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Self-driving cars are now tooling around in a growing number of cities — even giving rides to the public, in some instances — but it'll be years before summoning a robotaxi is routine. 

One big obstacle: Teaching them the rules of the road in each city, which must be done block by block and street by street.

Why it matters: Despite high-profile efforts to get autonomous vehicles on the road, the obstacles — including engineering challenges, capital requirements, regulatory issues and liability questions — are immense, raising questions about how quickly the market can move forward.

Driving the news: Argo AI announced Tuesday that it has begun driverless testing operations in Miami and Austin, two of the eight cities in the U.S. and Germany where it is developing its AV technology.

It's an important milestone on the path to commercial deployment for the Ford- and VW-backed company.

Argo is unique for testing cars simultaneously in multiple cities; most of its rivals are focused on mastering one city at a time.

Founder and CEO Bryan Salesky says the approach will enable Argo to gather richer data so it can quickly scale AVs into a viable business.

Where it stands: So far, only one company — Waymo — has a commercial robotaxi service that's up and running. 

In suburban Phoenix, you can hail a driverless taxi using Waymo's app. But the service is limited to a 50-mile area around Chandler and Tempe — you can't go downtown or to the airport, for example. 

In San Francisco, GM-backed Cruise is giving free rides to the public, but only in certain neighborhoods during overnight hours. It hopes to receive the first permit in California for a paid robotaxi service as early as June 2.

In Las Vegas, another AV developer, Motional, has been running its cars on the Lyft network (with safety drivers behind the wheel) for several years. It plans to launch a fully driverless service in Las Vegas in 2023, with other cities to follow. 

Meanwhile, other self-driving tech companies — like Nuro and Aurora — are focused on local delivery or long-haul trucking applications. 

Details: Argo's driverless vehicles have operating limitations of their own: 

Only employees can ride for now, and the cars are confined to specific streets and neighborhoods. 

If they encounter heavy rain, they'll pull over and stop. The software doesn't allow them to operate in severe weather like snow, dense fog or hail. 

Between the lines: AV developers put their own parameters on where and when their cars can operate safely, then they gradually expand those limits — geography, lighting conditions and weather, for example — as the technology improves and regulations allow.

Each city is different, with different road layouts and unique local driving behaviors, explains Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at Guidehouse Insights, a research and consulting firm.

People can figure out how to drive in a new city pretty quickly, he says, but training AV software to understand the local rules takes time.

"Humans are naturally more adaptable than software is," he says. "It's just a reality. We do a better job of adapting to changing conditions than software does."

The bottom line: A driverless car is a lot like a Roomba vacuum: With regular use, it learns to navigate your entire living room. But to find the dust bunnies in your bedroom, it needs to be trained all over again.

Image of a self-driving Argo vehicle with no one in the driver's seat.

Argo AI's driverless test vehicles are now operating in Austin, Texas (above) and Miami. Photo: Argo AI

Why driverless cars can't go everywhere yet

Like a Roomba vacuum navigating your home, they need to be trained for every city

Autonomous vehicles

Automation and AI

Self-driving cars are now tooling around in a growing number of cities — even giving rides to the public, in some instances — but it&#x27;ll be years before summoning a robotaxi is routine. <ul><li>One big obstacle: Teaching them the rules of the road in each city, which must be done block by block and street by street.</li></ul>Why it matters: Despite high-profile efforts to get autonomous vehicles on the road, the obstacles — including engineering challenges, capital requirements, regulatory issues and liability questions — are immense, raising questions about how quickly the market can move forward.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Uber is adding "comfort electric" vehicles to the ride-hailing options on its app in some California cities, part of an ongoing effort to get drivers and consumers to go electric.

Plus: At many stadiums, you can now order food from the concession stands using Uber Eats so you don't have to miss any of the game standing in line.

Why it matters: The new features are among a suite of new products Uber rolled out Monday to make going places — or getting food — more convenient and sustainable.

Details: Uber Comfort Electric is available in San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles with more cities to come.

Riders tap a button to request a ride in a premium EV like a Tesla, Polestar or Ford Mustang Mach-E.

The Comfort Electric option is offered alongside Uber Green, where riders can already request hybrid and EV rides, as well as car-free options like bikes and scooters.

Hailing a premium EV is more expensive, though: Uber says Comfort Electric is priced between its more premium Uber Comfort and Uber Black offerings.

The big picture: Uber aims to be a zero-emissions platform in the U.S. by 2030 (and globally by 2040). The company is spending more than $800 million on various incentives to help drivers make the switch to EVs.

In 2021, Uber announced a deal with Hertz to make up to 50,000 Teslas available for Uber drivers to rent by 2023.

In the U.S., drivers who switch to EVs can earn $1 more per trip, up to $4,000 a year.

Uber has already been making significant progress in Europe, where EVs are more popular.

Yes, but: as Axios has reported: Uber's drivers are gig workers so it can't force them to buy EVs.

Uber Eats at Stadiums is currently available in LA at Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium; in New York at Yankee Stadium; in Washington, D.C., at Capital One Arena; in Houston at Minute Maid Park; and in San Jose at PayPal Park.

How it works: Inside the venue, consumers can open the Uber Eats app and click on their general seat location (Main level, section 215 or gate 21B, for example) to be shown nearby ordering options.

Then they select the merchant, add their food, drink or merch to their cart and place an order for pickup.

When the order is ready, they’ll be notified and can head to the pickup location, skipping the line.

Uber plans to offer the service at concerts, festivals and theaters too.

Uber Travel: reserve rides for each leg of your itinerary in advance.

Uber Charter: book a party bus, passenger van or coach bus.

Vouchers for Events: cover the cost of rides for your wedding guests or employees.

Autonomous Delivery: two pilot programs in Los Angeles, using self-driving cars from Motional and sidewalk robots from Serve Robotics.

Uber adds electric cars and stadium food to its menu

Now you don't have to stand in line for concessions and miss the action.

Illustration of a burger, drink, and fries, sitting on a cell phone as if it were a tray

Uber

Transportation

Uber is adding &quot;comfort electric&quot; vehicles to the ride-hailing options on its app in some California cities, part of an ongoing effort to get drivers and consumers to go electric.<ul><li>Plus: At many stadiums, you can now order food from the concession stands using Uber Eats so you don&#x27;t have to miss any of the game standing in line.</li></ul>

New airlines don't come along very often, but the pandemic provided a rare opportunity for new carriers to establish themselves in smaller markets that had been abandoned by the major airlines in recent years.

Why it matters: Startups like Breeze Airways and Avelo Airlines represent a new generation of low-frills carriers that aim to disrupt the status quo just as Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines did decades earlier.

They're using technology as a differentiator — in addition to low fares and convenient routes.

Driving the news: Several de novo airlines were born during the pandemic, taking advantage of the near-shutdown of air travel that brought the big-name carriers to their knees not long ago.

The newcomers have grown quickly, adding new, larger planes and more nonstop routes to bigger cities:

Breeze, which launched a year ago mostly on the East Coast, is now offering $99 one-way fares to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. And it just announced service from Westchester County Airport, a popular alternative to New York's three busy airports.

Avelo, which started last year on the West Coast, is now adding routes such as New Haven, Conn.,-to-Orlando, Fla. 

PLAY, an Icelandic airline launched last year, is offering cheap flights to Europe, through Reykjavik, from Baltimore/Washington, D.C., Boston, New York and Orlando.

The tech angle: Breeze was the brainchild of David Neeleman — who also founded JetBlue and other airlines — and it's taking a "tech-first" approach to customer service. 

You have to book and manage your flights through an app or the company's website — there is no toll-free customer service number.

Passengers communicate with Breeze representatives solely via text, chat or Facebook messenger. 

Each service agent manages multiple text conversations at once.

The company says this makes response times faster than they would be if passengers were holding on the telephone.

Customers usually connect with an agent within 5 to 10 minutes, a company spokesperson says, adding that conversations are typically resolved within 20 minutes.

Yes, but: The remote encounters don't sit well with everyone, as complaints on the company's Facebook page indicate, notes USA Today.

Reality check: It wasn't easy for any of these airlines to launch during the pandemic, which effectively killed the travel industry.

"It delayed us a good year or so, but that was the main downside," Neeleman, the CEO, tells Axios via email.

"On the other hand, the pandemic exacerbated the reduction of airline services that secondary and tertiary markets had been experiencing for the last five years. So, if anything, it gave us more opportunities there."

The big picture: Low-cost carriers swooping in to undercut the industry leaders "is a play we’ve seen before," said Adam Gordon, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group, who leads the firm's airline practice.

Discount carriers take advantage of their lower cost of operations: newer planes with low maintenance requirements, lower labor rates and simple business models, for example. (Think Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier.)

"As they mature, their labor costs tend to rise, the aircraft need more maintenance, and it all gets more complex. That creates space for new players to come in beneath them."

Flashback: JetBlue, born in February 2000, stood out for its low fares, new planes and passenger amenities like seatback screens, satellite television and free Wi-Fi.

Other airlines were forced to respond by adding similar amenities. Many also adopted the tiered pricing structure for economy seats that discount airlines pioneered.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that Breeze passengers can manage flights on the company’s website as well as through its app. This story was originally published on May 10. 

New generation of budget airlines aims to disrupt flying

Pandemic-era startups Breeze Airways and Avelo Airlines offer non-stop flights from smaller cities.

Illustration of an airplane tail design with a dollar bill sign on it.   

Airlines

New airlines don&#x27;t come along very often, but the pandemic provided a rare opportunity for new carriers to establish themselves in smaller markets that had been abandoned by the major airlines in recent years.Why it matters: Startups like Breeze Airways and Avelo Airlines represent a new generation of low-frills carriers that aim to disrupt the status quo just as Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines did decades earlier.

Assisted-driving systems don't perform well enough to consistently avoid collisions, new testing by AAA shows, underscoring why most drivers are skeptical about autonomous vehicles.  

Why it matters: Although you still can't buy a self-driving car, a growing number of new cars and trucks are equipped with Automated Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS technology, that helps cars steer, stay in their lane and brake in an emergency. 

Driving the news: In its third round of ADAS testing, AAA measured how three vehicles equipped with driver-assist technology — a 2020 Tesla Model 3, a 2021 Subaru Forester and a 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe — performed in four collision scenarios using dummy cars and cyclists made of foam.

What they found: When faced with an oncoming dummy car at 25 miles per hour, the Hyundai and Subaru didn't slow down, while the Tesla did slow to about 3 miles per hour. But all three collided with the dummy vehicle, AAA said. 

The Subaru failed to detect a simulated bicycle rider crossing its path in five test runs, while the Tesla and Hyundai successfully stopped in time to avoid a collision. 

All three tested vehicles avoided hitting slower-moving dummy vehicles and cyclists when approaching from behind. 

The other side: Hyundai and Subaru said they are looking into AAA's findings, and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

The big picture: AAA has been tracking consumer sentiment toward vehicle automation since 2016, and its latest survey found that distrust continues to run high. 

85% of those surveyed said they were fearful or unsure of self-driving technology; a similar percentage said they would not be comfortable using a self-driving vehicle to carry their children or loved ones.

The survey found drivers want automakers to improve the performance of existing driver support features rather than develop self-driving cars.     

What they're saying: "You can’t sell consumers on the future if they don’t trust the present," said Greg Brannon, director of AAA’s automotive engineering. 

"Drivers tell us they expect their current driving assistance technology to perform safely all the time. But unfortunately, our testing demonstrates spotty performance is the norm rather than the exception."

Assisted-driving systems aren't collision-proof, AAA testing shows

Consumers want carmakers to focus on making today's tech better before unleashing self-driving cars

Screenshot from a crash video showing a dummy cyclist being hit by a car

Assisted-driving systems don&#x27;t perform well enough to consistently avoid collisions, new testing by AAA shows, underscoring why most drivers are skeptical about autonomous vehicles. Why it matters: Although you still can&#x27;t buy a self-driving car, a growing number of new cars and trucks are equipped with Automated Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS technology, that helps cars steer, stay in their lane and brake in an emergency.

The red-hot housing market is starting to cool this spring, after nearly two years of soaring prices and shrinking inventories. 

Why it matters: Homebuyers and renters who've been struggling to find an affordable place to live will have more choices and fewer bidding wars — if only just a little. 

Rising interest rates, inflation and the stock market drop are countervailing factors, keeping the housing market unaffordable to many.

What's happening: The supply of homes for sale is finally increasing, after being depleted over the past year and a half, Zillow reports. 

There were 740,000 homes for sale in the U.S. at the end of April, up from 715,833 at the end of March, per Zillow. That's still about half pre-pandemic levels in April 2019.

It's not just a seasonal uptick, either. Inventories are rising enough to begin closing the gap with 2021's available homes, and should surpass last year's inventory sometime later in 2022, Zillow says.

More houses for sale should help slow the frenetic pace of the U.S. market, in which the median home was snatched up in just six days in April.

That head-snapping sales rate is "extraordinary — unlike anything we've seen before in the national housing market," Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow, the real estate website, tells Axios. 

New home construction has also bolstered the housing supply, says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. 

Yet persistent inflation — plus external factors, like the war in Ukraine — will continue to cause strain for potential buyers, he said. 

The big picture: The dynamics of the housing market are shifting in many ways, with rising mortgage rates becoming a factor for the first time in a while.

The monthly mortgage payment on the median-asking-price home — which has risen to $408,458 — has hit a record high of $2,404 at the current 5.27% mortgage rate, per Redfin. 

That's 42% higher than the $1,688 monthly payment a year earlier, when mortgage rates were 2.96%.

“Homebuyers continue to be squeezed in nearly every way possible, which is causing some to take a step back from the market,” says Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather in a company blog post.

Between the lines: As inventories rise, prices soften. Redfin reports 15% of home sellers cut their asking price last month — up from 9% a year ago.  

"Even though price drops are becoming more common, most homes are still selling above asking price and in record time," notes Fairweather. 

Be smart: The cooldown is not a sign of a housing crash — just an indication that we're going to return to a more balanced market, says Tucker of Zillow.

And while prices aren't expected to start falling fast, at least they won't be climbing quite as quickly anymore. 

What to watch: Some overheated markets — like Charlotte, North Carolina, and Phoenix — could see a price correction over the coming year, Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi tells Fortune. 

The bottom line: It'll probably be a year or two before housing demand and supply are back in equilibrium, says Tucker. 

The crazy housing market is finally slowing down

But rising mortgage rates will continue to put the squeeze on buyers.

Image of people entering and existing an Open House for sale

Homebuyers face a lot of competition. Photo: Raychel Brightman/Newsday RM via Getty Images

Housing

The red-hot housing market is starting to cool this spring, after nearly two years of soaring prices and shrinking inventories. Why it matters: Homebuyers and renters who&#x27;ve been struggling to find an affordable place to live will have more choices and fewer bidding wars — if only just a little. <ul><li>Rising <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="interest rates" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/11/inflation-remained-high-april" data-vars-content-id="f0ef1702-5724-4137-85d4-68f49eea22c4" data-vars-headline="The crazy housing market is finally slowing down" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/11/inflation-remained-high-april" target="_self">interest rates</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="inflation" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/04/federal-reserve-rate-hike" data-vars-content-id="f0ef1702-5724-4137-85d4-68f49eea22c4" data-vars-headline="The crazy housing market is finally slowing down" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/04/federal-reserve-rate-hike" target="_self">inflation</a> and the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="stock market" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/economy-business/stock-market/" data-vars-content-id="f0ef1702-5724-4137-85d4-68f49eea22c4" data-vars-headline="The crazy housing market is finally slowing down" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/economy-business/stock-market/" target="_self">stock market</a> drop are countervailing factors, keeping the housing market unaffordable to many.</li></ul>

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Stories

Assisted-driving systems aren't collision-proof, AAA testing shows

Why driverless cars can't go everywhere yet

Uber adds electric cars and stadium food to its menu

The crazy housing market is finally slowing down

New generation of budget airlines aims to disrupt flying