Welcome to the Ride AI newsletter: your weekly digest of news and intelligence at the intersection of technology and transportation.
PC: Bot Auto
The autonomous trucking company executed the milestone with no one in the cab and no remote assistance, successfully navigating real-world traffic conditions at sunset to test both day and night operations. The approximately 40-mile roundtrip launched from Riggy's Truck Parking in Katy, Texas, handling 1.5 miles of surface streets before entering I-10, traveling west to Exit 725, and returning. While the company will still employ the use of a safety driver for now on its regular freight runs, the validation demonstrates the maturity of Bot Auto's autonomy stack after less than two years of development.
Bot Auto has been operating fully autonomous commercial runs between Houston and San Antonio with safety drivers for several months and plans its first human-less commercial cargo run between these hubs in the coming months. This human-less validation looks to be a big step forward in enabling those fully human-less runs.
I previously interviewed Bot Auto’s CEO Xiaodi Hou on our podcast, the specific episode of which is available here. I was also recently able to visit Bot Auto in Texas to experience the company’s autonomous operation for myself. The video of my experience will be coming very soon, but in the meanwhile, you can watch a video of Bot Auto’s full validation run here.
PC: Waymo
The company has teamed up with tech transit startup Via to integrate its robotaxis into Chandler, Arizona's Flex microtransit service, where residents can book shared rides through the Chandler Flex app for just $2 ($1 for seniors, free for students). The vehicles will operate Monday through Friday, 6AM-9PM, connecting passengers to Valley Metro bus routes as part of the city's public transit network. This marks a shift from Waymo's typical rideshare model to a low-cost, flat-fare system that could open autonomous technology to new demographics while addressing concerns about AVs potentially siphoning riders from traditional transit.
Waymo also announced its expansion to Nashville Tennessee in partnership with Lyft, leveraging Lyft's Flexdrive subsidiary for fleet management. The service will begin initial operations in the coming months and is scheduled to open to public riders next year, when passengers will be able to hail rides through the Waymo app initially, with Lyft app ride hailing to come later.
We’ve previously chatted about Flexdrive with Jeremy Bird, Lyft’s EVP of Driver Experience, on our podcast, during which Bird called the program Lyft’s “best kept secret”. I find it interesting that Lyft’s Flexdrive program is explicitly mentioned in the announcement. In this case, it seems the program is being leveraged for fleet management operations rather than ownership.
Meanwhile, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie and SFO officials have granted Waymo permission to begin operations at San Francisco International Airport. The rollout will proceed in three phases: testing with human drivers, testing without drivers but with airport employees or Waymo staff as chaperones, and finally full commercial operations. The approval comes six months after Waymo received permission to map airport roads and less than two weeks after winning approval at San Jose International Airport. With 13,366 searches for "SFO" in the Waymo app last December and the Super Bowl and World Cup coming to the Bay Area next year, the timing positions Waymo to showcase its technology in a very public way.
While these announcements mark a very exciting time for Waymo, it also makes the company’s operations more confusing to the general consumer. From the outside, it seems Waymo is trying every single go-to-market strategy available to it in order to find the right fit for its technology. This might suggest that the company does not plan to remain only in the robotaxi space. Waymo has previously dabbled in other spaces, such as autonomous trucking with its Waymo Via program, but ended that program some time ago in order to focus on robotaxis. The breadth of recent announcements suggest that the company is once again turning its attention to other applications of its driverless technology.
The company has also updated its safety hub, which now covers results from 96 million miles of autonomous driving as of this past June. The results are staggering, with the company claiming 91% fewer crashes involving serious injury or worse, and 80% fewer injury-causing crashes.
PC: WeRide
The new B888 route, which opened on August 26th, circles some of the busiest parts of the city, linking Luohu Port, which is a primary entry point into Shenzhen from Hong Kong, the MixC mall, Di Wang Tower, the Grand Theatre, and Guomao Building. Each shuttle runs a 10.9-kilometre loop that takes just over an hour to complete. The project is a collaboration between Shenzhen Bus Group and WeRide and marks the city’s first Level 4 public transport deployment.
This is the same robobus I was able to experience in Guangzhou, albeit in a smaller, less chaotic environment. You can watch my video documenting the experience here. Unlike my experience, however, riders need to reserve a spot in advance in order to board at Luohu Port’s new smart bus pavilion. On the B888 route, stops are announced in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, giving the ride a tour bus feel while also serving daily commuters, while my experience was limited to a closed loop around an office park. I’m curious about the robobus’s performance in the chaotic environment that is Luoho Port, and will definitely be experiencing it the next time I make a China trip.
Alright, that’s it from me… until next week. If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with your friend, colleague, or boss. Thank you for reading; Sophia out!
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