A “Driverless” Car Crashed in Pakistan. The Viral Moment Exposed Why People Still Don’t Trust Autonomous Vehicles A car with no one behind the wheel rolled through Islamabad, headed toward a parked police van, and crashed. The moment was meant to showcase a futuristic transportation idea. Instead, the footage quickly spread online as viewers debated whether they had just watched a self-driving car fail in real time. The demonstration took place at D-Chowk in Islamabad, where journalist Muhammad Aalijah was inside the vehicle recording the test. Video from the event showed the car moving before striking a police vehicle. No injuries were reported, and the damage appeared minor. But the viral clip left out an important detail. The vehicle was not fully autonomous. It was a remotely operated prototype, meaning a human operator was controlling the vehicle from outside through a communication system. That put the focus on a different issue facing the future of driverless technology: how machines respond when the connection between a vehicle and the person controlling it breaks down. The Crash Centered on a Communication Failure The Islamabad demonstration depended on internet and satellite connectivity to transmit commands between the remote operator and the vehicle. Speaking after the demonstration, Aalijah said the vehicle moved unexpectedly after an internet disruption affected the connection. Developer Ehsan Zafar Abbasi gave a different explanation, saying the vehicle received an incorrect left-turn command when it was supposed to turn right. The exact cause has not been independently confirmed. Researchers studying teleoperated vehicles have long focused on the risks created by communication delays. A 2024 review found that latency, bandwidth limitations, and connection failures can affect operator performance and vehicle control, especially during situations requiring quick reactions. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has recommended that remotely operated vehicles should be
Sep 2, 2026 · via autos.yahoo.com
From 10,000 to 80,000 Lbs: California Just Dramatically Expanded Autonomous Truck Testing California is loosening its restrictions on autonomous trucking, paving the way for much heavier driverless vehicles to be tested on public roads. Under the new rules, self-driving trucks weighing as much as 80,000 lbs will be eligible for public-road testing, a major increase from the previous 10,000-lb limit. The regulatory change follows California's Department of Motor Vehicles granting Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI approval to test their autonomous driving systems on public roads. The DMV introduced the updated rules in April, creating a regulatory framework specifically designed to accommodate heavy-duty autonomous vehicles. The new framework expands testing beyond the smaller robotaxis already seen on California roads, allowing much larger trucks to operate on public streets and highways. Kodiak has already begun conducting a limited amount of testing on public roads under the new regulations. However, just because these companies have been permitted, it does not mean they can operate semi-trucks on highways without drivers. According to a report by Gadget Review, the newly approved testing will still require a trained human safety operator to remain behind the wheel. That means these trucks will operate under supervision, rather than as fully autonomous vehicles, with testing limited primarily to major freight routes such as I-5, SR-99, I-10, and I-15. They will also generally be prohibited from using roads with speed limits of 25 mph or lower, aside from certain direct-route exceptions. Image credit: Kodiak.ai California has also set a demanding mileage threshold before companies can even seek permission for fully driverless operations. A company must first complete 500,000 miles of testing with a safety driver, including at least 100,000 miles within the state, before logging another 500,000 miles without one. For heavy-duty autonomous trucks, these requirements are roughly ten times
Sep 2, 2026 · via autos.yahoo.com
6 Pickup Trucks That Could Still Be Running Strong in 20 Years A pickup truck is an investment that most buyers want to last as long as possible. And some models have a much stronger track record for longevity than others. An iSeeCars study analyzed nearly 400 million vehicles and found that the average vehicle has just a 4.8% chance of reaching 250,000 miles. Several pickup trucks performed significantly better than average, so if you're focused on long-term value, here are six trucks to look into. Toyota Tundra According to iSeeCars, the Toyota Tundra has a 30% chance of reaching 250,000 miles, which makes it the highest rate among light-duty pickup trucks in the study. That helps explain why the Tundra has become a go-to choice for buyers who prioritize longevity. Toyota Tacoma The Toyota Tacoma had a 25.3% chance of reaching 250,000 miles in the iSeeCars study. Many truck buyers already know the Tacoma's reputation. The iSeeCars ranking feels more like confirmation than a surprise as happy Tacoma owners often keep them for years. Honda Ridgeline The Honda Ridgeline earned a 14.7% chance of reaching 250,000 miles in the iSeeCars analysis. That means it is one of the longest-lasting non-Toyota pickups, according to the study. The Ridgeline doesn't get as much attention as some competitors, but the numbers suggest it can hold its own when it comes to longevity. Chevrolet Silverado 1500 The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 posted a 12.9% chance of reaching 250,000 miles in the iSeeCars study. There's a good chance you've seen older Silverados still on the road. The truck has been a fixture on job sites and in driveways for decades, and many owners report putting hundreds of thousands of miles on them before moving on to something else. GMC Sierra 1500 The GMC Sierra 1500
Sep 2, 2026 · via autos.yahoo.com
Saudi Arabia is building out the infrastructure needed to turn its AI ambitions into a functioning industrial stack. A string of agreements announced around this week’s Leap conference spans capacity, connectivity, computing, and AI applications, as the Kingdom moves to build the physical backbone for an AI economy. The build starts with data center capacity: Humain and digital infrastructure firm DataVolt have started construction on 100 MW of an AI-ready data center at Oxagon, Neom’s industrial city on the Red Sea coast, according to a statement. The capacity forms part of DataVolt’s 360 MW first phase within a planned 1.5 GW AI data center campus, with the first 100 MW expected to come online in 2028. There’s more: Al Moammar Information Systems said it will spend USD 1.2 bn expanding its data centers to 192 MW of total capacity; NHC Innovation will invest USD 880 mn in data centers at Khuzam Digital Valley, targeting 65 MW by 2033; and Zain KSA signed a non-binding MoU with DataVolt to explore building data centers in the Kingdom, capacity it would share with government, enterprise, and cloud providers. The infrastructure to deliver it is coming next: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is targeting a December launch of its Saudi cloud region and has committed up to 50 MW to the Humain AI Zone by 2028, according to a statement. AWS announced back in 2024 that it woul launch a “hyper-scale” cloud region in Saudi Arabia by 2026 as part of a USD 5.3 bn investment ticket. Microsoft plans to open its own Saudi cloud region in November. And the AI is starting to leave the data center: Humain is partnering with US autonomous-vehicle software company Applied Intuition to deploy thousands of self-driving trucks across Saudi logistics corridors by 2030, Bloomberg reports. Autonomous trucks can
Sep 2, 2026 · via enterpriseam.com
Journalist Muhammad Aalijah sits in the passenger seat, camera rolling, praising Pakistani talent in words to the effect of “no shortage of talent in Pakistan.” The steering wheel turns on its own. Nobody’s driving. Then the internet drops. What happened next landed on every timeline. Before the memes bury the real story, though: this wasn’t a driverless Tesla. It wasn’t autonomous. Abbottabad-based tech enthusiast Ehsan Zafar built a remotely operated vehicle — drive-by-wire actuators, human operator elsewhere, controls running over an internet or satellite link. When that connection cut out during a live demo near Parliament House in Islamabad’s D-Chowk on August 31, the steering malfunctioned. Aalijah grabbed the handbrake. It wasn’t enough. What “Driverless” Actually Meant The system reportedly functioned as designed — until the safety architecture met a dropped connection. Per reporting from News18, Times of India, and Latestly: - Zafar built the car - D-Chowk — directly outside Parliament House and inside Islamabad’s high-security red zone — was the demo location - An internet dropout caused the steering failure - The resulting low-speed collision left both vehicles with minor damage and zero injuries Islamabad police temporarily detained the vehicle but did not formally penalize Zafar, with some regional outlets reporting that authorities used the moment to encourage youth innovation while flagging safety concerns. The video supports a drive-by-wire setup: the steering wheel turns visibly on its own, guided remotely from somewhere else entirely. That’s not science fiction — it’s a known engineering approach used in mining vehicles, logistics yards, and military applications, where redundant low-latency networks and physical safety perimeters are non-negotiable, much like the remote-operated approach seen in Snake Robots built with proper failsafes. Zafar had none of that infrastructure. He had a public road, a satellite link, and a journalist filming from the passenger seat.
Sep 2, 2026 · via gadgetreview.com
Saudi Arabia's state-backed AI company HUMAIN announced a partnership with Sunnyvale-based Applied Intuition on Monday to deploy thousands of self-driving trucks across the Kingdom's key freight corridors by 2030 — a deal the companies say will constitute the largest autonomous trucking network ever assembled — and the technical architecture at its center is a significant departure from the LiDAR-dependent stacks that have defined most North American L4 programs. The details were formalized in a joint August 31 press release from the two companies. The announcement arrived on the first day of LEAP 2026, the fifth edition of Riyadh's major annual technology conference, alongside over $15 billion in investment commitments — including a separate $5 billion joint commitment between HUMAIN and AWS. Applied Intuition's deal was described by Arab News LEAP 2026 correspondents as the final announcement of a dense opening day. What HUMAIN Is — and Why This Deal Is Different HUMAIN was launched in May 2025 under the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund managing approximately $940 billion in assets and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The company was designed as a full-stack AI operating company covering compute infrastructure, cloud services, advanced Arabic-language foundation models including ALLaM, and enterprise applications, all oriented around Saudi Arabia's stated goal of becoming a top-tier global AI power by 2030. A HUMAIN company profile confirms the PIF ownership structure and the Crown Prince's role as chair. Until this announcement, HUMAIN's most visible initiatives had been digital: chip and cloud partnerships with Nvidia, AMD, AWS, Qualcomm, and xAI, and the development of its Arabic large language model. The Applied Intuition partnership represents HUMAIN's first major initiative specifically designated as a "physical AI" play — the company's term for AI deployed in real-world machines and systems rather than in data
Sep 1, 2026 · via techtimes.com
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.] TFI’s autonomous LTL linehaul logic is sound, analysts say Use of longer lanes seen benefiting economics of deployment Staff Reporter Key Takeaways: - TFI International plans to introduce autonomous Class 8 trucks in LTL linehaul operations in 2027 with an undisclosed technology developer. - Analysts said predictable highway routes favor automation, though cost-effectiveness depends on route length, freight volume, utilization and limited empty miles. - Saia emphasized safety applications, while Old Dominion questioned per-mile technology costs and said it would not lead autonomous truck investment. Plans by TFI International to initially roll out autonomous Class 8 trucks in its less-than-truckload linehaul operations are logical for a carrier with such ambitions, according to independent analysts. However, one prominent industry executive is skeptical about the cost-effectiveness of the application. TFI is working with an as-yet-undisclosed autonomous truck developer ahead of the technology’s introduction in LTL linehaul and then perhaps wider use, Chief Financial Officer David Saperstein told analysts during the carrier’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call July 27. The technology had improved a lot faster than the executive and his peers expected. It makes sense to start in linehaul, given the few touch points, multiple sources said. “This approach concentrates automation in the operating environment where it currently has the greatest advantages,” said Arman Sargolzaei, director of the University of South Florida’s Resilient, Autonomous, Networked Control Systems research group. “The terminal-to-terminal linehaul portion is particularly attractive because routes are predictable, frequently traveled and largely highway based,” he added. Sector Rankings LTL | TL/Dedicated Intermodal/Drayage Package/Courier | Air/Expedited Refrigerated | Flatbed/Heavy Tank/Bulk | Household/Commercial Montreal-based TFI, which ranks No. 6 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and whose LTL unit ranks No. 8 in
Sep 1, 2026 · via ttnews.com
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Sep 1, 2026 · via dallasnews.com
LEAP Opens With $15 Billion in Tech Investments, Partnerships Launching its fifth edition, LEAP commenced with over $15 billion in tech investments and strategic pledges, solidifying the event's role as a global innovation platform and showcasing the swift expansion of Saudi Arabia's tech industry since its first edition in 2022. During the opening of LEAP 5, Eng Abdullah Alswaha, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, underscored the swift growth of the technology sector in Saudi Arabia. Also Read: Vietnam Strengthens Ties With East African Countries Since the launch of LEAP, the Kingdom's digital economy has expanded by 69 percent, increasing from $118 billion to $199 billion, and women now make up 36 percent of the tech workforce. The inaugural day included a range of significant announcements related to AI infrastructure, cloud computing, and autonomous technologies. In the major announcements, HUMAIN introduced HUMAIN M3, a new open-weights Arabic language model trained on over one trillion Arabic tokens, along with HUMAIN Voice, a conversational AI platform tailored for various Arabic dialects such as Saudi, Maghrebi, Egyptian, and Levantine Arabic. Tareq Amin, Chief Executive Officer of HUMAIN says, "No company delivers something at this scale on its own. What you are seeing is a country rallied around a mission, with partners across the Kingdom building alongside us". "The leadership understood early that AI is a foundational technology rather than an additive one, and everything we are building serves that vision". HUMAIN announced a strategic alliance with Applied Intuition to implement physical AI technologies throughout Saudi Arabia, starting with self-driving trucks. The partnership seeks to create the biggest autonomous trucking network globally, with thousands of self-driving vehicles projected to function along crucial logistics routes in Saudi Arabia by 2030. Also Read: Saudi Arabia Homeownership Rises 66.24 Percent, Exceeds Target Further announcements featured a
Sep 1, 2026 · via ceoinsightsasia.com
Applied Intuition, US, and HUMAIN partner to deploy autonomous trucks in Saudi Arabia
On August 31, Applied Intuition and HUMAIN, a PIF company, announced a collaboration to deploy thousands of autonomous trucks throughout key logistics corridors by 2030 in Saudi Arabia. They will establish a foundational framework for autonomy across the Kingdom. Future phases of the collaboration will explore expans....
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Sep 1, 2026 · via marklines.com
How China’s top 2 container ports became the world’s busiest – and beat Singapore The nation’s ports claimed six of the top 10 busiest worldwide, according to a prominent data provider China’s Yangtze River Delta is now home to the world’s two busiest container ports, a milestone that one industry analyst said reflects the continued resilience of the country’s export sector and the tech-driven efficiency of its maritime hubs. The Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in eastern China’s Zhejiang province overtook the Port of Singapore to become the world’s second-busiest container port in the first half of 2026, according to France-based shipping data provider Alphaliner. During the period, Ningbo-Zhoushan handled 22.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) – a standard measure for cargo container volume – compared with Singapore’s 22.74 million TEU. Shanghai, which has held the top spot for years, saw 28.7 million TEU flow through its berths. The two Chinese ports sit less than 100km (62.1 miles) apart. Qu Ke, a transport analyst at CCB International in Hong Kong, said the strength of Chinese ports had been propelled by efficiency gains and the large-scale adoption of smart technologies. “Autonomous trucks, cranes and automatic loading and unloading are becoming a usual sight at Chinese ports, leading to better safety and efficiency,” Qu said. “This is also supported by sound infrastructure, including roads and railways, for seamless, intermodal logistics to continuously feed containers to these ports.”
Sep 1, 2026 · via scmp.com
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Sep 1, 2026 · via youtube.com
Autonomous Freight Is Moving From Experimentation Toward Commercial Logistics Autonomous trucking has spent years occupying an uncomfortable position in logistics. The technology has advanced rapidly, demonstrations have become increasingly sophisticated, and investment has remained substantial. But the central question for logistics operators has always been more practical: when does autonomous freight become a repeatable commercial operation rather than a technology demonstration? Recent developments suggest that transition is beginning to become more visible. Autonomous trucking company Gatik announced a $200 million Series D financing round on August 25. The size of the investment is significant, but the more consequential story for logistics is the operating activity behind it. The company says it has completed approximately 85,000 fully driverless commercial orders and has accumulated more than $600 million in contracted revenue. Those figures are company-reported and should not be treated as independently verified operating benchmarks. Nevertheless, they illustrate the increasing commercial maturity of a segment that has historically been dominated by pilots and demonstrations. A Different Approach to Autonomous Trucking Gatik’s approach differs from some of the more ambitious autonomous-trucking strategies pursued over the past decade. Rather than beginning with the objective of automating virtually any long-haul trucking environment, the company has concentrated on high-frequency regional movements between distribution centers, warehouses, and stores—more constrained operating environments than generalized long-haul trucking. The distinction matters because logistics environments vary considerably in complexity. A truck repeatedly traveling between known facilities along established routes presents a more bounded operating problem than a vehicle expected to operate across a broad range of origins, destinations, road conditions, and transportation scenarios. For autonomous freight, these constrained operating domains can create an important path toward commercialization. Companies can concentrate technology, mapping, operating procedures, and exception management around routes where shipment frequency is high and operating conditions are comparatively predictable. The
Sep 1, 2026 · via logisticsviewpoints.com
Driverless trucks may seem to be a thing of the future, but it's coming faster than we think, and it's being tested right in our backyard. What does it mean for a truck to have no driver? How does it work? Is it safe? Meta will soon be signing a very large check: a $16.7 billion check to be exact with money flowing to dozens of states, including $319 million to Ohio. The tech giant also pledged to make substantial changes to the platform to protect kids. So what exactly will be different? Are you looking to upgrade your old iPhone? It might be best to wait to save on deals. Apple typically releases its new models in September. This year it might include a foldable iPhone. And what if earbuds could listen and hear? We're discussing all of these topics on this week's edition of Tech Tuesday. Guests: - Abbi Failla, chief administrative officer, EASE - Paresh Dave, senior writer, WIRED - Russell Holly, director of commerce content, CNET Transcript This transcript is generated with AI. To ensure its accuracy, review the audio file. Amy Juravich: Welcome to Tech Tuesday from All Sides with Amy Juravich, a show where we share stories about science, technology, and the future of our environment. Driverless trucks may seem like a thing from the future, but it's coming faster than we think, and it's being tested right in our own backyard. What does it mean for a truck to have no driver? How does it work? Is it safe? These questions and more will be answered by Abbi Failla, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief of Staff to the CEO of Ease Logistics. Welcome to the show, Abbi. Abbi Failla: Well, thank you for having me. Juravich: So firstly, can you tell me about
Sep 1, 2026 · via wosu.org
(CLO) The self-driving car market is currently experiencing significant growth, primarily driven by Level 4 robotaxies and commercial autonomous trucks, while the market for personal vehicles remains limited. Công Luận•01/09/2026 The self-driving car market is entering a real growth phase with millions of automated rides per week performed by robotaxi services and commercial autonomous trucks, although the proportion of self-driving personal vehicles remains very small compared to the total number of vehicles. The current self-driving vehicle market is primarily developing in the Level 4 commercial segment, including robotaxies and autonomous trucks, while personal vehicles with Level 3 autonomous systems still account for a very small percentage. Robotaxi services have progressed through the testing phase, with Waymo completing over 500,000 autonomous rides per week and Apollo Go peaking at over 350,000 rides, totaling approximately one million rides per week globally. However, compared to the traditional transportation market, the market share of self-driving cars remains very small. For example, Uber handles nearly 300 million trips per week, of which self-driving cars account for less than 0.5%. This shows rapid growth but starting from a very low scale. The US and China have different approaches to developing self-driving cars. The US has Waymo as the largest commercial operator, while China has many competitors such as Apollo Go, Pony.ai, and WeRide with significant fleet sizes and revenues. Chinese companies have also made strides in reducing the cost of self-driving hardware by 50% to 70%. Fleet economics is becoming as important as autonomous driving performance. Pony.ai reports that some of its seventh-generation robotaxis have reached break-even in the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Meanwhile, autonomous trucks have also crossed a crucial commercial threshold, with Aurora completing hundreds of thousands of miles of unmanned transport, although revenue and vehicle numbers are still small compared to the
Sep 1, 2026 · via vietnam.vn
China accelerates AI integration with transportation Autonomous new energy mine trucks work in an open mine in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/He Long) From autonomous vehicles navigating city streets and drones conducting inspections to robots sorting parcels at delivery centers, China is accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the transportation sector, opening up new applications across roads, railways, aviation, ports and postal services. From intelligent driving and smart highways to automated sorting and drone-based inspections, AI is increasingly being deployed to improve transport efficiency, safety and services. In June, China's Ministry of Transport, together with four other government departments, issued an action plan for innovation in typical application scenarios of "AI + transportation." The plan envisages that by 2030, a new wave of infrastructure, technical equipment, service models, and industrial forms driven by "AI + transportation" will emerge. How will innovation in these application scenarios be advanced? And how can AI help drive high-quality development in transportation? People's Daily spoke with officials and industry experts. On the Beijing-Xiong'an Expressway, AI-powered technologies are becoming part of the driving experience throughout the one-hour journey. A dedicated mini program provides drivers with real-time traffic updates. Smart roadside poles flash yellow in heavy fog, helping drivers identify their position on the road. At toll stations, robots dispense tickets automatically, helping shorten waiting times. "Through cooperation with Baidu AI Cloud and leveraging large-scale AI models, the Beijing-Xiong'an Expressway achieves second-level alert push and one-click notification for abnormal incidents, with an accuracy rate of over 95 percent in identifying emergencies," said an executive from Hebei Expressway Group, which manages the expressway. As roads become smarter, vehicles are becoming more intelligent, too. "In recent years, we have accelerated the integration of AI with transportation, focusing on infrastructure, vehicles and equipment, transport services and
Sep 1, 2026 · via en.people.cn
HUMAIN to Build World’s Largest Autonomous Trucking Network The Saudi–Silicon Valley tie-up pairs HUMAIN’s sovereign AI infrastructure with Applied Intuition’s autonomy stack, targeting national-scale logistics and future robotaxis and industrial use cases. HUMAIN and Silicon Valley-based Applied Intuition have announced a strategic collaboration to deploy physical AI systems across Saudi Arabia, beginning with autonomous trucking. The partnership will combine HUMAIN’s sovereign AI infrastructure with Applied Intuition’s autonomy technology, which includes software for vehicle intelligence, autonomous driving, simulation and vehicle operating systems. Applied Intuition describes its platform as an end-to-end stack for developing and operating intelligent moving machines. The initial focus will be autonomous trucks, with the companies targeting deployment at national scale rather than a limited pilot. Applied Intuition has framed the Saudi programme around potentially deploying thousands of autonomous trucks, although specific routes, fleet operators and launch dates have not yet been disclosed. Applied Intuition’s autonomy stack is designed to cover several layers of an autonomous vehicle system, including perception, decision-making, simulation and validation. Its sensor simulation tools can generate synthetic camera, lidar and radar data, allowing autonomous systems to be trained and tested against scenarios that may be difficult or unsafe to reproduce repeatedly on public roads. The collaboration is expected to extend beyond trucking over time. Future use cases identified by the companies include robotaxis and autonomous systems for industrial environments, placing the partnership within a wider push to apply AI to machines that perceive and act in the physical world. - Previous Article Cairo's Lazuli to Host All-Day Party 'Dafunk' September 11th - Next Article Al Ain Sisters Launch Emirati Building-Block Sets in Abu Dhabi
Sep 1, 2026 · via cairoscene.com
Over $30M linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group moved through Hyperliquid's service, raising scrutiny.
More than $30 million connected to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group was routed through Hyperliquid's HyperUnit service, according to a report by Arkham researcher Emmett Gallic on August 31. These funds were converted from Bitcoin to Ethe...
Sep 1, 2026 · via pluang.com
Senate Bill 1213 has passed its final vote and is headed to Governor Gavin Newsom, where it would tie a manufacturer’s eligibility for California’s zero-emission truck incentive programs to disclosing what those trucks cost. Under the bill, original equipment manufacturers must submit vehicle pricing data, including manufacturers’ suggested retail prices, to remain eligible for state incentive programs such as the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project, known as HVIP. Reporting starts January 1, 2027, and covers quarterly MSRPs for zero-emission models sold in California along with final itemized purchase orders showing the base unit price and separate lines for warranties, taxes, fees, and service agreements. The bill carries enforcement. A manufacturer that does not meet the reporting requirements faces suspension of that model’s eligibility for state incentives, and the California Air Resources Board is authorized to recover funds disbursed on the basis of false data. On the voucher side, SB 1213 directs CARB to reevaluate voucher caps annually, with attention to fleets serving disadvantaged communities. As reported in April, the bill would also allow vouchers to cover as much as 90% of total vehicle purchase cost, including taxes and delivery fees. The bill separately directs state agencies to examine alternative financing mechanisms, including low-cost loans and residual value guarantees, by 2028. “California is investing billions to build a cleaner transportation future, and we have a responsibility to make sure those investments are actually bringing down costs and accelerating the transition to cleaner trucks,” said Senator Eloise Gómez Reyes, the bill’s author. The premise behind the bill is a widening gap between what heavy-duty electric trucks cost in the U.S. and what they cost in Europe. Research published by the International Council on Clean Transportation in September 2025, found that U.S. Class 8 battery-electric tractor prices rose 27%
Aug 31, 2026 · via act-news.com
Your phone goes quiet. Not dead-battery quiet — algorithmically quiet. Fewer pings. Worse pings. That’s the reality reportedly facing Atlanta’s Uber and Lyft drivers since Waymo’s robotaxis arrived in June 2025. These aren’t separate vehicles on a separate app. They’re fully driverless electric Jaguars hailed through the same Uber interface you already use, competing for the same rides, around the clock, without bathroom breaks. What Drivers Are Actually Saying The complaints are loud. Systematic data is still missing. One driver told CBS News Atlanta his earnings are down “probably like 10 to 30%”, depending on the day. The Atlanta Rideshare Drivers Union (ARDU) paints a similar picture — lower pay, longer waits, fewer fares — since Waymo reportedly logged 5.4 million autonomous miles across the city. Here’s the catch: ARDU representative Liza Ramsey has acknowledged the union holds no consolidated data. Their evidence is member complaints and earnings screenshots shared in a group chat. That doesn’t mean the grievance isn’t real. It means nobody has proved it systematically yet. ARDU is asking Atlanta City Council for three things: - A $0.50–$1.00 per-ride robotaxi impact fee funding a driver transition fund for job training and grants - A ban on Waymo pickups at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, a high-value fare anchor for many drivers - Caps on robotaxi deployment with stronger data reporting requirements Ramsey’s argument is direct: “If corporations profit from replacing human workers with automation, they should contribute to helping those workers transition to the next opportunity,” according to Axios. The Catch – Atlanta Can’t Actually Stop This Georgia’s 2017 AV law has already decided much of the fight. Georgia’s Senate Bill 219 pre-empts local regulation of fully autonomous vehicles. Atlanta cannot cap fleet size, require local operating licenses, or impose per-vehicle fees. Many of ARDU’s preferred remedies are, as reporting
Aug 31, 2026 · via gadgetreview.com