@jtretakoff #RoboTaxis #AV

Aren't there cameras inside robotaxis?

Should make for some great footage on YT, IM or TT. LOL!!! 😎

"Cruise and Waymo spent more than $2.3 million (!) influencing State and San Francisco lawmakers since 2021, according to dozens of lobbyist reports." (source: Along for the Ride newsletter by Sarah Barnes)

Not surprising but very tough to match that type of corporate influence.

#AVs
#robotaxis
#lesscars
#waroncars

$2 million dollars in #lobbying backed up the recent #CPUC decision to let self driving cars operate as #robotaxis on the streets of San Francisco. https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/23/cruise-waymo-spent-millions-to-lobby-for-free-rein-on-san-francisco-streets/

“if cell phone coverage goes out, [#Cruise] can’t communicate with their [#robotaxis]… If you have an earthquake… like bricks on your street… at the precise moment you need them” https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/san-francisco-s-self-driving-car-wars-intensify-18293922.php

After the SF Fire Department logged 55 incidents of driverless cars messing with fire services, the CPUC said oky-dokey to unfettered use on city streets as #robotaxis. Does it feel like we are not taking #climatechange seriously? https://missionlocal.org/2023/08/cruise-waymo-given-green-light-for-robo-taxis-across-san-francisco/

These robotaxis have been everywhere in SF lately. I’m interested in how it will affect pricing of Uber and Lyft rides. And will the rideshare companies try to license this technology to get in on it since they both don't have their own autonomous vehicle programs anymore. Uber ended their program in 2020 and Lyft did the same a year later. #robotaxis #autonomousvehicles #waymo #cruise

https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/110871637234342640

"Eine dezentrale Gruppe von Aktivisten für sichere Straßen in San Francisco hat erkannt, dass sie die Robotaxis von Cruise und Waymo deaktivieren können, indem sie einen Verkehrskegel auf der Motorhaube eines Fahrzeugs anbringen, und sie ermutigen andere, dies ebenfalls zu tun."

https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/06/robotaxi-haters-in-san-francisco-are-disabling-waymo-cruise-traffic-cones/?guccounter=1

#Robotaxis

‘he has received letters from former employees of the companies saying that autonomous #robotaxis are, as the fire chief said, “not ready for prime time”’ https://www.marketwatch.com/story/driverless-cars-are-driving-san-francisco-crazy-they-are-not-ready-for-prime-time-1264cd87

From Chron

OPINION: For all their radical potential, autonomous vehicles represent something far more commonplace: tech companies’ increasing control over – and insight into – our lives, writes Emily Hoeven.

#AV #Robotaxis

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/self-driving-cars-waymo-18148292.php