Along for the Ride #194
Celebrating congestion pricing in NYC 😍
Heya friends, happy Friday!
I am in (slightly less sunny, but still very warm) London before I head off to Amsterdam and Sardinia for the better part of July. Excited to spend the month doing what I do best: riding bikes and eating gelato. As a head’s up, there will be no newsletter next week to give my brain a much needed writing break (iykyk lol).
Alright, let’s dive in:
Despairing 100 years of urban sprawl
This article discusses urban sprawl in America, which is celebrating it’s 100th birthday this year (groan). But it also gives a very in-depth review of urban sprawl: what it is, it’s history in America, and why we continue to invest in it despite it’s numerous consequences (capitalism! car culture!). It pulls in experience from the Bay Area and Portland, and debates if Utah can start to fend off urban sprawl too.
Congestion pricing comes to NYC!
New York City’s congestion plan has cleared it’s final hurdle: federal approval! The program (which could start as early as next year!), would charge drivers to enter Midtown Manhattan, with the revenues going to improve mass transit. It is expected to generate $1 billion annually. Yes, that is Billion with a B. But don’t worry, the car drivers are still bemoaning the policy change.
SF manages to delay AV vote on expansion area
Filed under: the drama. A contentious vote on expanding AV operations across San Francisco with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has been delayed until July. The deadline gives Waymo and Cruise more time to lobby various public agencies for their support, and hopefully get their shit together when it comes to actual operations. In the meantime, activists have been protesting the vote asking the CPUC to reject the expansion (Counter Currents).
And within my own little circle of transport-loving friends in SF, it’s been fascinating to see how easily the public can disarm / disrupt AV operations. The latest trend? Surrounding an AV with pylon cones / popping them on the car’s hood when stopped. A human driver would fix this by getting them out of the car and removing them. An AV has no such power. It has to learn to override cones, which I think we all know is a bad idea. I’ll see if can share images in later editions, but for now, know that a small amount of shenanigans can (somewhat hilariously) send one of the most advanced machines built in modern existence into a bit of tizzy.
Zoox’s AV shuttles take Vegas by storm
It’s a bit odd, but whenever I see a private company (owned by Amazon, no less), still investing in shared, electric, and autonomous shuttles I’m like “oh well that’s a spot of good-ish news!”. Zoox began testing their AVs in Vegas this month. “The company said that the driverless cars [sic] have been driving employees on a one-mile loop, at speeds up to 35 miles-per-hour, around the Zoox offices in the Southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley, according to a Zoox spokesperson.”
What’s stopping AVs from reaching the streets?
Beyond the small hiccups of killing dogs, delaying emergency vehicles, and an almost constant stream of congestion and crash reports, AVs have other barriers to their mass entry into society. Data management and security, all those pesky government regulations, and ya know making sure the cars are actually safer than human drivers are three additional issues that FastCo addresses in this piece. It’s funny to me that the aforementioned hiccups were not addressed, as if we’ve spent too much time focused on the actual operations of the vehicles. Oh well, then.
AV Hiccup of the Week: Two (separate) Waymos stalled on Sunday, confused by San Francisco’s pride parade (ABC7). That doesn’t sound like allyship to me.
Tesla’s FSD does something bad (again)
At this point is it even news? I really don’t know. This week a Tesla in FSD appeared to want to kill somebody. But don’t worry because Elon confirmed that the 12th version of FSD will no longer be in Beta mode (Jalopnik).
The impact of e-bike ownership on travel patterns in Northern California
“The analysis reveals changes in travel behavior and the replacement of car travel, as well as variation in outcomes by program design. E-bike recipients reported more regular bike use after getting their e-bike, although their frequency of bicycle use declined over time. We estimated a monthly reduction of 12–44 kg of CO2 per rebate participant, similar to the GHG emissions reductions observed in past studies. The program with the larger rebate and stronger low-income requirements successfully reached those most in need of financial assistance (as self-reported). However, those requirements did not reach a diverse recipient pool by other metrics (e.g., gender, race).”
Always exciting to share research and other contributions from friends and subscribers, and I’m excited to share The 82 Alliance’s workplace journey survey.
“In the first national survey of employer policies on commuting and transportation, The 82 Alliance and Actionfigure found that over half of employers are not meaningfully engaged with employee commutes. This is noteworthy as many employers are experimenting with “return to office” mandates, but commuting is a top reason many people reject a return to the workplace.. However, 67% of people surveyed were aware of transit within a five-minute walk of their workplace, showing a gap between transportation choices and employer engagement about those choices.”
The death cult of the American car
I read the title of this article and thought “mhmm”.
“That’s what I call car supremacy in this country. Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are maimed and slaughtered at rates that would count as a hair-on-fire emergency in any other rich country. Yet instead of doing anything about that, the government, half paralyzed by bureaucratic inertia and half comically in bed with the various vehicle industries, twiddles its thumbs.” ooof.
AVs are here. What do we do with them?
“After years of false promises, it’s now widely acknowledged that the dream of owning your very own sleep/gaming/makeup mobility pod remains years, if not decades, away. Tesla’s misleadingly named Autopilot system, the closest thing to autonomous driving in a mass-market car, is under investigation by both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Justice Department.”
Some London highlights 🥰
I’ve had the pleasure of visiting with numerous friends and newsletter subscribers since landing across the pond (with more to come!). Shout-out to Al, Bridget, Rosie, Maca, Rachel, Matt, and Ali for the wonderful meals / croissants / wine.
Since I’ve been back, I’ve been taking advantage of spending hot summer afternoons at the pond and am continuously reminded by how wonderful swimming in natural-ish bodies of water is.
That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
