Cruise crashes, Waymo soars
(5min read) The robotaxi dream dies at GM.
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The robotaxi dream is very much still alive, but it’s dead for GM. The auto giant pulls the plug on Cruise, its $10 billion AV project, and plans to refocus on autonomous bells and whistles for personal vehicles. But in good news for AV optimists, Waymo is now as popular as Lyft in San Francisco. Tesla might not deliver its own promised robotaxi anytime soon, but its CEO may have convinced the next president to get rid of a pesky crash-reporting rule that has caused him trouble in the past.
Meanwhile, New York City considers a higher minimum wage for delivery workers as well as erecting a costly bureaucratic burden for e-bike owners. Also, a warning from a retiring state transportation head on the folly of endless highway expansion and a troubling study on the damage to life and limb done by the auto industry’s “bigger is better” mentality.
What you need to know
Cruise goes kaput: GM announces that it is abandoning its years-long effort to develop a commercial robotaxi service. It will absorb its existing AV subsidiary, Cruise, and focus on “the incremental delivery of autonomous capabilities” in personal vehicles. This comes after spending roughly $10 billion on Cruise since acquiring it nearly nine years ago. Cruise was briefly operating robotaxis in California before losing its permit in the wake of a controversial accident that prompted the company to pause autonomous operations nationally.
Ironically, GM is surrendering on robotaxis after putting so much money and effort into them, while Tesla has yet to demonstrate any capability autonomous ride-hailing but insists that it is the key to future profits.
Zoox says Tesla isn’t ready: The co-founder of Zoox, Amazon’s AV unit, says that Tesla will not make good on Elon Musk’s pledge to launch a robotaxi service next year. The “fundamental issue is they don’t have technology that works,” says Jesse Levinson.
Trump wants to get rid of crash reporting rule: The incoming Trump administration is taking aim at a rule requiring automakers to report crashes involving autonomous driving systems. It happens to be a rule that has proven to be a headache for the incoming president’s most influential supporter, Elon Musk.
Waymo neck-and-neck with Lyft in SF: Alphabet’s robotaxi company now accounts for 22% of ride-hail fares in San Francisco, the same as Lyft. Uber is still far ahead of the pack at 55% for now …
Moving Fast & (Un)breaking Things with Ya-Ting Liu
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Ya-Ting Liu, the new Chief Public Realm Officer for New York City. They talk about how urban leaders can thoughtfully deploy pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, tackle entrenched bureaucracies, and expand economic opportunity through vibrant, joyful urban design.
New York debates minimum wage for delivery workers: City Council members in New York City are considering legislation that would extend a recently-enacted minimum wage for ride-hail drivers to delivery app workers. An advocacy group backed by delivery apps argues that doing so will raise food prices for those who can afford it the least. Supporters of the bill aren’t buying it, pointing out that those who are struggling to buy groceries are probably not using Instacart.
…and mandatory registration for e-bikes: Another City Council bill proposes requiring registration and license plates for e-bikes. The sponsor of the bill, Queens Councilman Robert Holden, says the measure aims to hold bikers accountable for unsafe riding and thereby make the city safer. Cycling advocates, however, see it as a needless bureaucratic and financial obstacle to bike-riding that will disproportionately burden those who are short on time and money.
The perils of expansion over maintenance: The outgoing head of the Washington State Department of Transportation warns that the state’s current infrastructure spending is unsustainable. A third of the system’s funds are going to expansion, while only 11% is allocated to maintenance. Critics of America’s car-centric growth model have long warned that transportation planners have underestimated the cost of maintaining the roads and bridges that paved the way for suburban and exurban growth.
…but in better news for Washington, it’s the friendliest state for bikes: The League of American Bicyclists ranks all 50 states on bike-friendliness. Washington is first and Mississippi is last. The rankings looked at a variety of criteria, including crashes, laws, bike infrastructure and spending on bike programs.
Big trucks, big injuries: An analysis of over 200 vehicle crashes with pedestrians by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reveals a strong link between the height of a vehicle’s front end and the likelihood of serious injury or death. Traveling at 27 mph, a car with a medium-height front end had a 60% chance of causing “moderate” injuries to a pedestrian and a 30% chance of causing “serious” injuries. But a medium-height pickup truck traveling at that speed had an 83% chance of causing moderate injuries and a 60% chance of causing serious harm. Suffice it to say, nobody with any power in America is going to talk about regulating truck size. Trucks are nearly as untouchable as guns.
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What we’re reading
It’s time to remove some highways: Even supposedly forward-thinking transportation agencies remain addicted to highways. Joe Harrington, of Minnesota-based nonprofit Our Streets, writes about the circular reasoning his state is employing to pour more money into unnecessary highway expansions.
Some good news on climate: The BBC rounds up seven encouraging developments on climate from the past year, including the end of coal in the UK, a big global surge in green power, and a decline in deforestation in the Amazon.
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