DRIVERLESS CARS
VIDEO SHOWS POLICE YELLING AT DRIVERLESS TAXI TO STOP BEFORE IT RUNS OVER A FIRE HOSE
In February, a robotaxi operated by Waymo (an Alphabet company) stumbled onto the scene of a fire caused by an explosion and wouldn’t get out of the way, news outlet Mission Local reported. Police officers shouted and did everything they could think of to ensure the electric Jaguar didn’t roll over a fire hose, body-cam footage shows. “It doesn’t know what to do!,” one officer standing in front of the confused car shouts to the officer wearing the camera. “I’ll pop a flare,” the second officer says, hoping that the billowing smoke will keep the taxi from driving forward over the water line. “No! You stay!,” he shouts as he places the burning flare in front of the robotaxi’s bumper. After the officers turn away, the taxi starts inching forward again, eliciting an expletive from one
officer. One goes to block its path while the other radios to the dispatcher, asking if they can contact Waymo for help. “I got a Waymo autonomous vehicle, it’s inching close to one of the main water lines that the SF Fire just charged. Can’t run it over,” he says. “I don’t trust this AI.” After speaking with a Waymo rep through the car’s speakers, one
officer gets the car shifted into park. A few minutes later, someone shows up and drives the car away. A Waymo spokesperson told Insider that the company has improved its tech in the three months since the incident. “As part of the training, Waymo outlines best practices, shares its first responder guide and provides a phone number to reach Waymo directly in the event of a stop,” the spokesperson said. As impressive as they are, the driverless taxis on roads today still have trouble reacting to unusual situations like blocked streets or commands from first responders. A recent viral Tik Tok video:
https://bit.ly/41qOeBC shows a police officer repeatedly gesturing for a Waymo taxi to pull over. Everyone inside the car laughs while trying to tell the officer they aren’t in control of the vehicle.
FLYING TAXIS WILL TAKE TO THE SKIES DURING THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
For the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, a first experiment with flying cabs will take place on a few routes in and around the French capital. The idea is to familiarise the public with this new technology, which could become more widespread in a few years’ time. The selected project is led by the German manufacturer Volocopter and the British operator Skyports. It is above all supported by the ADP Group, which operates the airports of Paris and its region, thanks to which tests have been
PHTM JUNE 2023
underway since 2021, in collab- oration with France’s civil aviation authority, the Direction générale de l’aviation civile (DGAC). During the Olympic Games, several VoloCity urban taxis should
be available to VIPs and the general public on experimental routes between Charles de Gaulle Airport and Le Bourget Airport, or between Le Bourget and the Quai d’Austerlitz in Paris. In a recent interview, Augustin de Romanet, CEO of the ADP group, estimated the average price of a trip in a VoloCity flying taxi to be similar to that of a traditional cab. During the event, a few thousand tickets should be sold “at very reasonable prices," he announced, which “could be around €110."
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