Transportation news, curated through an EECS lense. Special interest and emphasis on autonomous vehicles, scalable solutions, cost-efficient transit (e.g. busses), innovations in infrastructure, security, IU/UX, and insights into the behavioral/legal/ethical aspects.

Uber fires Anthony Levandowski amid self-driving tech lawsuit with Waymo 2017-05-30 Uber on Tuesday announced the immediate firing of Anthony Levandowski, one of the leaders of its self-driving car efforts, amid a lawsuit accusing it of using data allegedly stolen from Alphabet’s Waymo unit. Levandowski has remained silent, refusing to cooperate with either Uber or a federal judge, choosing instead to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights. Apple’s own ...

Self-Driving Uber Apparently Runs Red Light In San Francisco 2016-12-19 “This incident was due to human error,” the statement read. “This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was not part of the pilot and was not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate.” State regulators said Wednesday afternoon that ...

Manhattan traffic jam-fest likely as UN gathers to meet 2016-09-24 The NYPD, which announced street closures beginning late Sunday, will provide security for up to 140 motorcades, with as many as 30 units protecting officials, according to a law-enforcement source familiar with the preparations. “When heads of state come to New York City, they love to shop. Fifth Avenue often becomes motorcade alley,” Schwartz said. “When ...

Insurers Unprepared for Self-Driving Car Disruption: KPMG 2016-09-24 Argument: In surveying senior U.S. insurance executives whose companies, in aggregate, account for almost $85 billion in personal and commercial auto premium, KPMG found skepticism about the potential transformation autonomous vehicles will bring in the near-term. According to KPMG, few carriers have taken action—not due to doubts about the possible ramifications, but rather because most believe the ...

A fleet of self-driving trucks rumbles across Europe | Computerworld 2016-04-11 Platooning in the U.S. still four to five years out A “fail safe” condition would be cutting vehicle acceleration and bringing it to a controlled stop alongside the roadway, Gosbee said. Another issue is that for every truck, there are six to eight trailers that don’t support autonomous hookups, Gosbee said. So an aging fleet of trailers ...

SmartShare | Smart Society Project 2015-12-19 The SmartSociety Project’s got a slick concept video for real-time ridesharing! via SmartShare | Smart Society Project.

George Hotz Is Taking on Tesla by Himself 2015-12-17 Comma.ai’s prototype offers similar prospective features as Tesla (Level 3 automation). The goal is to sell the camera and software package for $1,000 a pop either to automakers or, if need be, directly to consumers who would buy customized vehicles at a showroom run by Hotz. “I have 10 friends who already want to buy one,” ...

Image credit: Neil Kremer

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