exit its ODD. It is going to need help from me to not crash.

So Elon's FSD is definitely Semi-SelfDriving because its ODD doesn't come close to including many of the situations that it found in its video journey above.  It is Alpha because any potential user can be expected to have little if any idea what is required to use this product without getting hurt. So,  please be very careful out there and don't stop paying attention to the road ahead!!! Alain

Saturday, March 13, 2021

General Motors Aims to Transform Auto Insurance Industry with OnStar Insurance

Press Release, March 11, "GM announced it will take its relentless focus on safety and delivering a world-class customer experience one step further with OnStar Insurance. ...  OnStar Insurance Services intends to leverage its unique understanding of the vehicles GM produces to offer..." Read more 

Hmmmm.... See Kornhauser's Automated Driving of Road Vehicles 101: Why, What, Where, When.  Also:

Given that:

1.  ">90%" crashes involve driver misbehavior;

2.  OEMs are including more SmartDriving technology in cars.  That technology comes in two part: a.  SafelyDriven technology which "works" essentially everywhere, all the time to avert crashes by mitigating driver misbehavior, see #1 above..

i. Examples: anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, automated emergency braking, blind spot warning, ...) ii. Liability/Insurance implications: the better these work the lower the expected liability, the lower the expected LOSS and the happier the company that insures their owners. 😁! iii. OnStar/GM Insurance Advantage: They know earlier and better how well these systems can be expected to work. They designed and tested the systems before they put them in the showroom and have "the data" to compute better expected liabilities by driver characteristics and thus be better able to craft and price an insurance product for each purchaser of a GM vehicle. Simply, they will be better able to "know when to hold 'em .. know when to fold 'em ... they can better know what's comin'".

b.  SelfDriving technology which works only some of the time and some of the places  (Don't worry, as soon as they work all of the time and all of the places it will be a very big deal and you'll know it, but don't hold your breath.)

Nor do any of them perform better than an average driver that is not misbehaving. Again, don't hold your breath. Consequently these systems are Comfort & Convenience features that, at best, should not degrade safety.  To not degrade safety, these systems must work properly when engaged by the driver and the driver must not engage them when and where these systems aren't going to work properly. (... Drivers must not misbehave in the use of these systems (... Use these systems outside their certified Operational Design Domain, ODD)).

i. Examples: Cruise Conroe (Feet-off , but required the driver to steer (Hands-on), be aware and alert (Eyes-on) and be seated in the driver's seat (Butt-in), and available only in a certain speed range, lane-grade range, doesn't respond to traffic signals, doesn't work if there is a stationary object in the lane ahead, ...); Automated lane keeping ({Feet-on, Hands-off, Eyes-on, Butt-in}, but only if proper lane markings exist); Automated parking ({Feet-off, Hands-off, Eyes-on, Butt-out} all starting from speed zero in an area that is recognized by the systems as a parking opportunity); StupidSummon ({Feet-off, Hands-off, Eyes-on, Butt-out}, but only available within the driver's own property), "Level3" ({Feet-off, Hands-off, Eyes-off, Butt-in}, but only on some certified in real time road segments.)

ii. Liability/Insurance implications: To date these systems have been sold on a "buyer beware" basis in that all liability implications of their use fell on the shoulders of the driver and their insurer. Consequently, misuse of these systems was the driver's/insurer's "problem". Unfortunately, misuse of these systems and the resulting degradation of safety can be expected to cause regulators to insist that future versions of these SelfDriving technologies must include monitoring systems that preclude them from being available, let alone be used, outside of their real-time Operational Design Domain(ODD) for which their functionality has been "certified by the OEM" to not degrade safety.  This "floor" for safety can be expected to be that experienced by an average non-misbehaving driver in similar driving situations.

This implies that if a crash happens during the use of one of these systems, it is 1. one of these "rare" events in which the driver was not misbehaving. The insurer is dragged in and may well be liable (This is what insurance is supposed to be all about), or 2. the system failed in its automated driving function.  The OEM is dragged in and may well be liable  from a product liability standpoint or 3. the driver was mis-behaving in the use of the system. This means that the system failed in precluding the system's use.  The OEM is dragged in and may well be liable from a product liability standpoint.

3. Implications on Insurer: Let: $Aij be the distribution of expected expenses of "being dragged in and possibly having to pay damages" if driver i of GM car with features j gets involved in a "Rare events" crash, or crashes, over the duration of the insurance policy.

(This expense distribution is largely a function of the kinds of driving driver i is going to do.  Its estimation is independent of any proprietary product information held by GM. OnStarInsurance is not advantaged.)

$Bij be the distribution of expected expenses of "being dragged in" if driver i of GM car with features j gets involved in a crash, or crashes, resulting from the failure of features j to avoid the crash when driver i was misbehaving.

(This expense distribution would arise from situations in which GM's SafelyDriven technology didn't perform perfectly. Given all of the testing that GM conducts on each of its technologies prior to their placement for sale in showroom, having access to those testing data allows OnStarInsurance to more accurately estimate this distribution.

OnStarInsurance is substantially advantaged.)

$Cij be the distribution of expected expenses of "being dragged in" if driver i of GM car with features j gets involved in a crash when the System was engaged  and the incident occurred outside the System's certified ODD.

(This expense distribution would arise from situations in which GM's automated Comfort&Convenience features either didn't perform as well as a well-behaving driver inside the feature's certified ODD, or driver i was able to mis-use the system by engaging it outside its ODD.  Again, given all of the testing that GM conducts on each of its technologies prior to their placement for sale in showrooms, having access to those testing data also allows one to more accurately estimate this distribution.

OnStarInsurance is substantially advantaged.)

In pricing insurance, the insurer must estimate the distribution of expected expenses associated with the crashes driver i can be expected to have in car with features j over the life of the policy and price that insurance product accordingly.

For an outside insurer, call them WB: the expenses expected to be incurred over the life of the policy to insure Driver i in the purchase of a GM car with features j = $WBij = {$Aij}wb + {$Bij}wb + {$Cij}wb

For GM: the expenses expected to be incurred over the life of the policy to insure Driver i in the purchase of a GM car with features j = $GMij = {$Bij}gm + {$Cij}gm (They get dragged in to all of the "non-rare" crashes because of product liability responsibility

For OnStar Insurance: the expenses expected to be incurred over the life of the policy to insure Driver i in the purchase of a GM car with features j = $OSij = {$Aij}os (Since GM is already dragged in, no need for OnStarInsurance to also be drawn in to defend themselves.).

Consequently, OnStar has a fundamental pricing advantage because $OSij << $WBij.  Plus OnStar/GM can better estimate the $Bij and $Cij distributions. Thus OnStar "knows when to hold 'em.." in the insurance pricing game.

Finally, it is very much in GM's interest to get its SafelyDriven technologies as perfect as possible so as to minimize {$Bij}gm on every vehicle GM sells and to forbid, as best as possible, the mis-use/availability of it SelfDriving Comfort&Convenience features outside their ODD to minimize {$Cij}gm on every vehicle GM sells.

The above is an extraordinarily strong financial incentive for GM to make its SafelyDriven and Comfort&Convenience automated driving technologies as good as possible and, if they are going to do that, GM might as well also be in the insurance business.  Alain

Automated Driving Technologies: Driving Change in Insurance

K. Pyle, March 5, "It is in the insurance industry's best interest to use automated driving technology to make things safer through crash avoidance, not just crash mitigation. Unlike crash mitigation, crash avoidance saves the insurance company money. This was Alain Kornhauserâ's premise for the Smart Driving Car Summit, Incentivizing Through Insurance. The trillion-dollar question is whether the incentives to automate will overcome the countervailing forces of existing business practices in other parts of the mobility industry?...." Read more 

Hmmmm.... We had another excellent Session. Thank you for the summary, Ken.  Alain

March 2021 Issue M. Sena, Feb 23, " ... There is no way to test a car virtually...

OEMs are still learning that that today's cars are not your father's Oldsmobile.

Vehicle connectivity is not something that is tacked onto a car, like a battery-operated portable TOMTOM or GARMIN (or CoPilot...Michael, How could you forget?...!)...navigation system....

Driving Neat: Can U.S. Take Its Cars Without ICE?..."  Read more 

Hmmmm... Plus much much more. Enjoy!!! Alain COMMENTARY: How the Biden Administration and Congress Can Pave the Path for Automated Vehicles M. Scribner, Feb. 11, "Automated vehicle technology is coming; it's advancing very quickly," said now-confirmed Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg during his confirmation hearing. “It is something that holds the potential to be transformative and I think in many ways policy has not kept up.”

Secretary Buttigieg is absolutely correct. The U.S. Department of Transportation, specifically the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration division, has a number of tools at its disposal that can be used to modernize the federal regulatory environment to help speed the deployment of automated vehicle technologies that can greatly enhance safety, mobility, and access for all Americans. There is also an important role for Congress, especially at this early stage of automated vehicle development.

To support reform efforts within the executive and legislative branches, my new Reason Foundation policy brief, Challenges and Opportunities for Federal Automated Vehicle Policy, lays out several steps policymakers can take to adapt the automotive regulatory apparatus to automated driving system technologies. The brief is broken into three main sections: defining automated vehicles, a survey of current federal automated vehicle policy development activities, and recommendations for federal policymakers.

The reform recommendations for legislators and regulators are categorized under four themes: ..." Read more 

Hmmmm... Read especially: "CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEDERAL AUTOMATED VEHICLE POLICY".  Included is an extensive discussion on the SAE Levels where Marc states: "...most legacy automakers and new automated driving developers are planning to avoid SAE Level 3 altogether.." and  "Given the wide diversity of road network operating conditions, achieving SAE Level 5 poses significant challenges...." That leaves just two very different classes of AVs ... Safely-driven AVs, encompasing SAE Levels 1 & 2, that assist and support human drivers while requiring that a human driver ensures that the vehicle will be driven safely... and Driverless AVs, SAE Level 4, where the responsibility that the vehicle will be driven safely is entirely borne by the driving technology. Those are the only two kinds.  Policy should focus on only those two and get those right. They are they only real opportunities for this technology ... one to help human drivers drive more safely and the other is to drive safely without any help or involvement by anyone riding long with the vehicle. Thus, the first order of business for Federal Policy is to simplify the process by concentrating on those two very diffent kinds of AVs and get those right.  Alain

Biden inherits big traffic safety mess

R. Mitchell, Feb. 4, "... "  Read more 

Hmmmm... If the driver/owner is expected to be prepared to intervene to maintain safety, then it is NOT full anything, period. Moreover, if the owner/driver is NOT prepared, nor permitted to intervene to maintain safety, then the fleet operator is required to accept the responsibility and "make whole" any and all liabilities arising from any  and all "at fault" crashes. Until Elon is willing to step up and take on that responsibility/liability or sell his cars exclusively to operating entities that assume that responsibility his Teslas are NOT full anything, period! Alain

Analyzing Ride-Share Potential and Empty Repositioning Requirements of a Nationwide aTaxi System G. Laniewki, Jan 26. ":..."  Read more 

Hmmmm... Very nice Nation-wide investigation by my students this past Fall. Alain

G.M. Will Sell Only Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2035

N. Boudette, Jan. 28, "The days of the internal combustion engine are numbered.

General Motors said Thursday that it would phase out petroleum-powered cars and trucks and sell only vehicles that have zero tailpipe emissions by 2035, a seismic shift by one of the world's largest automakers that makes billions of dollars today from gas-guzzling pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

.."  Read more

Hmmmm... Great! (maybe???): Good News: Zero emission vehicles; Bad News: From where cometh the marginal electricity that enables that Zero-Emission Vehicle to move and what carries that electricity to the point on the road where that electricity is used to power that Zero-Emission Vehicle? Until we have a "Zero Emission Battery" and all electricity is created using Zero Emission, GM cannot produce, nor sell, Zero Emission Vehicles that actually move (other than downhill a la Nikola). So please tout the whole story!!  (Will these EVs be less polluting than an ICE that GM could build and sell "by 2035"? is the real question.  The answer depends on where we will be with electricity production and distribution, the efficiency and makeup of batteries and the improvement of ICEs. (I didn't mean to imply that it was a simple question, but the NY Times should be more than click-bait.). Alain

January 29, 2021

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U Mich's Robert Hampshire joins Biden administration to work in transportation research and technology

J. Karoub, Jan. 21, "Robert Hampshire, associate professor at the University of Michiga's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy whose research and policy engagement focuses on understanding the societal, climate and equity implications of autonomous and connected vehicles and other innovative mobility services, has joined the Biden administration to work in the U.S. Transportation ..  Read more 

Hmmmm...  What a fantastic appointment. Congratulations Robert!  Alain

AUTOMATED VEHICLES: Comprehensive Plan E. Chao, Jan. 2021, "The Automated Vehicles Comprehensive Plan (Comprehensive Plan) describes how the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) is supporting the safe integration of Automated Driving Systems (ADS)2 into the surface transportation system. It explains Departmental goals related to ADS, identifies actions being taken to meet those goals, and provides real-world examples of how these Departmental actions relate to emerging ADS applications... "  Read more 

Hmmmm...  I guess this is a good plan.  Of course, Safety is #1, as it should be. DoT's #1 public responsibility is Safety. Whether Cyber Security and Privacy are # 2 and 3  and ahead of Enhanced Mobility and Accessibility is certainly debatable. And if the Enhanced Mobility and Accessibility of the "mobility disadvantaged that have been left behind by our current favored transport system"  were to be a category, then that one should be right behind Safety at #2 if not ahead of Safety and a solid #1. The rest. as they should, are appropriately details.  What is most disconcerting about the report are the images. To me, those images depict the current "haves", not "have-nots" and thus don't really address the mobility needs and desires of those whose quality-of-life could be most enhanced by automation technology. These images seem to focus the Plan on giving those that already have pretty good ways to get around, yet another way to get around, where, when you finally get right down to it, may at best be only slightly better than what they already have. This Comprehensive Plan should first be focused on providing high-quality affordable mobility to those whose quality-of-life could be most improved by such new technologies and subsequently serve those that already enjoy and can afford other high-quality forms of mobility.

Also, Elaine, thank you for a really good 4 years.  You (and USDoT) were really the star of what was otherwise a most embarrassing Presidency. Also, thanks to Diana Furchtgott-Roth and many others in US DoT.  Alain

January 08, 2021

Automatic braking is now on most new cars. But not GM or Fiat Chrysler vehicles C. Isidore, Dec 17, "Automatic braking, once a feature available exclusively to high-end cars, is becoming common across the industry, according to analysis from Consumer Reports and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

.. "  Read more 

Hmmmm... Set up for the 3rd session of the SDC Summit. Alain

December 11, 2020

Uber, After Years of Trying, Is Handing Off Its Self-Driving Car Project

December 04, 2020

Nikola Teaches GM a Lesson S. Wilmot, Nov 30, "Nikola Corp. NKLA 0.76% isn't turning out to be the next Tesla that investors and    were hoping for. ..."  Read more

Hmmmm... Lessons for many in this endeavor.  See alsoAndrew Hawkin's take as well as David Morris'. Alain

November 26,

The Vehicle Fuel Debate Has Been Hijacked

M. Sena, Nov. 19, "The lead article this month was inspired by a diagram I received showing how much of the energy that we generate to heat our homes, light up our rooms, make the concrete and steel to build our infrastructure and power our transportation is wasted. It's over two-thirds. Wasted! Half of it is from producing electricity.

..."  Read more

Hmmmm... What can I say?? Another great edition of the Dispatcher. Be sure to read all the way through including  "Musings of a Dispatcher: Cars are from Mars".  Enjoy and listen/watch the following Pod/Zoom-casts.  Alain

Waymo's Safety Methodologies and Safety Readiness Determinations N, Webb, Oct. 30, "As the world's most experienced developer of automated driving systems, Waymo has extensive experience in developing and applying state-of-the-art safety methodologies. Waymo's methodologies help implement Waymo's forward-looking safety philosophy: Waymo will reduce traffic injuries and fatalities by driving safely and responsibly, and will carefully manage risk as we scale our operations. Waymo's safety methodologies, which draw on well established engineering processes and address new safety challenges specific to Automated Vehicle technology, provide a firm foundation for safe deployment of our Level 4 ADS, which we also refer to as the Waymo Driver. Waymo's determination of its readiness to deploy its AVs safely in different settings rests on that firm foundation and on a thorough analysis of risks specific to a particular Operational Design Domain )...."  Read more 

Hmmmm...  The process.  Must read!  Alain

Waymo Public Road Safety Performance Data M. Schwall, Oct. 30, "Waymo's mission to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities and improve mobility for all has led us to expand deployment of automated vehicles (AVs) on public roads without a human driver behind the wheel.  As part of this process, Waymo is committed to providing the public with informative and relevant data regarding the demonstrated safety of Waymo's automated driving system (ADS), which we call the Waymo Driver...." Read more 

Hmmmm...  The substance.  Must read! ...

I had the priveledge of reviewing Waymo's most recent Safety Reports 1 , 2 (above)

In the past, safety reports by the AV community have largely been a response to NHTSA'¢s Voluntary Safety Self-Assessments and have, in my opinion, been largely public relations documents. While generally descriptive about the testing processes they contain very little, if any, substantive information about their safety related experience to-date focused exclusively on driverless operation.

Safe driverless operation is absolutely necessary for AVs to evolve from extremely expensive chauffeured rides to affordable mobility available to essentially anyone throughout an Operational Design Domain (ODD). Affordability requires that the mobility be delivered without a driver or attendant on-board the vehicle.  Only passengers.

The decision to remove the driver/attendant rests in part on the shoulders of public safety regulators who need to allow such operation, but more importantly, on the shoulders of the real decision makers at the AV company. In the end, it is those AV company decision makers who will be held fully responsible for any lapse in the safety of the driverless operation. These decision makers are inside the AV companies and are, of course, privy to all the details and substance about their own safety related driverless operation, which, in the past, has not been shared in their Voluntary Safety Self-assessments.

My impression is that these just released Waymo Safety Reports contain the substantive information that clearly depicts Waymo's safety-related driverless operational experience. To me, they read like internal documents meant to guide and inform internal decision makers to objectively decide if a sufficiently safe operational experience has been achieved in order to vote to fully accept the safety responsibility of driverless operation in their Operational Design Domain.

Given the information that is contained in these documents, it does not surprise me that Waymo decision makers have decided to proceed with driverless operation in the Phoenix Operational Design Domain. Had I had the responsibility of being one of the decision makers reviewing these documents, I would have also voted yes.

Alain

rgb(51, 51, October 09, 2020

Waymo starts to open driverless ride-hailing service to the public

K. Korosec, Oct. 8, "Waymo, the Google self-driving-project-turned-Alphabet unit, is beginning to open up its driverless ride-hailing service to the public.

..."  Read more  

Hmmmm...  "...fully Driverless...". That means that Krafcik, the Waymo "Board", Alphabet's Board and all the lawyers have signed off and said... We are safe enough to basically bet the ranch that the expected value of the mobility that we'll be putting out on the streets of our Operational Design Domain, which is under our control, is worth whatever expected risk still exists that some bad things may happen.  That is an enormous hurdle that has been achieved by an entity that has an enormous ranch.  CONGRATULATIONS!!! It hasn't come easy, nor has it come without intese diligence and effort. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Alain rgb(51, 51, October 09, 2020

ASSISTED DRIVING GRADINGS Staff, Oct. 2020  "On this page you will find the gradings of cars tested by Euro NCAP on automated driving technologies.

September 25, 2020

Proposal for a new UN Regulation on uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regards to Automated Lane Keeping System

rgb(51, 51, September 11, 2020  Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving Capability' Falls Short of Its Name

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, The Biggest Self-Driving Truck Startup Stumbles in Hitting High Goals rgb(51, 51, 255);">Thursday, Car OEMs Driving Toward Relevance or Perdition

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Thursday, Fostering Economic Opportunity through Autonomous Vehicle Technology rgb(51, 51, 255);">Thursday,

Announcing 2020-2021 Fellow-in-Residence Henry L. Greenidge, Esq. rgb(51, 51, 255);">Thursday,

Luminaries Battle In Lincoln-Douglas Style Debate About The Future Of Self-Driving Cars rgb(51, 51, 255);">Friday,

What Negative Oil Prices Mean and How the Impact Could Last rgb(51, 51, 255);">Friday,

Starsky Robotics Failed. Does That Mean Automated Trucking Is Dead?

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Friday, January 31, 2020

2020 Hyundai Sonata stars in Super Bowl ad all about 'Smaht Pahk'

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Sunday, January 12,

Hmmmm... Reflections

A. Kornhauser, Jan 12,    

Hmmmm...   Self-driving cars are hot and the OEMs are responding. I'm about to buy a new Subaru Outback and EyeSightis standard.  It is no longer just AutoPilot or expensive options that car salesmen don't sell. Car companies, as reflected in what is in showrooms and what was promoted at CES, have realized the comfort and convenience of Self-driving technology (cars that have a lot of the Safe-driving car features but also enable you to take your feet off the pedals and hands off the wheel at least for short periods of time. These technologies are really becoming the 'chrome and fins' that sell cars to individuals in the 2020s. The momentum is all behind that happening and there is little Washington or Trenton or Princeton Council can do about it. Hopefully part of that momentum will be to make these systems actually work well, especially the Automated Emergency Braking Systems (MUST quit assuming that all stationary objects in the lane ahead can be passed under and consequently each is disregarded. As Tesla is finding out, sometimes those objects are parked firetrucks.) and begin to put hard limits on over-speeding, tailgating and use while driver is impaired. Self-driving cars are unfortunately going to lead to substantial urban sprawl, increased VMT, increased congestion and do nothing to help the energy and pollution challenges of our addiction to the personal automobile. Only 'Waymo-style Driverless' (autonomousTaxis, (aTaxis)) tuned to entice ride-sharing can potentially stem the tide of ever more personal car ownership and ever expanding urban sprawl. Alain

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Monday, January 6, 2020

A. Kornhauser, Jan. 6,    

Hmmmm...   I'm in rehab and hope to go home on Wednesday morning. Thank you to so many of you for all the good wishes and prayers.  They each helped. I'm looking to making a full recovery. Remember, if you don't feel well, get evaluated by a doctor.  I was totally clueless about what hit me from out of nowhere. Alain

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, November 23, 2019 Self-driving car capital? One senator thinks it can be Florida rgb(51, 51, 255);">

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Saturday, September 28, 2019 Public forum will explore possibility of transit on demand in Princeton

rgb(51, 51, 255);">Thursday, November 22,

Market Framework and Outlook for Automated Vehicle Systems

October 24,

New Jersey Pending Legislation re: Autonomous Vehicles

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

Oct 16, EstablishesNew Jersey Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Task Force AJR164Sponsors: 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

Testimony of Alain Kornhauser, Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

Audio Recording of Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology - Monday, October 22, 2018 - 10:00:00 AM

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

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 of SmartDrivingCar, 10,  2018   Don't Worry, Driverless Cars Are Learning From Grand Theft Auto

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 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

Alain L. Kornhauser, PhD

Professor, Operations Research & Financial Engineering

Director, Transportation Program

Faculty Chair, Princeton Autonomous Vehicle Engineering

229 Sherrerd Hall

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

609-258-4657 (o)

609-980-1427 (c)

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