I spent last week in San Francisco as part of the M&T program’s Immersive Week. During this week, the entire sophomore class, along with the faculty of the program, meet with investors and founders in SF and the Bay Area, and also attend other activities, which are SF specific such as firm visits and factory tours.
As a future Cruise employee, I’m glad you were able to take a ride!
Another hurdle that AV ride hailing companies will need to overcome is making it operationally sound, not just in terms of economics. Companies are going to have to figure out how to prevent nefarious activity inside and outside the vehicle (e.g., intentionally blocking the vehicle, using rides for illicit activities, etc.)
Agreed, exciting times! I believe there are much bigger financial incentives in freight logistics than people/transit logistics, and that's where we'll see the adoption first. Hours of Service limits the utilization of trucks, autonomous will relieve this limitation and significantly change TL freight costs and even intermodal/truck break even points (TL will be more competitive, time- and cost-wise, with the 500+ mile lanes where IM has advantages today). I'm less sold on Last Mile logistics but I know many are working in this space as well. But watch the middle mile TL line haul space as the economics are most transformative there, particularly for shippers that have high demand in the same lanes day over day.
Really exciting times! I feel that much of Tesla's market cap is attributed to the hope of Elon's promises for a robo-taxi fleet. Seeing how far companies like cruise have progressed in recent years, It seems that GM may be greatly undervalued as Cruise may be able to realize Tesla's dreams better than they can themselves. What a time to be alive!
As a future Cruise employee, I’m glad you were able to take a ride!
Another hurdle that AV ride hailing companies will need to overcome is making it operationally sound, not just in terms of economics. Companies are going to have to figure out how to prevent nefarious activity inside and outside the vehicle (e.g., intentionally blocking the vehicle, using rides for illicit activities, etc.)
Great points. Just like any new technology, it will develop faster than the norms around it.
Agreed, exciting times! I believe there are much bigger financial incentives in freight logistics than people/transit logistics, and that's where we'll see the adoption first. Hours of Service limits the utilization of trucks, autonomous will relieve this limitation and significantly change TL freight costs and even intermodal/truck break even points (TL will be more competitive, time- and cost-wise, with the 500+ mile lanes where IM has advantages today). I'm less sold on Last Mile logistics but I know many are working in this space as well. But watch the middle mile TL line haul space as the economics are most transformative there, particularly for shippers that have high demand in the same lanes day over day.
Really exciting times! I feel that much of Tesla's market cap is attributed to the hope of Elon's promises for a robo-taxi fleet. Seeing how far companies like cruise have progressed in recent years, It seems that GM may be greatly undervalued as Cruise may be able to realize Tesla's dreams better than they can themselves. What a time to be alive!