Heya friends, happy Friday!
Sorry to have missed last week’s edition, life is a wee bit hectic at the moment, so sometimes a missing newsletter is how the cookie crumbles. As I have two weeks worth of content this week, we are going Bullet Point™️ mode.
On y va!
“Resort World Sentosa” in Signapore launched an autonomous shuttle service using a WeRide shuttle van. The shuttle route spans 1.2 kilometers with four stops along the way, taking approximately 12 minutes to complete. (Morning Star)
The impact of traffic noise pollution on children’s brains — note: this article is sad vibes (BBC)
The Beijing government has released updated draft legislation for autonomous vehicles, promising support for AVs and greater use of collected user and mapping data. (SCMP)
A Waymo was pulled over in Arizona after it drove on the wrong side of the road. What do police do when there’s nobody in the driver or passenger seat? (AzCentral)
Minnesota highway projects will need to consider climate impacts in planning (Minnpost)
Every year states put forward estimates for traffic fatalities. This year, seven states (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee) assumed a continued growth in traffic fatalities (very, very depressing). (Streetsblog USA)
"I definitely don't think anyone wants people to die on our roadways," clarified Heidi Simon, Smart Growth America's director of thriving communities. "But I think what these targets show is what kinds of commitments states are willing to make to address pedestrian safety against other competing priorities — and what funds and leadership they're willing to put behind them."
Rimac launches Verne, a two-seater autonomous vehicle (kinda looks like a wedge of cheese, no?). (Autocar)
There is no more waitlist to ride Waymo’s AVs in San Francisco—and the price is already popping as the 350 vehicle fleet struggles to keep up with demand (CNBC)
Cruise appoints a new CEO, Marc Whitten (he was a founding engineer at Xbox which is very, very similar to vehicles that exist in the real world). (I am being sarcastic). (Cruise)
Uber and Aurora are partnering to bring autonomous trucking to Texas. (Bloomberg)
Disentangling policy and structural effects on car-ownership for car-owning and carless US households during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (Journal of Transport Policy)
Will Waymo finally start to “change our lives” (Fast Company)
Overly optimistic imho and lacks awareness of what other interventions (aka infrastructure) has already achieved in terms of saving lives.
Last weekend I had the magical experience of (1) hosting a swedish summer party and (2) attending Tegan and Sara’s (Canadian queer icons) at Stern Grove, which is perhaps the sweetest venue I’ve ever experienced music in. Stern Grove is essentially a lil forested park in San Francisco that hosts a free music concert series every summer. 20/10 if you find yourself in nearby.
My friend Tookie and I went horseback riding on Sunday along the beach (this was such a beautiful experience but also so wacky). Anyways, Tookie’s horse, Hope, broke into our saddle bags and started eating pesto pasta during our ride lol, a horse after my own heart (or stomach).
And finally, I bumped into my friends who host Roll Over Easy on the radio (literally, bff.fm how cute) on Thursday and we talked about only the most important things (doughnuts, drinking margs in the ocean, and how to spend a long weekend). Yay for friends who do funny things.
That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
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