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Cruise has pumped the brakes on a nationwide experiment in autonomous vehicles and has suspended its self-driving cars in Houston.

Catch up quick: Officials with the company, a California-based subsidiary of General Motors, announced late last week they are pausing driverless operations.

"The most important thing for us right now is to take steps to rebuild public trust," company officials posted on X.

Context: The move came after the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday suspended Cruise's driverless testing permits in San Francisco due to an "unreasonable risk to public safety."

Zoom in: Cruise reported three collisions involving its driverless vehicles to Houston officials, per Jesse Bounds, head of the mayor's office of innovation.

Bounds said Cruise wasn't at fault in any of the three incidents. Details of the crashes were not immediately available.

Cruise vehicles also blocked traffic in Montrose when a traffic light malfunctioned in September, forcing drivers to divert around the stopped cars.

What they're saying: Despite the headwinds, GM CEO Mary Barra insists the company is staying the course.

In a statement to Axios, a spokesman added: "Reimagining our business for the next chapter of transportation isn't easy, but our commitment to an all-EV and autonomous vehicle future is stronger than ever, and our operating discipline will help us break through and win."

The big picture: GM's biggest bets on the future — electric vehicles, autonomy and subscription software — are all running into trouble, and now the likelihood of sharply higher labor costs is raising the stakes even higher, Axios' Joann Muller writes.

Go deeper: GM's big bets run low on juice.

Cruise suspends its self-driving car tests in Houston

Officials with Cruise announced late last week they are pausing driverless operations.

Self-driving cars

Cruise has pumped the brakes on a nationwide experiment in autonomous vehicles and has suspended its self-driving cars in Houston.Catch up quick: Officials with the company, a California-based subsidiary of General Motors, announced late last week they are pausing driverless operations.

News

Transit

What we use our pickups for is changing radically — even as trucks remain bound up in Texas' self-image of rugged independence.

The big picture: Perhaps no vehicle is more associated with Texas than the Ford F-150, consistently our state's top-selling pickup.

Zoom in: In Houston, trucks and SUVs dominate the market, accounting for three out of every four vehicles sold, according to TexAuto Facts. 

The Ford-F Series is the most popular vehicle in Houston, with more than 18,000 new registered vehicles from January 2022 to November 2022, according to S&P Global Mobility.

Between the lines: There's a discrepancy between the myth of the pickup truck and its actual use, one that mirrors the recent history of a fast-suburbanizing Texas.

As pickups transitioned from farm and ranch workhorses to lifestyle vehicles, their design shifted accordingly: Cabs expanded to accommodate more passengers, while beds shrank, per a new Axios Visuals special project.

What they're saying: "Today, personality and imagery are playing an even more important role in how consumers choose which truck is right for them," Strategic Vision researcher Alexander Edwards tells Axios.

40% of F-150 owners describe their vehicle as "powerful," compared to 15% for other car owners, per the firm.

Traits declining in popularity: "functional," "reliable," "economical." 

Traits increasing in popularity: "modern," "sophisticated," "technologically advanced."

By the numbers: The first generation of F-150s were 36% cab and 64% bed by length.

By 2021, the ratio had flipped, with 63% cab and 37% bed, as trucks were being used more for carrying people than lumber, rubble or bags of concrete.

The 2023 F-150’s lower trims cost between $34,000 and $42,000, but high-end models can run up to $85,000.

Tesla is rolling out its Cybertruck, Rivian sells the R1T, and Ford delivered more than 13,000 of its F-150 Lightning trucks in 2022.

Like some of their conventional counterparts, these vehicles have a luxury sensibility and high price points — the R1T starts at $70,000.

Pickup trucks have ballooned over the years

As pickups transitioned from workhorses to lifestyle vehicles, beds got smaller and cabs bigger.

What we use our pickups for is changing radically — even as trucks remain bound up in Texas&#x27; self-image of rugged independence.The big picture: Perhaps no vehicle is more associated with Texas than the Ford F-150, consistently our state&#x27;s top-selling pickup.Zoom in: In Houston, trucks and SUVs dominate the market, accounting for three out of every four vehicles sold, according to TexAuto Facts. <ul><li>The Ford-F Series is the most popular vehicle in Houston, with more than 18,000 new registered vehicles from January 2022 to November 2022, according to S&amp;P Global Mobility.</li></ul>Between the lines: There&#x27;s a discrepancy between the myth of the pickup truck and its actual use, one that mirrors the recent history of a fast-suburbanizing Texas.<ul><li>As pickups transitioned from farm and ranch workhorses to lifestyle vehicles, their design shifted accordingly: Cabs expanded to accommodate more passengers, while beds shrank, per a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new Axios Visuals special project" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history" data-vars-content-id="93beca45-d585-439f-8693-f18bdf0ec9f6" data-vars-headline="Pickup trucks have ballooned over the years" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history" target="_self">new Axios Visuals special project</a>.</li></ul>What they&#x27;re saying: &quot;Today, personality and imagery are playing an even more important role in how consumers choose which truck is right for them,&quot; Strategic Vision researcher Alexander Edwards tells Axios.<ul><li>40% of F-150 owners describe their vehicle as &quot;powerful,&quot; compared to 15% for other car owners, per the firm.</li><li>Traits declining in popularity: &quot;functional,&quot; &quot;reliable,&quot; &quot;economical.&quot; </li><li>Traits increasing in popularity: &quot;modern,&quot; &quot;sophisticated,&quot; &quot;technologically advanced.&quot;</li></ul>By the numbers: The first generation of F-150s were 36% cab and 64% bed by length.<ul><li>By 2021, the ratio had flipped, with 63% cab and 37% bed, as trucks were being used more for carrying people than lumber, rubble or bags of concrete.</li><li>The 2023 F-150’s lower trims cost between $34,000 and $42,000, but high-end models can run up to $85,000.</li></ul>What&#x27;s next: The electric truck.<ul><li>Tesla is rolling out its Cybertruck, Rivian sells <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="the R1T" data-vars-click-url="https://www.caranddriver.com/rivian/r1t" data-vars-content-id="93beca45-d585-439f-8693-f18bdf0ec9f6" data-vars-headline="Pickup trucks have ballooned over the years" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.caranddriver.com/rivian/r1t" target="_blank">the R1T</a>, and Ford <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="delivered more than 13,000" data-vars-click-url="https://www.barrons.com/articles/ford-electric-vehicle-sales-lightning-51669994977" data-vars-content-id="93beca45-d585-439f-8693-f18bdf0ec9f6" data-vars-headline="Pickup trucks have ballooned over the years" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.barrons.com/articles/ford-electric-vehicle-sales-lightning-51669994977" target="_blank">delivered more than 13,000</a> of its F-150 Lightning trucks in 2022.</li><li>Like some of their conventional counterparts, these vehicles have a luxury sensibility and high price points — the R1T starts at $70,000.</li></ul><a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="The safety angle " data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history" data-vars-content-id="93beca45-d585-439f-8693-f18bdf0ec9f6" data-vars-headline="Pickup trucks have ballooned over the years" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history" target="_self">The safety angle </a>

To the long list of interests hoping to benefit from Texas' record $32.7 billion surplus, add former state employees.

These are, among others, retired custodians at the Capitol, the workers collecting fees at state parks and transportation workers preparing roadways for icy weather.

Why it matters: Despite vying for years for a bump, retired state employees have not seen a pension cost-of-living adjustment since 2001.

Meanwhile, they're squeezed as the cost of living has zoomed up the last two decades.

By the numbers: Roughly 123,000 Texans get pension checks from the Employees Retirement System of Texas — including at least 24,800 in the nine Texas Senate districts that represent most of Greater Houston.

Fully funding a 10% cost-of-living adjustment for state retirees would cost about $4.2 billion.

Flashback: In each of the last two legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers gave retired teachers a 13th paycheck — on top of the usual 12 monthly checks they receive each year.

State leaders say they want to approve an extra check for teachers again this session.

Yes, but: Retired state employees don't have the political pull of teachers, who are prominent and sympathetic employees, especially in rural parts of the state.

"That becomes an emotional tug," Luther Elmore, a state retiree who is also president of the AFSCME Texas Retirees, Chapter 12, tells Axios. "We're talking about the teachers for itty-bitty school children. Where's the emotional pull when the job is cutting the grass or dumping the bedpan at the state hospital or cleaning the toilets at the Capitol?"

What they want: Along with the $4.2 billion cost-of-living adjustment, retired state workers are fighting at the Capitol for at least the same 13th check that retired teachers will be getting — about $1,800 per retiree, or about $250 million overall.

Of note: Roughly three-fourths of pension plans sponsored by states and local governments provide some form of an automatic cost-of-living adjustment, per the National Association of State Retirement Administrators.

What they're saying: Among retirees, "their concerns are, do I buy milk or do I buy eggs?" Richard Jankowski, president of the Texas Department of Public Safety Officers Association, tells Axios.

Older retirees get monthly checks between $1,200 and $1,500, Jankowski says. Some of them are forced back into the workplace.

Between the lines: The term "budget surplus" feels baked into practically every proposal at the Capitol this session, as lawmakers pushing everything from property tax cuts to tampon tax reform pin their arguments to the state's flush coffers.

At the start of the session, the state's chief financial officer said the state has a $32.7 billion budget surplus.

What's next: Texas House members voted to put the pensioners' ask in an unfunded wish list, to be hashed out behind closed doors later in the session, which ends in six weeks, leaving the retirees in limbo.

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Texas state retirees aim for pension bump

Retired state employees have not seen a pension cost-of-living adjustment since 2001.

Pensions

To the long list of interests hoping to benefit from <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Texas&#x27; record $32.7 billion surplus" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2023/01/27/texas-surplus-lawmakers" data-vars-content-id="b1d77c15-115d-49e8-96ae-1845e6511b3f" data-vars-headline="Texas state retirees aim for pension bump" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2023/01/27/texas-surplus-lawmakers" target="_self">Texas&#x27; record $32.7 billion surplus</a>, add former state employees.<ul><li>These are, among others, retired custodians at the Capitol, the workers collecting fees at state parks and transportation workers preparing roadways for icy weather.</li></ul>

When packing for that weekend trip to visit your grandparents, please remember to put your Glock in your checked baggage.

Driving the news: George Bush Intercontinental Airport ranked third for most firearm discoveries in 2022, per the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

By the numbers: 298 guns were found at IAH security checkpoints in 2022 — up from 245 guns in 2021.

Nationally, 88% of the 6,542 firearms discovered in carry-on bags last year were loaded.

For the record: Guns must be unloaded and locked in a hard-sided container — and transported in checked baggage only.

Replica firearms, including firearm replicas that are toys, may be transported in checked baggage only.

Yes, but: Rifle scopes — but not silencers — are permitted in carry-on baggage.

Of note: A traveler with an improperly stored gun who has been approved for TSA PreCheck will lose PreCheck privileges.

Plus: When your gun gets caught at security, you inconvenience everyone else queued up.

The bottom line: Don't be that traveler who packs a loaded gun in their carry-on.

IAH among top airports with gun discoveries

Airports

When packing for that weekend trip to visit your grandparents, please remember to put your Glock <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="in your checked baggage" data-vars-click-url="https://link.axios.com/click/30282559.78/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudHNhLmdvdi90cmF2ZWwvdHJhbnNwb3J0aW5nLWZpcmVhcm1zLWFuZC1hbW11bml0aW9uP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1zZW5kdG9fbG9jYWxuZXdzbGV0dGVydGVzdCZzdHJlYW09dG9w/62f6ab20d173ab15f0173903B2b25a5ae" data-vars-content-id="e6f99a89-1ef2-489b-a4b9-089f500273b9" data-vars-headline="IAH among top airports with gun discoveries" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://link.axios.com/click/30282559.78/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudHNhLmdvdi90cmF2ZWwvdHJhbnNwb3J0aW5nLWZpcmVhcm1zLWFuZC1hbW11bml0aW9uP3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1zZW5kdG9fbG9jYWxuZXdzbGV0dGVydGVzdCZzdHJlYW09dG9w/62f6ab20d173ab15f0173903B2b25a5ae" target="_blank">in your checked baggage</a>.Driving the news: George Bush Intercontinental Airport ranked third for most firearm discoveries in 2022, per the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Amid the chaos at the end of the legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed a bill that would limit but wouldn't end tenure, a hallmark of academic job protection.

Driving the news: Both the Texas House and Senate passed legislation that would let tenure continue — but would allow politically appointed overseers to fire faculty for reasons including "professional incompetence" or "conduct involving moral turpitude."

The Senate's version would have barred public universities from granting tenure to faculty members starting in 2024.

The latest: The bill has been sent to the governor.

Why it matters: The issue strikes at political control of universities — and the ability of Texas research institutions to lure talent as other states maintain a tenure system.

What they're saying: "Tenured professors must not be able to hide behind the phrase 'academic freedom,' and then proceed to poison the minds of our next generation," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement last year.

The other side: Republican lawmakers want "to remake us into a right-wing institution that fits their politics, instead of a place of academic freedom where students and faculty and staff work to discover how the world works," Stuart Reichler, a University of Texas professor of practice who represents nontenure faculty at the Faculty Council, tells Axios.

"I wanted to feel assured that my research cannot be potential grounds for termination," Jeffrey Gardner, a sociology professor at Sam Houston State University, told KUT.

Flashback: Prior to the start of the legislative session, the University of Houston altered its review process for tenured faculty, per the Houston Chronicle.

The new post-tenure review policy — which the university crafted over three years and passed through its board in December — aims to address faculty productivity.

All faculty members go through annual performance reviews. If tenured faculty fail the yearly evaluations in two of any three consecutive periods — for teaching or for research — they trigger an additional evaluation and remediation process.

If the provost decides that the tenured faculty member failed to meet the terms of their plan, they can be dismissed.

Plus, the new policy requires tenured faculty to undergo a "post-tenure review" every six years.

The intrigue: Amid complaints about cancel culture on university campuses, tenure has traditionally protected professors who want to pursue new paths of study or speak out on issues in the public eye.

The state of tenure in Texas

Both the Texas House and Senate passed legislation that will let tenure continue — but would allow politically appointed overseers to fire faculty under some conditions.

Education

Amid the chaos at the end of the legislative session, Texas lawmakers passed a bill that would limit but wouldn&#x27;t end tenure, a hallmark of academic job protection.Driving the news: Both the Texas House and Senate passed legislation that would let tenure continue — but would allow politically appointed overseers to fire faculty for reasons including &quot;professional incompetence&quot; or &quot;conduct involving moral turpitude.&quot;

Asher Price

Featured stories

Cruise suspends its self-driving car tests in Houston

The state of tenure in Texas

Texas state retirees aim for pension bump

Pickup trucks have ballooned over the years

IAH among top airports with gun discoveries