| Vol. 10 |
| How autonomous vehicles could improve mobility for the poor The Verge, July 17th One of the expected benefits of autonomous vehicles is improving access to transportation for underserved populations. Why it matters: Transportation is often too expensive, inconvenient or even non-existent in poor communities. |
| The delivery robot revolution is not quite ready for primetime Auto Week, July 20th The coronavirus pandemic changed the way businesses of almost all types operate virtually overnight, hurting most and redefining which ones are truly essential in what quickly became the new normal for billions of people around the world. And it brought with it an unexpected kind of acceleration of trends, forcing the closure of businesses that would have struggled on for a few more years, while bringing a global spotlight to technologies that would have remained relatively obscure or experimental for years to come. Market trends that otherwise would have taken years to evolve transformed in a matter of weeks, it seemed, retiring outdated concepts while stretching emerging tech to its limits. |
| Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey suing Uber, Lyft over classification of workers as independent contractors MassLive, July 14th Attorney General Maura Healey is filing suit against Uber and Lyft, alleging the companies have misclassified their workers as independent contractors to avoid having to provide the benefits enjoyed by employees under Massachusetts law. |
| Drones to robots: Pandemic fuels US autonomous delivery Fox Business, July 20th WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Cough medicine, snacks, baking ingredients: Kelly Passek has shopping delivered weekly to her yard in Christiansburg, Virginia – by a drone. The flying vehicle comes with little fuss, hovering briefly over her yard and letting down its package. “It’s very fast – even the noise you hear is no more than 30 seconds,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. |
| Uber will acquire public transportation software company Routematch The Verge, July 16th Uber announced that it will acquire Routematch, an Atlanta-based company that develops software for public transportation agencies. The news comes amid the ride-hail company’s broader push into public transit. Uber didn’t disclose the terms of the deal. Routematch, which was founded in 2000, sells software to public transit agencies for data management, dispatching, trip booking, and ticketing. Uber said the acquisition will help bolster its own efforts to integrate more public transportation services in its app, like route planning and ticket purchases. |
| How automation affects labor mobility Forbes, July 20th The impact of technological and economic changes on industries has been pretty well examined over the years, not least as the impact of declining industries or employers has such a profound impact on the vitality of towns and even cities. Are communities able to regenerate, and develop new employment in place of what was often the dominant employer in the area? Do people leave the area in the search for new work? Do communities enter a terminal decline? |
| Study: Americans slow to accept autonomous driving Fender Bender, July 20th Jason Cottrell and his employees have spent recent months gauging U.S. citizens’ comfort when it comes to embracing self-driving vehicles. What they found is that, when it comes to adapting to autonomous vehicles, Americans are largely stuck in a “trough of disillusionment.” In other words, interest in self-driving vehicles has waned for many Americans as the technology has, in some peoples’ opinion, failed to deliver on its early hype. |
| Economically political solutions for transportationequality involving autonomous vehicles Forbes, July 20th There are economic and racial inequities in transportation today. There are those who do not have an opportunity to drive to grocery stores or supermarkets where healthy and better food options are available. There are people with chronic diseases who do not have the access to regular health maintenance and therefore are only seen by a healthcare professional when they are in urgent need of treatment. There are many instances in our communities, whether urban or rural, that a lack of transportation means a lack of standard health care, and a lack of healthy food options as well as an inability to access better jobs. |
| Jaguar Land Rover moves forward with subscription program Pymnts, July 7th Jaguar Land Rover is dipping its paw into the subscription automobile leasing pool, just as peer Mercedes is climbing out after a trial run, Autoweek reported on Tuesday (July 7). Subscription models vary, but in general, they allow customers to lease cars for periods of around six months. The arrangement costs more than typical multi-year leases, but drivers get more variety and short-term commitments.The new Jaguar Land Rover service, called Pivotal, is debuting in the U.K. after completion of a trial program. The first vehicles available are the all-electric Jaguar I-Pace, Range Rover Sport and the Land Rover Discovery. More are likely to follow, the company said in a news release. |
| Ford expands partnership with Mobileye, Intel’s autonomous driving business ZDNet, July 20th Ford is expanding its partnership with Mobileye, the Intel-owned autonomous driving technology business, the companies announced Monday. Ford plans to customize Mobileye’s vision-sensing technology to improve its existing driver-assist features, such as forward collision warning; vehicle, pedestrian and cyclist detection; and lane centering. |
| Volkswagen expects e-mobility boost after pandemic The Driven, July 20th Volkswagen does not expect the pandemic to slow the introduction of its flagship e-car model ID.3, Carsten Germis writes in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The company’s e-mobility sales and marketing manager, Silke Bagschik, told the newspaper the coronavirus is “more likely to accelerate the transition to e-mobility” because of increased environmental and social awareness. |
| Instacart is suing Uber over its new grocery delivery service Eater, July 17th Instacart filed a lawsuit against Uber’s rival grocery delivery service for alleged IP theft. Instacart is suing Cornershop, a rival grocery delivery service majority owned by Uber, for allegedly stealing its product images, descriptions, and pricing data in what amounts to intellectual property theft, the Information reports. |
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