Fiat Chrysler commits to Google’s Android operating system to power its connected vehicle ecosystem LINK
- FLASHBACK: 76% of car owners are interested in having the same brand of in-home voice service on their next vehicle. They want to carry over their Amazon, Google, and Apple preferences and the consistency of experience from their home to their car. LINK
- FLASHBACK: Telenav launches connected in-car advertising platform for automotive OEMs. OEMs can offer free connected services by covering costs via in-car ad revenue. LINK
Jaguar Land Rover will pay drivers to transmit “useful road condition data”, such as reporting traffic jams, potholes, accidents, etc. to responsible local authorities. LINK
- FLASHBACK: More than 200 electric car manufacturers are sharing precise location data with Chinese Government monitoring centers for free. Companies say “it’s the cost of doing business in China.” LINK
Cornell researchers have discovered that a simpler method, using two cheapo cameras on either side of the windshield, can detect objects with nearly LiDAR’s accuracy and at a fraction of the cost. The researchers found that analyzing the captured images from a bird’s-eye view rather than the more traditional frontal view more than tripled their accuracy. LINK
- FLASHBACK: Elon Musk still doesn’t think LIDAR is necessary for fully driverless cars and is banking on cameras as the key hardware component. LINK
- FLASHBACK: GM exec calls Elon Musk ‘full of crap’ on autonomy claims, saying Tesla founder’s claim of Level 5 driving without lidar ‘is not physically possible’ LINK
Manspreading on the Beijing subway could give you bad social credit. Those who take up extra seats on trains will be marked as “uncivilized” — and so will those who eat during rides, hawk goods to other passengers or sneak into the subway without paying. LINK
- FLASHBACK: LA Metro Riders Face $75 ‘Manspreading’ Fine LINK
- FLASHBACK: NYC Cops Arrest Subway Riders For “Manspreading” LINK
- FLASHBACK: In China, jaywalking could land you on a no-fly list. A new scoring system is keeping a critical eye on social behavior. LINK
Bird begins renting scooters for $24.99 a month in San Francisco. Studies found the average low-income Bay Area household spends as much as 24% of income on transportation. LINK
- FLASHBACK: Berlin’s “Rent-a-Center” for Tech, has just launched GroverGo, where you can rent a Xiaomi5 M36 e-scooter for $56.79 a month. LINK
Ride-sharing service Ola has released a new marketing campaign across Australia and New Zealand urging consumers to compare platforms and ask ‘Which ride is Cheaper?’ LINK
Uber and Lyft have officially stopped hiring drivers in NYC two months after New York City enacted a minimum hourly wage of $17.22 for drivers. The minimum-wage rule is based on vehicle “utilization rates,” meaning how often a vehicle is carrying passengers. The idea is to ensure cars don’t spend too much time driving around empty. LINK
Colorado bill aims to fine drivers $150, plus a $32 surcharge, for parking a combustion engine car in a space reserved for EVs and plug-in hybrids. LINK
NYC Mayor bans alcohol ads in subway stations and bus shelters. LINK
- FLASHBACK: NYC Mayor announces a plan to fund NYC subways with marijuana tax. LINK
A developer in San Francisco who couldn’t afford a co-working membership launches an initiative called WePark where people spend the day working from a $2.25 an hour parking spot. WePark aimed to prove two points: 1) How cheap parking is in cities 2) how that could be better used for all citizens. LINK
- H/T to @Cait in our Slack who was there for helping write this blurb
