The Future of Shared Robotaxi Rides, with James Cox

This week’s podcast is brought to you by Terawatt – purpose-built charging for autonomous vehicle fleets.Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, and Substack. We now have transcripts available too (Click on the "transcripts" button in the top right corner of this post to access them).In today’s episode, I’m speaking with James Cox, Ex Uber Pool Exec, and CEO at The Routing Company, a startup that’s transforming transit with routing and optimization software. James talks about his time at Uber Pool and how ridepooling worked, and the lessons learned there that could be applied to AVs. He also talks about The Routing Company and how their technology has been applied in real world deployments.We also discuss The Routing Company’s recent technology license agreement to Zoox, and the key to making AV ridepooling work. Finally, we dive into the potential challenges of ridepooling for AVs, the overlap of AV ridepooling against public transit, the importance of vehicle form factor in ridepooling, and the public sentiment towards shared rides. Chapters(00:00) Who is James Cox and what is his background?(02:20) James’ background at Uber Pool(05:04) Uber’s dynamic pricing with varying demand(06:23) The mechanics of ridepooling in the Uberpool product(10:42) Background on The Routing Company(11:57) The Routing Company’s technology in action(13:35) The keys to making ride pooling work(18:00) Lessons for AVs from human ridepooling(20:10) Ridepooling pick-up and drop-off challenges for AVs(21:15) How Uber pool increased traffic in certain markets, and how this applies to AVs(23:00) Making a case for AV ridepooling(24:57) The Routing Company’s technology license agreement to Zoox(26:44) What you need to be successful in the AV ridepooling space(27:37) When is the right time for AV companies to go into ridepooling?(30:25) How does ridepooling solve high ETAs(33:40) Do riders in the U.S. want to share rides?(36:08) AV ridepooling vs public transit(38:31) Does vehicle form factor matter in ridepooling?(40:57) Conclusion and final thoughtsDesigning Charging Hubs for Autonomous FleetsWe are excited to partner with Terawatt, one of the leading providers of charging infrastructure. To learn more about Terawatt's network of AV charging hubs and track record of 99%+ uptime, reach out to Logan Szidik at [email protected] Harry This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thedriverlessdigest.com