Uber chose to ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission, rolling out self-driving cars to the public in San Francisco this week.
Mike Isaac reports: "Uber made a big splash in its hometown on Wednesday when it started offering self-driving car service to passengers here, making San Francisco the second city in the world where the ride-hailing company provides autonomous vehicles for public use."
But, according to Issac, "California regulators made an even bigger splash late Wednesday when they told Uber to stop the service because it was illegal."
Adding to the drama of the brief experiment, one of Uber's self-driving cars, a Volvo XC90 got caught on camera running a red light shortly after the service began. The city of San Francisco isn't the first to have Uber self-driving cars hit the road—it's just that when the company rolled self-driving cars out to the public in Pittsburgh it had permission to do so.
FULL STORY: Uber Expands Self-Driving Car Service to San Francisco. D.M.V. Says It’s Illegal.
Uber's Self-Driving Cars Leave Hometown for Warmer, and Friendlier Climates
California's loss is Arizona's gain. That's how Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey see's Uber's decision on Thursday to haul their fleet of self-driving Volvos from San Francisco to Arizona after the company refused to secure the necessary operating permits.
Advice for Autonomous Cars
Drivers for Uber and Lyft in San Francisco express their concerns and advice for self-driving taxi services.
Failure of Automated Driving Technology Blamed for First Pedestrian Fatality
Experts who watched the videos taken by onboard cameras equipped in the Volvo SUV that hit Elaine Herzberg determined that Uber's automated driving system failed to perform adequately. The crash points to a need for regulations.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association