Along for the Ride #252
The 2025 World Tour recap 💫
Heya friends, happy Friday!
I am writing to you from my parent’s home in Canada where it is a balmy -16°C. I am essentially a human popsicle who lives indoors at this point. I spent the past two weeks in Vancouver and Montreal to catch the end of the Eras tour and see my colleagues bikeshare besties. Between all the movements and getting sick (boo), this newsletter sadly had to take the backseat which is annoying because there is no shortage of industry ~drama~ to cover (!). Before we dive into ze dramas, a wee note from me:
2024 was a real whirlwind for me, but it was ultimately a year where I set aside a number of professional ~ambitions~ in favour of personal wishes (shout out to my manager Rachel for co-believing in this mission!!). I made decisions that were hard and actively not fun (willingly applying for visas again, leaving behind the most kind + empathetic friends in SF, moving to london without accommodation lol) and practiced a lot of detachment (ask me if I have wifi in my london flat yet, I dare you). But I’m landing on my feet and I’m so grateful for the support networks near and far that made it all possible (esp. those who’ve listened to my spiral through logistics for the past ……. eight months straight lol). In the words of miss Swift herself, shout out to my momma, had to listen to all this ~moving~ drama.
As this year comes to a close, I’m also grateful for you. Writing is how I process a lot of the world around me, so thank you for participating in that as I grapple with the *waves hands* global news, constant industry changes, and personal changes. I appreciate having the opportunity to reach so many corners of the world and reflect weekly(ish) with you. I hope you are able to wrap up this year in a way that is meaningful to you. <3
OK, this edition will be a combo of thoughts + links for this edition, so let’s dive in!
The more you know!
Why it’s so hard to stop driving and change your commuting patterns (Slate)
Germany plans to introduce autonomous buses in 2026 (Euro News)
There was an autonomous bus route between Fife and Edinburgh, but it's being pulled due to lack of ridership (BBC)
Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift - Waymo’s Version
There’s a lot of competing references there, but you get it 😂. Waymo is taking the big leap and bringing their AVs to Tokyo to better understand how operations in the world’s most populated city (featuring left-hand traffic flows) could work. Waymo is hiring taxi drivers from Nihon Kotsu to operate their mapping vehicles. While the business has no plans to serve riders in Japan yet, I think there’s something to be gleaned from choosing Tokyo over other cities (including other major Asian centres). Additional news coverage: WSJ, The Verge, Quartz, Waymo.
Fun article about how Waymo’s expansions are spurring AI anxiety more broadly.
Cruise’s wild ride comes to a final halt
Wooof. Back in the early days of this newsletter, Cruise had a (somewhat) refreshing commitment to AVs: they wanted to build shared, electric and autonomous vehicles designed to address city needs. As their naivety has worn off, and corporate pressure (aka capitalismé) weighed heavier, Cruise as we know it today has officially buckled. Kyle Vogt, the ousted founder and CEO of Cruise (who was in charge last year when the company famously dragged a woman 20 feet) tweeted “In case it was unclear before, it is clear now: GM are a bunch of dummies”. (Cue me pretending to barf reading that).
All of this gives me the spiny-creepy crawlies. It makes it clear that so much of the advanced tech-transportation sector is completely detached from the problems cities face and the cost of developing what I’m going to call “nice to have” technology. This website compares compensation averages between engineers at Cruise and GM. A lower level at Cruise has an entry salary of $280k, while GM is nearly half that at $143k. And that’s the entry level. I feel for Cruise employees who are dealing with precarious employment, but also when you make a bet on a company being held up by funny money… at some point something’s gotta give.
The more you know!
Baidu won it’s first license in Hong Kong (Bloomberg)
Rideshare drivers share anecdotal evidence that AV services are impacting their business in Phoenix and LA (Business Insider)
DHL and Oxa are partnering to manage parcels at London’s Heathrow (Smart Cities World)
Tesla’s latest autonomous computer chips are struggling to function properly (Electrek)
How Waymo managed to leave 2024 unscathed (in comparison to their peers) (The Verge) and Waymo’s vehicles passed a first responder test (The Verge)
The more you know!
From lane-less to lane-free: implications of AVs on various traffic flows (Transportist)
The impact of urban form on the relationship between vehicle miles traveled and air pollution (Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives)
Deprioritising cars beyond rerouting: Future research directions of the Barcelona Superblock (Cities)
Does car dependance make people unsatisfied with life? (Travel Behavior and Society)
The more you know!
Will the future of AVs will be a car you hail or one you own? (The Guardian)
The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles (The Verge)
The past month has really been magical and filled with seeing some of my favourite humans and dogs. A special shout out to Magic (bottom right) who is my original dog sitting best friend. His human, Janet, was a professor of mine years ago, and they both remain highlights of returning to Vancouver each year. Janet has her own substack (called Reflections from the Forest), and is writing about collective resets and building her own passive home during the pandemic!!
Various recent reads:
How our messed-up dating culture leads to loneliness, anger and Donald Trump (NYT, read with grain of salt)
Welcome to the human doom loop: How to break the cycle of virtual life that is making us lonely and unhappy (Slate)
My friend John got married and the NYC subway played a critical role (read about it in his newsletter <3)
What we can learn from teaching rats how to drive (The Conversation)
While sick I finished watching the most recent season of Slow Horses and Black Doves. I love a british spy drama. Both had plot holes I’m trying to forget about, but in general… very entertaining!!
That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
If you’d like to support my work and this newsletter, please consider becoming a member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition or making a donation.