Phoenix

Enterprise

Autonomous Ride-Hailing Vehicles Make a Comeback – Well, Kinda

Cruise is redeploying robotaxis in Phoenix after nearly five months of paused operations, the company said in a blog post. Cruise will resume manual driving of its autonomous vehicles to create maps and gather road information in certain cities, starting with Phoenix, the company said Tuesday. Cruise has not announced when or where it will resume driverless operations. The company’s main operations were historically based in San Francisco, but Cruise lost its permits to operate there following the accident. Cruise began expanding its paid service area in the Phoenix area in August 2023.

Max Chen
April 9, 2024
1 Comment

Uncategorized

. New and Improved: Transform Your Food Scraps into Poultry Meal with Mill’s Innovative Bin by Daybreak

Mill, a food waste startup, is releasing an entirely new design of its bin that grinds and dries scraps, turning it into compost-like grounds that can feed plants and chickens alike. Now, the heating elements surround the entire bin and the fan blows hot air through the food waste as it’s being processed. That program continues nationwide, and a standards body recently certified Mill’s feed product, which should help the startup speed adoption among interested farmers. “We’ve actually closed the loop in Phoenix,” Rogers said. Mill may have already diverted 1 million pounds of food waste from landfills (and the associated greenhouse gasses), but it’s not enough for him.

Kira Kim
February 29, 2024

Enterprise, Transportation

Waymo to Begin Trial of Robotaxis on Phoenix Highways

Waymo is about to start testing its driverless passenger vehicles on the highway later this month, a critical milestone for the company that, if successful, will unlock expanded commercial operations. Bringing its autonomous cars to the highway is just the latest in a series of big steps for Waymo, especially in the Phoenix area. Just a few months before that, Waymo made its autonomous vehicles available in the Uber app. The GM autonomous vehicle subsidiary recently slashed a quarter of its staff and pushed out a number of executives after a crash in October where one of its robotaxis dragged a pedestrian. Last year, the company backed away from its autonomous trucking effort in order to focus more on ride-hailing.

Zara Khan
January 8, 2024

Enterprise, Transportation

“Phoenix Airport Now Offers Waymo’s Convenient Curbside Robotaxi Pickup Service”

Select Waymo One riders can now get picked up or dropped off by the company’s robotaxis curbside at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Waymo became the first autonomous vehicle operator in the U.S. to launch a paid robotaxi service to and from the airport in November 2022. The average trip rating for its airport trips has been about 4.7 out of 5 stars, Waymo says. Waymo’s trusted testers are riders who have been vetted by the company and have signed nondisclosure agreements. “Last year, we partnered with Waymo to become the first airport in the world to offer travelers the ability to take an autonomous vehicle to the airport,” said Chad Makovsky, aviation director at Sky Harbor Airport, in a statement.