Heya friends, happy Friday!
This is my ~birthday~ edition (not today, later in the weekend). Those of you who know me well are probably gobsmacked that I am mentioning this in my newsletter (Iām typically a very moody Scorpio about the whole thing). However, Iām using this as an opportunity to ask you for three favours:
Like this post! It always warms my heart when people send a lil ā¤ļø reaction
Share this newsletter with a transportation-loving friend / lover / enemy! Itās always so cool to see the reach of this little newsletter (that I do almost no actual promotion forā¦ lol) grow. I joke that with every new subscriber a bike lane gets its wings, so this is your opportunity to be a part of that magic.
Make a donation! If you feel so inclined, I am always fundraising for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition where I sit on the Board. Please consider donating if you find this newsletter even remotely useful (and if youāre not in SF, there is likely an active transportation activism group in your neck of the woods that would love your support)!
Mobility Happy Hour! Iām excited to announce that my friend Ali Griswold from Oversharing and I are organizing a mobility happy hour in London on November 23rd! The location is TBD, but likely a pub somewhere central-ish. Shoot me an email if youād like to join us (simply āreplyā to this email)!
OK, time for ze news.
Read of the week
Cruiseās hasty rise and fall
The New York Times has a rather explosive piece about Cruise this week, depicting how the company embodies Silicon Valleyās most cringe-worthy slogan: move fast and break things. I for one think it is far more serious than that, it seems that yes, Cruise moves fast, but instead of breaking things, they are risking human life.
Perhaps the most shocking part of this expose is that workers regularly intervened every 2.5-5 miles (!) of travel. This means that workers frequently had to do something to remotely control a car after receiving a cellular signal that it was having problems. G.M. is currently spending an average of $588 million a quarter on Cruise, approx $9.3M per business day. As a reminder, one mile of protected bike lanes costs an average of ~$450k (can be less or more depending on a wide-range of contextual elements), and let me tell you, they accomplish all of Cruiseās big bets: improved safety, reduced congestion, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
The UK plans to introduce AVs in 2026
The UK committing to AVs is a bit of an odd move given all of the current hoopolla, but thatās the British for you. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the UK will hold automakers responsible in collisions involving AVs, which seems like the appropriate lever to ensure automakers are taking safety seriously when developing their technology. āThe legislation will enshrine a new kind of road user, set out how liability for accidents [sic] is apportioned when there isnāt a person at the wheel, and give powers to issue fines.ā
Los Angeles calls for more regulations for AVs
I think itās a sign of the times that Los Angeles, known around the world for its affinity to the motor vehicle, wants stricter regulations for AVs (and rightfully so!). A council member for the City of LA introduced a motion instructing city staff to compile a report to outline state mandates that prevent the city from regulating autonomous vehicles, and to find ways to leverage data collected by AV companies.Ā
Mayor Bass also wrote an open letter to CPUC asking for regulatory power over their jurisdiction when it comes to AVs (via the LA Times). āTo date, local jurisdictions like Los Angeles have had little to no input in AV (autonomous vehicle) deployment and are already seeing significant harm and disruption.ā
Cruiseās continued dramaā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦.
This newsletter would be 4,383,947 words long this week if I shared every single article about Cruise as individual blurbs, so weāre using a bullet point list for brevity:
Cruise is recalling its entire operational fleet, nearly 1,000 vehicles (WashPo)
They are also halting plans to bring their Origin vehicle into production, which honestly blows since it was the vehicle that was designed for shared commutes (Smart Cities Dive)
Cruise knew their vehicles had difficulty recognizing children, and they still kept their fleets operational (Intercept)
Cruise has started laying off workers, being with contract staff, many of whom may not receive unemployment and were likely the farthest from the recent chaos. More layoffs are expected in the coming weeks (TechCrunch)
Toyota and Pony.ai announce a new AV
The Japanese automaker and the autonomous vehicle start-up revealed their new AV during the China International Import Expo (CIIE) trade show in Shanghai. The AV is built on Toyotaās electric bZ4X and fitted with Pony.aiās seventh-generation Autonomous Driving Kit (ADK). It will be deployed as part of Pony.aiās taxi network.
The more you know:
Funding for AVs is drying up (Crunchbase)
But not for May Mobility who just raised a $105M Series D (May Mobility)
The United Auto Workers (UAW) end their strike with Detroitās big three (Axios)
AV companies need to brace for roadblocks
āWeāre a long way, it seems, from the days of cheering on the āmove fast and break thingsā vibe and the veneration of the urban-disruption model that made the likes of Airbnb and Uber into multibillion-dollar enterprises. That doesnāt mean Cruise canāt get back into the AV raceāand ultimately, it seems inevitable that AVs will be a thingābut the brand will now have to overcome an association, however unfair, with glitches and accidents. It will be a long road back to establishing a reputation thatās convincingly rooted in safety, andātempting as they may beāthere are no good shortcuts.ā
Friends over at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) are now actively recruiting for their Incubation cohort 8! These programs offer incubation services for cleantech startups that are ready to scale. There are some great people behind these programs, so if youāre a founder in Southern California apply by December 20 (and let me know if you want an intro!).
I read an article this week about why scientists are expanding their definitions of loneliness. My undergraduate thesis researched geographies of loneliness in cities and in particular high-density dwelling units (commonly referred to as apartment buildings, lol). If you too are nerdy about loneliness, give āer a read.
My friend Niklas shared this opinion piece about why violence against Palestinian people will never make Jewish people safe, and Iāve been thinking about it for a couple days now. I think about how heartbroken I am for the 10,000 civilians murdered in Gaza, the Israeli hostages that have not returned to their families, and how violence only begets more violence. Itās hard to process everything going on, so I am however youāre processing you have people in your corner you can lean on.
Newsletters you should subscribe to: Iāve really been enjoying Yassmin Abdel-Magiedās newsletter, Good Chat. Yassmin is an author and friend-of-a-friend who has written extensively about social justice, and her newsletter is whip-smart, soothing, and contemplative. 20/10 recommend her edition about trying times on friendships, discussing how we connect with the people weāre closest with when we find ourselves disagreeing on complex issues.
I am currently watching Beckhams on Netflix, and let me tell you: it is cotton candy for the brain.
Thatās all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
Happy birthday!