The sober view of self-driving cars doesn't allow much optimism.

"[L]ooking back on 2018—which included lawsuits, wake-up calls about limitations and the first known pedestrian fatality from a self-driving car—does anything but sell the promise of having feasible self-driving cars on the road anytime soon," according to an article by Justin T. Westbrook.
"Contrary to what our tech overlords in Silicon Valley (and, to be fair, Detroit too) have been saying, we will not have fully driverless cars in a couple years. Or even several years," adds Westbrook. "If anything, this last year has only proven that self-driving cars won’t be viable on a massive scale for decades."
The survey of the year's news in autonomous vehicles that follows includes the first pedestrian struck and killed by a self-driving car in autonomous mode, which led to a cascading series of developments in the industry. Pretty much all the major players in the industry had their bad news cycles this year, but the result of all these rough patches reveals a pretty big mess.
FULL STORY: 2018 Was a Hard Reality Check For Autonomous Cars

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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

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King County Supportive Housing Program Offers Hope for Unhoused Residents
The county is taking a ‘Housing First’ approach that prioritizes getting people into housing, then offering wraparound supportive services.

Researchers Use AI to Get Clearer Picture of US Housing
Analysts are using artificial intelligence to supercharge their research by allowing them to comb through data faster. Though these AI tools can be error prone, they save time and housing researchers are optimistic about the future.

Making Shared Micromobility More Inclusive
Cities and shared mobility system operators can do more to include people with disabilities in planning and operations, per a new report.
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