Autonomous & Self-Driving Vehicle News: Toyota, GAC, Uber Freight, Aurora & Innoviz

In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news Toyota, GAC, Uber Freight, Aurora and Innoviz.

Toyota & GAC

GAC and Toyota announced their collaboration in China to develop end-to-end advanced intelligent driving, similar to Tesla’s Autopilot.

Uber Freight & Aurora Innovation Premier Autonomy

Uber Freight and Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ: AUR) are launching Premier Autonomy, a new program providing early access to over 1 billion of Aurora’s driverless miles to Uber Freight carriers through 2030. The program is the latest in their longstanding partnership to integrate and deploy autonomous trucks on the Uber Freight network to enable carriers of all sizes to improve utilization and enhance business efficiency through autonomous technology. Additionally, Uber Freight will be one of Aurora’s first customers on its Dallas-to-Houston freight route, with driverless hauls for shippers expected at the end of 2024.

“Uber Freight and Aurora see a tremendous opportunity to democratize autonomous trucks for carriers of all sizes, enabling them to drive more revenue, scale their fleets, and strengthen their bottom lines,” said Lior Ron, founder and chief executive officer of Uber Freight. “Autonomous trucks will make moving goods more efficient, and this industry-first program will help facilitate and accelerate the adoption of autonomous trucks with our carriers. We’re proud to work alongside the amazing team at Aurora to bring this technology into the hands of carriers and ultimately usher in a new era of logistics.”

Industry-First Premier Autonomy Program
To pave the way for Uber Freight carriers to begin driverless operations in the years to come, the companies are launching Premier Autonomy. The industry-first program offers carriers an early and streamlined path to purchase and onboard the Aurora Driver with benefits including:

• Subscription to the Aurora Driver for autonomous freight hauling.
• Opportunity to access over 1 billion driverless miles through 2030.
• High utilization of autonomous trucks via a planned, seamless integration of the Aurora Driver into the Uber Freight platform.

“With Uber Freight, we can provide hundreds of carriers priority access to autonomous truck capacity that they wouldn’t otherwise have. Working with carriers of all sizes is one of the many ways we will transform the industry and see thousands of driverless trucks on the road,” said Ossa Fisher, president of Aurora. “It’s exciting and validating that companies like Uber Freight are reserving our long-term capacity for their customers. We all see collective value in this offering.”

Strengthening the Bottom Line for Carriers of All Sizes
Premier Autonomy enables carriers of all sizes to utilize transformative technology to enhance their operations. Today, a human-driven truck takes two to three days to move freight from Dallas to Los Angeles. With the Aurora Driver, that trip has the potential to be completed in a single day. Aurora’s research indicates autonomous trucks have the promise of being up to 32% more energy efficient than traditional trucking by optimizing highway speeds, reducing deadhead miles and idling, increasing vehicle utilization and off-peak driving, programmed eco-driving, and more.

Uber Freight and Aurora have hauled millions of pounds of cargo since pilots began in 2020, unlocking critical learnings about how to effectively move goods autonomously. The companies are committed to a meticulous approach to driverless deployment, ensuring qualified carriers can seamlessly access dedicated capacity.

The scale and density of Uber Freight’s network, along with its marketplace technology and expertise, make it the preferred platform for autonomous truck deployment. Deep integration of the Aurora Driver into the Uber Freight network will create a seamless and familiar experience for customers. The Uber Freight network will also identify shippers with suitable freight for the Aurora Driver to optimize utilization.

Verra Mobility Predicts When City Tech Leaders Will Be Ready for AVs

Verra Mobility Corporation (NASDAQ: VRRM), a leading provider of smart mobility technology solutions,  released findings from a new urban mobility technology report which found that nearly all U.S. municipalities (93%) anticipate they will need to be ready for driverless autonomous vehicles on their streets within five years.

In addition, 52% of city technology leaders surveyed would want to use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify road safety priorities.

Verra Mobility’s survey of technology leaders from cities of all sizes across the U.S., examined how they are navigating revolutionary mobility tech trends such as autonomous, connected, electric and shared (ACES) vehicles. The survey, conducted by Wakefield Research, also examined how cities are utilizing data, deploying advanced safety technology to reduce roadway fatalities and their hopes for AI-powered solutions.

“This study confirms that cities are balancing many challenges during this exciting transition period in the transportation industry, and technology is at the heart of the solution,” said David Roberts, President and CEO, Verra Mobility. “Autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility elements have already arrived in some form and are continuing to evolve. While AI shows a lot of promise, our survey revealed cities are still struggling to collect or analyze the data they need to make informed mobility decisions. City technology leaders need to harness these trends at a pivotal time when fatalities on U.S. roads are at a nearly 16-year high.”

Other insights from the survey included:

• Safety: 55% of municipal tech leaders have “reducing road safety incidents” as a top 3 priority for tech-based solutions.
• Electric Vehicles: 43% report their jurisdiction has deprioritized support for EV infrastructure because consumer demand for the technology hasn’t kept up with predictions.
• Connected Vehicles: 81% anticipate some systems will need to be updated before they’re ready to incorporate connected vehicles technology into their mobility initiatives.
• Shared Vehicles: The influx of e-bikes, e-scooters, and other shared vehicles has complicated technology-focused mobility efforts for 84% of municipalities.
• Data: 73% face analysis barriers that prevent them from using their data to implement or improve their mobility and safety initiatives.

“While survey respondents indicated the urgency in preparing for AVs, the reality is there will be human-driven vehicles on our roads for decades to come,” said Roberts. “And even as AVs become a more common fixture on our roads, we’ll discover new safety challenges as human drivers interact with advanced machines. Our survey findings emphasize the need for city leaders, automotive manufacturers, technology providers and safety advocates to come together to find ways to make transportation easier, more efficient and much safer than it is today.”

Innoviz Tech L4 Autonomous for OEM