NYC Welcomes Robotaxi Testing

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Welcome to the Ride AI Newsletter, your weekly digest of important events and new developments at the intersection of technology and transportation. 

What You Need to Know Today

Mayor Eric Adams announced a permitting process for companies that want to test autonomous vehicles on New York City’s streets. Unlike some other cities, like San Francisco, New York will not allow self-driving vehicles without a human driver for now.

In addition, NYC will soon start testing technology that uses AI to detect guns at subway turnstiles.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is trialling the use of electric autonomous buses to make airside stops along a fixed route.

Relatedly, Alaska is using Aurora Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robots to ward off migratory birds and other wildlife from the runaways of the Fairbanks International Airport.

DHL is working with Bulgarian aircraft developer Dronamics to deploy unmanned drones for cross-border and inter-city deliveries, with the goal of overcoming supply chain disruptions.

XPeng Motors, one of China’s leading EV makers, announced a new AI-centric, budget-conscious brand. The company plans to introduce EVs as cheap as $14,000 with advanced technology features, including top-tier ADAS software and cognitive assistant functions.

Volkswagen Group is deepening its collaboration with Mobileye to accelerate the development of automated driving functions across its brands, such as automated overtaking on multilane highways and stopping at red lights.

April Fools: Ola’s announcement that it planned to launch an autonomous two-wheeler turned out to be a hoax.

Chinese flying taxi startup EHang has successfully completed its first pilotless flight in Latin America.

2024 is shaping up to a pivotal year for autonomous trucking in the U.S., with Texas leading the way. “By the end of this year, Aurora says it plans to have about 20 fully autonomous trucks working the 240-mile stretch between Dallas and Houston… Kodiak Robotics, which was founded by a former employee of Uber and Alphabet’s Waymo, similarly plans to launch a fleet of trucks by the end of the year in Texas.”

Meanwhile a new “Mobility Innovation Zone” is recruiting AV and delivery tech companies to develop their technologies in a massive master-planned community near Fort Worth, Texas.

Chinese automaker Geely showcases its autonomous vehicles’ ability to drift on snow and ice.

A new McKinsey analysis reveals that mobility startups are more likely to invest in applied AI applications—such as using LLMs to identify customers who are at risk of being lost to a competitor and then create incentives to increase their satisfaction—compared to generative AI solutions.

A Waymo robotaxi that ran a red light this winter was given an incorrect command from a human remote operator, according to the company.

Sacramento is suspending its red-light camera program for financial reasons. The program was supposed to be cost-neutral, but it ended up draining city funds because the cameras weren’t generating enough revenue from ticket violations. Is it possible the system was actually too effective at promoting safe and legal driving?

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In spite a last-minute effort to pump up sales by offering a free trial of its self-driving tech, Tesla shipped 8.5% fewer vehicles in Q1 2024 than it did during the first quarter of 2023—its first year-over-year sales drop since 2020.

On that note, Tesla and Elon Musk haven begun referring to the Full Self Driving system as “Supervised Full Self Driving.” By subtly tweaking the language, the company may be responding to critics who say the marketing for the driver-assistance technology has been too misleading.

Related: Why there is no easy way to rank autonomous driving systems.