Along for the Ride #211

A belated bop-filled newsletter

Heya friends, happy Monday!

I am writing to you from the other side of my trip to London.. and the other side of my bout with Covid (hence no newsletter this past Friday). More London highlights to follow in Bits and Bobs below, but first an immense THANK YOU to everybody who came out to mobility happy hour. It was so great to see old friends and make new ones 💖. Special shout-out to Ross who asked my mom how she knew me, that was amazing 🤣.

Alright, time for a slightly longer version of the newsletter. I wrote this newsletter listening to Troye Sivan (shout-out to Glenn), so maybe you want to listen along too? I can’t be held responsible if the bop is stuck in your head later.

Disability advocates argue AVs aren’t the solution

This article talks about how AV companies pitch accessibility as one of their core impact areas, and yet we’ve seen diddly-squat from most companies. Neither Cruise or Waymo have deployed a wheelchair-accessible vehicle, and there is no timeline for such a deployment. 

“We are accustomed to placing our hopes and dreams in new technologies that remove barriers and increase inclusion. We want this access.. But we need to remember these companies are ultimately answering to the interests of investors. If our needs are inconvenient or costly, we see how quickly they can be ignored.”

AVs are putting a strain on local governments

The NYTs describe how companies trying to introduce AVs are adding to the workload of city governments. City governments now need expertise internally to (a) understand the technology, (b) respond to an influx of attention from private companies searching for permits to operate, (c) introduce regulations and policies for AVs, and (d) ensure these companies are operating in compliance with said regulations and policies. It’s a doozy and it’s not something many cities are set up for today, giving our private sector counterparts a significant upper hand.

UK government dedicates funding for AVs

The UK’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) has dedicated £150m “to support the connected and autonomous mobility industry to expand into sectors such as agriculture and defence.”  [🤮 my face thinking about AVs and defence, despite that being the origin of the entire industry.]

As I looked for a link related to defence being the beginning of this whole *waves hands* mess, I found this factsheet from the University of Michigan that is great.  If you’re new here and looking for a tl;dr on autonomous vehicles, this is a great place to start.

UK looks to introduce new AV Bill

We discussed this bill a few editions ago, but MPs have formally responded to the draft stating that the ‘safety ambition’ (for the technology to replicate a human driver), is still “too weak”. 

“The ‘safety ambition’: The Government rejects the Committee’s recommendation that it should set out a clearer threshold and definition for its ‘safety ambition’, that it believes SDVs will be “expected to achieve an equivalent level of safety to that of a competent and careful human driver”. The Committee’s report called this “too weak and too vague”.”

The City of Austin has built a dashboard to track AV incidents

Filed under: sad but cool. Cities making dashboards reporting where incidents happen and categorizing them vs. investing in infrastructure that would minimize all collisions melts my brain a little bit, but here we are. Austin’s dashboard has a colour-coded map and corresponding spreadhseet that breaks down the location of an incident, what type of incident it is (safety, blocking traffic, collision, near miss, nuisance, and my favourite, ignoring Austin Police Department direction), and finally who filed the report (residents, fire department, police, public works, and emergency services).

Cruise-ifixion

(Please applaud me for this pun, I am very proud of it lol). In the last two weeks, Cruise’s founder and CEO Kyle Vogt stepped down and GM announced they plan to significantly cut funding for the subsidiary, in the scale of “hundreds of millions of dollars” (NYT). Financial reports show GM has lost some $8.2 billion on Cruise since 2017, and that they have spent $1.9 billion on Cruise so far this year. (Yes, I am imagining how many protected bike lanes could be built with that).

The move will see Cruise focus its energies on one city in 2024 (not yet public). But don’t worry the company is still testing in Dubai and Japan because obviously safety incidents in the US do not exist beyond the borders (Reuters).

Tesla may face challenges selling their vehicles in the UK

After the UK announced that vehicles can not be branded as “self-driving” or “driverless” unless their systems are approved under legislative changes to be introduced next year. I’m sure they’ll find a way to weasel around it, as they always do, but I don’t mind an extra hoop in their way.

Tesla’s latest lawsuit

A Florida judge ruled that Tesla and its executives knew about Autopilot defects (shocking) and continued to allow the system to operate (shocking). The ruling gives the go-ahead to a trial seeking punitive damages for intentional misconduct and negligence at Tesla. The lawsuit stems from a 2019 crash in Florida, where a Tesla Model 3 drove under a trailer, resulting in the driver's death. 

Overcoming urban car dependencies

“Recent developments in automobility are contradictory, disorienting and hard to make sense of. On the one hand, car ownership continues to increase in most societies. National transport policy operates as industrial policy, targeting improved vehicle propulsion rather than better transport systems. The automotive sector is using electrification to turbocharge “autobesity” – the shift to ever heavier, larger and more powerful SUVs – instead of focusing on lightweight, compact and efficient electric vehicles, while motorists today are even more likely to drive alone than in the past.”

Car emissions could have fallen by 30% without SUVs

“A report by the Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI) showed SUVs now represented a majority of the new car market (51%), and the average Light Duty Vehicle (LDV) weight had reached an all-time high of more than 1.5 tonnes. Emissions from the motor sector could have fallen by more than 30% between 2010 and 2022 if vehicles had stayed the same size, a report has found.”

Where do you park your bike?

Shout out to Matt for the share about a new report on secure cycle parking.

“Our report exposes a growing demand for secure cycle storage across London that far exceeds supply, with rollout varying a lot depending on where people live. Only seven boroughs in London will meet current demand by 2026 and waiting lists will remain more than double the planned rollout in many areas. We take time to shine a spotlight on the London borough of Lambeth, where a lot of action is being taken to help residents access secure cycle storage.”

momma barnes at pophams, sweet habibi al, brutalist dreamscapes, my mom in her cathedral era, doughnut deliveries, coco hugs

• London highlights: walking across North and East London with my mom (hit 34k steps one day and I’m not sure my knees will ever forgive me), many a mulled wine with friends, the Marina Abrovich retrospective at the Royal Academy of Arts (hot tip: her memoir walking through walls is a must for any art history nuts), and sunday afternoon gozleme with friends.

• A short list of sweet things friends brought me whilst isolating (in chronological order): doughnuts, coco the dog, schmear for my bagels, rice krispie treats, passata and parmesan, cheese puffs, and more bagels. Thank you to all my sweet friends, you know who you are 🤍 (psa: get yourself some bagel-loving friends, true MVPs)

• Various medias I consumed this week while horizontal on the couch: the gilded age (essentially a show without a plot, perfect for covid), lessons in chemistry (one of my favourite books I read last year, now on apple tv), the entire twilight saga (would not recommend unless you are VERY ill), Past Lives (sweet and nostalgic), Amelie (makes me want to move to Paris, who’s coming?), the Wolf of Wall Street (depressing), and Stardust (cute and whimsical).

• We’re all aligned Murakami is sexist after last week’s poll (lol), so putting that down for the time being 🤣.

• I think you should all know that according to Spotify the Bare Naked Ladies’ (Canadian Legends that they are) 1998 hit One Week was my fourth most-played song this year 🤣. Likely because my friend Tookie and I tried to learn all of the words... but also because it’s a certified bop.

That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.

Sarah

Last but not least, somebody recently responded to my email and I saw this text at the end of my newsletter (image below). I just want you—beloved readers—to know that I have no plans to monetize this platform. I am somewhat disgruntled that Substack has added this to the end of my emails without my permission, so if you see this.. just know I’m not looking for your pledges (and you’ll be the first to know if that ever changes). You can always show you enjoy my posts by sending likes or responding to this email with funny gifs (my preferred love language).

Please picture me eye rolling and hyper annoyed that this is tacked on to *every email* jfdjfkdjshlsjdhlsk.