Headlines & Coming Up – Week of 2.19.18 | iDSC034

Headlines & Coming Up – Week of 2.19.18 LAX and the City of LA are moving toward spending $4.5B on a “people mover”. Waymo, Google’s autonomous driving division, gets a green-light from the state of Arizona. A Silicon Valley icon is moving to LA and Starman’s biggest fan is making some money off his interstellar journey. Plus we get a behind the scenes tour of Air Force One (@ the Reagan Library) and we cover Distracted Driving with Officer Yarbrough of the California Highway Patrol. Happy President’s Day and welcome to iDriveSoCal the podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States – Southern California. I’m Tom Smith.  Here’s what’s happening in mobility news: LAX is moving towards spending four-point-five billion dollars to make it easier for travelers to get in and out of the airport. That’s billion – with a capital “B”. The Los Angeles World Airport Board of Commissioners voted to move forward with the spend earlier this week. The plan calls for a group of contractors to design, construct and operate a people mover. I really wish we could afford the rights to cue the Monorail Song from the fourth season of the Simpson’s right here. The deal isn’t completely done yet as there’s a convoluted approval process ripe for lots of political favors to be baked into the final mess. It’s supposed to be completed by 2023 – leaving a comfy 5-years for over-budget excuses and expenditures before we actually need it for the Olympics in 2028. As LA’s Mayor, Eric Garcetti preps for a White House run, he released a statement giving the forward motion of the plan his support. As they say – follow the money folks. Just follow that money. While LAX gets ready to cough up billions for an old school monorail our neighbors in Phoenix are set to experience the reality of driverless transportation. Arizona recently gave Waymo official status to launch a service that will compete with Uber and Lyft but without drivers. Waymo, Google’s autonomous driving division, has been testing the technology since 2009. They’ve covered more than four-million driverless miles in reality and more than two-point-five billion virtually. By the end of this year, Phoenix residents will be able hail a Waymo driverless Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid to take them around the city.  And speaking of tech and mobility – an icon of Silicon Valley is putting the territory in his rear view mirror. Paypal founder, early investor in Facebook and President Trump Supporter, Peter Theil is said to be moving to Los Angeles. The primary reason for his Valley departure is its super-left-leaning political views. Um, hey Pete, you seem really smart and well informed but LA ain’t exactly conservative. Nevertheless the start-up scene down here welcomes you with open arms and we’d love a podcast interview once you get settled.  Which brings us to yet another story about Theil’s fellow-Paypal founder Elon Musk. Specifically the Tesla Roadster that he launched into orbit last week. Turns out the stunt so inspired one fan that he decided to create a website dedicated to tracking the vehicle. A young engineer named Ben Pearson created com. The site projects the location of Starman and his Tesla, within our Solar System, at any given time. The site is already ranking quite high with internet traffic. It’s being monetized with banner advertising. And you can even purchase t-shirts and tchotchkes.