Cruise is bringing its robotaxis to Seattle and Washington, DC

Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, said Monday it has begun manual data collection in Seattle and Washington, DC, the first step toward launching commercial services in the cities. Data collection involves manually driving a robotaxi around to grab information on the local driving environment and climate. The next step will be mapping the… Continue reading Cruise is bringing its robotaxis to Seattle and Washington, DC

Uber Eats is reportedly developing an AI chatbot that will offer recommendations, speed up ordering

Uber Eats is developing an AI-powered chatbot that will offer recommendations to users and offer them a quicker way to place orders, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report says developer Steve Moser discovered details about the chatbot inside of code hidden within the Uber Eats app. The chatbot will ask users about… Continue reading Uber Eats is reportedly developing an AI chatbot that will offer recommendations, speed up ordering

Uber, squeezed by insurance, increases minimum age for new drivers in California

Uber has raised the minimum age requirement for new rides-hailing drivers in California to 25 years old due to what it described as “baselessly higher” commercial insurance costs in the state. The new policy will only apply to new drivers planning to use the rideshare platform. Those who plan to use the app to make… Continue reading Uber, squeezed by insurance, increases minimum age for new drivers in California

Vinfast takes a wild ride, a robotaxi fallout brews and the IRA one year later

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.  Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.… Continue reading Vinfast takes a wild ride, a robotaxi fallout brews and the IRA one year later

Cruise told by regulators to ‘immediately’ reduce robotaxi fleet 50% following crash

Cruise, the self-driving car subsidiary of GM, has been asked to reduce its robotaxi fleet by 50% in San Francisco following a crash Thursday night with a fire truck. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state, requested the reduction in operations. The… Continue reading Cruise told by regulators to ‘immediately’ reduce robotaxi fleet 50% following crash

Cruise and Waymo see a surge in robotaxi app downloads

Consumer interest in Cruise and Waymo’s competing robotaxi services surged following a vote last week by the California Public Utilities Commission that allowed the two companies to expand and charge for their driverless car operations in San Francisco. Estimates from app intelligence provider data.ai showed 15,400 downloads of the Waymo One app in the five days… Continue reading Cruise and Waymo see a surge in robotaxi app downloads

San Francisco presses CPUC to halt Waymo, Cruise robotaxi expansions

California regulators gave Waymo and Cruise the OK last week to scale up their robotaxi services in San Francisco, but now it seems the city itself won’t have it. On Wednesday, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed motions with the California Public Utilities Commission to pause the firms’ plans to charge for robotaxi rides… Continue reading San Francisco presses CPUC to halt Waymo, Cruise robotaxi expansions

Altos challenges lidar’s dominance in autonomous driving with 4D image radar

As lidar technology becomes the industry standard in powering autonomous vehicles, a young startup called Altos Radar is stepping up to challenge the light-based remote sensing technology with 4D millimeter wave radar. Based in California and founded in January, Altos Radar recently raised its first round of funding of $3.5 million from ZhenFund, Monad Ventures,… Continue reading Altos challenges lidar’s dominance in autonomous driving with 4D image radar

Cruise and Waymo score a win and a surprising deal between electric aircraft rivals

Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. All eyes were on San Francisco this week as critics and supporters of deploying self-driving cars on public roads awaited a vote from the California Public Utilities Commission. Tl;dr:… Continue reading Cruise and Waymo score a win and a surprising deal between electric aircraft rivals

Cruise and Waymo win robotaxi expansions in San Francisco

In a win for the autonomous vehicle industry, California regulators have given the green light to Cruise and Waymo to offer commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The commission voted 3-1 in support of the expansions; Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma cast the sole “no” vote. The California Public… Continue reading Cruise and Waymo win robotaxi expansions in San Francisco