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Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Editorial: Strapped for time, Springfield punts on transit funding and reform
State lawmakers left a large pile of major issues on their agenda for the waning hours of the 2025 spring session. Very few of them were addressed other than the must-pass budget for fiscal 2026. Color us unsurprised. Despite a $1 billion shortfall that had to be plugged, the $55 billion budget proved to be anticlimactic, largely hewing to the outline Gov. JB Pritzker offered in February. So what passed for news in the capital emanated mainly from what didn't happen rather than what did. At the top of that list was the fiscal crisis the Chicago-area's public transit agencies are facing, which those agencies have said will mean substantial service reductions if Springfield doesn't act in the coming months. Following the end of the session, Pritzker and legislative leaders said the General Assembly likely would take the unusual step of acting over the summer on the issue. That's good. For the sake of commuters and the region's economy, they should act well before what would normally be the next opportunity — the fall veto session in November. Springfield should learn from the mistakes of the just-concluded session. Everyone has known for over a year that a transit overhaul and rescue needs to happen, and yet the effort still turned into the equivalent of an all-nighter for a student who hasn't done the coursework over the semester. The mad scramble for funding sources to plug the transit agencies' $770 million budget hole foundered, as rank-and-file lawmakers, stakeholders and most importantly the public were given no time for due consideration and feedback. The typical Springfield gambit of waiting until the eleventh hour to spring controversial initiatives on the public in order to keep determined opposition from forming backfired spectacularly. First, late last week state Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Ram Villavalam, D-Chicago, proposed a package of revenue generators including a 50-cent surcharge on tolls, a redirection of suburban sales taxes to transit, higher suburban real estate transfer taxes and a region-wide tax on Ubers and Lyfts. Suburban officials predictably balked at the lopsided nature of that 'deal,' creating the need for an immediate Plan B. Villavalam pivoted with only hours to spare to a $1.50 charge on delivery of most retail products. The Senate approved the so-called pizza tax, the derisive sobriquet effectively wielded by opponents, by a 10-vote margin, but the House left town without acting, an acknowledgement the votes weren't there. That proposal deserved to die. Among other things, there's no logical reason downstate Illinoisans should pay an extra $1.50 on deliveries mainly to bail out bus and train service in the Chicago area. Making the idea worse was that Democrats in the Senate added a provision forbidding retailers (yes, like pizza makers) from showing the tax in a separate line item on their receipts. Nothing says confidence in your own policy-making like doing your utmost to keep consumers (most of whom double as voters) from understanding why their costs have risen so much. It was the Democratic version of President Donald Trump's temper tantrum in late April when news surfaced that Amazon was considering showing customers the cost of tariffs in their product purchases from its low-cost website dubbed Haul. So when lawmakers reconvene to take another stab at transit reform and funding, they should learn from this setback and embrace transparency. They must be more open with the public about the tax and fee mechanisms on the table and allow time for feedback. As we said last week before the unproductive weekend in the capital began, safe and reliable public transit is critical to the region and the state. And the need for more revenue is inescapable. But public acceptance of whatever funding solution emerges, even if grudging, is critical to ensuring this rescue mission succeeds. And to win that support, Springfield must break with the cloak-and-dagger machinations and engage the public. For the lawmakers, there's really nothing to lose at this point by being transparent given that people now have seen the sausage-making. Thirty-two senators are on record having voted for the pizza tax and have nothing to show for it. While we acknowledge that settling on an appropriate source of money is delicate and complicated, we believe it's not impossible to find a means the public can accept. But to achieve that, a proposal must have two attributes. First, it has to be broadly and fairly distributed among constituencies who have a legitimate stake in the future of public transit — including, by the way, those paying CTA bus and train fares that could stand to rise a little, if only to $3 or $3.50. Second, it must be related as directly as possible to the issue at hand. Part of the problem here is that Chicago's disastrous privatization of parking meters and the Chicago Skyway has reduced some of the logical levers and private garages already are drowning in some of the highest tax rates in the nation. Still, ride-share taxes are clearly in the same world. So for that matter is congestion pricing. Congestion pricing in New York, even though it has been the subject of controversy, has the virtue of generating revenue for public transportation in a city that is traffic-choked by any definition. That is not to say we're advocating congestion pricing for Chicago; indeed, we have editorialized against such a charge out of concern for the massive potential harm to downtown Chicago, which needs more activity, not less. But at least congestion pricing in support of public transit can be defended on grounds that the two are related. To its credit, Springfield made substantial progress on giving regional transit officials far more power over local systems such as the Chicago Transit Authority. Those governance provisions, which appeared to have broad support in both chambers, are crucial to giving Illinoisans outside Chicago confidence that they're not bailing out an unpopular city government without appropriate safeguards. We also see the logic of sending some money from whatever Springfield raises to improve transit downstate. That's only fair. Failure isn't an option. Come back to Springfield this summer, lawmakers, and get this needed transit reform done the right way. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@
Chicago Tribune
18 hours ago
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Strapped for time, Springfield punts on transit funding and reform
State lawmakers left a large pile of major issues on their agenda for the waning hours of the 2025 spring session. Very few of them were addressed other than the must-pass budget for fiscal 2026. Color us unsurprised. Despite a $1 billion shortfall that had to be plugged, the $55 billion budget proved to be anticlimactic, largely hewing to the outline Gov. JB Pritzker offered in February. So what passed for news in the capital emanated mainly from what happen rather than what did. At the top of that list was the fiscal crisis the Chicago-area's public transit agencies are facing, which those agencies have said will mean substantial service reductions if Springfield doesn't act in the coming months. Following the end of the session, Pritzker and legislative leaders said the General Assembly likely would take the unusual step of acting over the summer on the issue. That's good. For the sake of commuters and the region's economy, they should act well before what would normally be the next opportunity — the fall veto session in November. Springfield should learn from the mistakes of the just-concluded session. Everyone has known for over a year that a transit overhaul and rescue needs to happen, and yet the effort still turned into the equivalent of an all-nighter for a student who hasn't done the coursework over the semester. The mad scramble for funding sources to plug the transit agencies' $770 million budget hole foundered, as rank-and-file lawmakers, stakeholders and most importantly the public were given no time for due consideration and feedback. The typical Springfield gambit of waiting until the eleventh hour to spring controversial initiatives on the public in order to keep determined opposition from forming backfired spectacularly. First, late last week state Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Ram Villavalam, D-Chicago, proposed a package of revenue generators including a 50-cent surcharge on tolls, a redirection of suburban sales taxes to transit, higher suburban real estate transfer taxes and a region-wide tax on Ubers and Lyfts. Suburban officials predictably balked at the lopsided nature of that 'deal,' creating the need for an immediate Plan B. Villavalam pivoted with only hours to spare to a $1.50 charge on delivery of most retail products. The Senate approved the so-called pizza tax, the derisive sobriquet effectively wielded by opponents, by a 10-vote margin, but the House left town without acting, an acknowledgement the votes weren't there. That proposal deserved to die. Among other things, there's no logical reason downstate Illinoisans should pay an extra $1.50 on deliveries mainly to bail out bus and train service in the Chicago area. Making the idea worse was that Democrats in the Senate added a provision forbidding retailers (yes, like pizza makers) from showing the tax in a separate line item on their receipts. Nothing says confidence in your own policy-making like doing your utmost to keep consumers (most of whom double as voters) from understanding why their costs have risen so much. It was the Democratic version of President Donald Trump's temper tantrum in late April when news surfaced that Amazon was considering showing customers the cost of tariffs in their product purchases from its low-cost website dubbed Haul. So when lawmakers reconvene to take another stab at transit reform and funding, they should learn from this setback and embrace transparency. They must be more open with the public about the tax and fee mechanisms on the table and allow time for feedback. As we said last week before the unproductive weekend in the capital began, safe and reliable public transit is critical to the region and the state. And the need for more revenue is inescapable. But public acceptance of whatever funding solution emerges, even if grudging, is critical to ensuring this rescue mission succeeds. And to win that support, Springfield must break with the cloak-and-dagger machinations and engage the public. For the lawmakers, there's really nothing to lose at this point by being transparent given that people now have seen the sausage-making. Thirty-two senators are on record having voted for the pizza tax and have nothing to show for it. While we acknowledge that settling on an appropriate source of money is delicate and complicated, we believe it's not impossible to find a means the public can accept. But to achieve that, a proposal must have two attributes. First, it has to be broadly and fairly distributed among constituencies who have a legitimate stake in the future of public transit — including, by the way, those paying CTA bus and train fares that could stand to rise a little, if only to $3 or $3.50. Second, it must be related as directly as possible to the issue at hand. Part of the problem here is that Chicago's disastrous privatization of parking meters and the Chicago Skyway has reduced some of the logical levers and private garages already are drowning in some of the highest tax rates in the nation. Still, ride-share taxes are clearly in the same world. So for that matter is congestion pricing. Congestion pricing in New York, even though it has been the subject of controversy, has the virtue of generating revenue for public transportation in a city that is traffic-choked by any definition. That is not to say we're advocating congestion pricing for Chicago; indeed, we have editorialized against such a charge out of concern for the massive potential harm to downtown Chicago, which needs more activity, not less. But at least congestion pricing in support of public transit can be defended on grounds that the two are related. To its credit, Springfield made substantial progress on giving regional transit officials far more power over local systems such as the Chicago Transit Authority. Those governance provisions, which appeared to have broad support in both chambers, are crucial to giving Illinoisans outside Chicago confidence that they're not bailing out an unpopular city government without appropriate safeguards. We also see the logic of sending some money from whatever Springfield raises to improve transit downstate. That's only fair. Failure isn't an option. Come back to Springfield this summer, lawmakers, and get this needed transit reform done the right way.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
New study uncovers troubling link between thyroid cancer and childhood exposure: 'These results are concerning'
Exposure to two common pollutants could increase the risk of pediatric thyroid cancer, according to a new study. The Yale University-led research found a "significant association" between exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and outdoor artificial light at night and an increased risk of papillary thyroid cancer in children and young adults up to 19 years old. These exposures occurred during the perinatal stage of life, which is typically defined as the period that starts when pregnancy occurs and lasts up to a year after birth. The study, summarized in News Medical Life Sciences, found the strongest association between exposure and thyroid cancer in teenagers aged 15–19 and Hispanic children. "These results are concerning, especially given how widespread both of these exposures are," lead author Nicole Deziel said. "Fine particulate matter is found in urban air pollution due to automobile traffic and industrial activity, and artificial light at night is common, particularly in densely populated urban areas." She added that thyroid cancer is one of the fastest-growing cancers among children and adolescents. "Our study is the first large-scale investigation to suggest that these exposures early in life — specifically to PM2.5 and outdoor light at night — may play a role in this concerning trend." Children are often diagnosed with thyroid cancer at more advanced stages and with larger tumor sizes compared to adults, according to the university. Long-term effects for pediatric survivors can include temperature dysregulation, headaches, physical disabilities, and mental fatigue — these all can affect major life milestones such as education, employment, and having a family. Meanwhile, additional research has pointed to many other dangers of air and light pollution. One study found a connection between long-term exposure to air pollution and the development of psoriasis, a chronic and often debilitating skin condition. Another paper found a link between artificial light and cerebrovascular disease, a diagnosis that includes numerous conditions, including stroke, that cause blood flow problems in the brain. Light pollution can also impede survival for animals like coral and fireflies. A number of cities and countries are trying to cut down on air pollution to help protect public health and reduce planet-warming emissions. For instance, Wales is banning most new roadway projects, and a New York law will require all Lyfts and Ubers to be EVs by 2030. You can help by opting for more climate-friendly transportation, which can reduce traffic-related pollution for everyone. Plus, at least 18 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have laws in place to reduce light pollution, according to Emerson Electric Co. Meanwhile, you can fight light pollution at home, too. DarkSky International recommends turning off unnecessary outdoor lights at night, avoiding the use of blue lights, and switching to LED lighting with warm-colored bulbs. Do you worry about air pollution in and around your home? Yes — always Yes — often Yes — sometimes No — never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Forbes
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Inside The Waymo Factory Building A Robotaxi Future
Step outside the main terminal at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport to the rideshare zone on a hot spring day and you'll catch a glimpse of a fast-approaching future: driverless Waymo robotaxis queueing alongside human-driven Ubers and Lyfts to take waiting passengers to their next destination. The service just launched in Austin and continues to expand in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, but Phoenix has been its home turf for years, kicking off paid public rides there in 2020. And now, the region that helped perfect the AI-enabled tech has quietly become Waymo's robotaxi production hub. About 20 minutes east of Phoenix's airport in Mesa, Arizona, is a 239,000-square-foot factory that opened in October. Every day, it churns out several battery-powered, white Jaguar I-PACE electric SUVs loaded up with the company's custom-designed computer, cameras, radar and laser lidar sensors on a single production line. But the plan is to dramatically scale up the pace and automate output to keep up with growth plans, said Kent Liu, Waymo's head of vehicle manufacturing, who previously managed production operations for Apple and General Motors. 'This facility will certainly need to be capable of doing tens of thousands per year' 'We looked at our five-year projection and said, 'Okay, to meet that, this facility will certainly need to be capable of doing tens of thousands per year,'' Liu told Forbes. 'We have the capability, the capacity here to support that growth.' The production scale is small compared to traditional auto plants that make hundreds of thousands of vehicles a year. But the 1,500 robotaxis Waymo has provide more than 250,000 paid rides a week or about 24 a day per vehicle, vastly more use than personal cars and trucks that are driven only a few times a day. And by the time the Mesa factory gets 10,000 Waymos on the road, perhaps in a year or so based on the current rate, the fleet could be booking 250,000 rides a day. That's well over 1.5 million a week. At that scale, Waymo's annual revenue could jump to $2 billion, up from a Forbes estimate of $100 million last year. The company declined to comment on those estimates. The multimillion-dollar Mesa facility–Waymo won't say exactly how much it's investing–is vital to the Alphabet Inc. unit's growth goals. After years of testing and pilot programs stretching back to 2009, powered by three funding rounds that raised over $11 billion — not to mention the untold billions more Google poured into the program between 2009 and 2020 — Waymo finally became a real business last year. Workers install Waymo's computing system, lidar, radar and cameras on electric Jaguar I-PACE SUVs at the Mesa, Arizona, factory. In 2024, it expanded from its Phoenix operations to San Francisco and Los Angeles, followed by Austin in March. And as it keeps building up in those cities, adding more vehicles and covering ever larger service areas, it's preparing to launch this summer in Atlanta, and in Miami and Washington, D.C. next year. Meanwhile, Waymo is also testing in Nashville and Tokyo. If those cities are as viable as those it currently operates in, the company could soon be carrying millions of passengers weekly if not daily. After nearly 16 years, Alphabet's big bet may finally pay off. 'We've been laser-focused and will continue to be on building the world's best driver,' Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said on the company's April 24 results call. 'I think doing that well really gives you a variety of optionality and business models across geographies, etcetera.' Those include the possibility of licensing the technology for use in personal vehicles, he said. Last week, Waymo took a step toward doing that by announcing a partnership with Toyota to design a next-generation vehicle platform for autonomous cars and trucks, as well as to study how to use Waymo's system in personal vehicles. The factory is run with Magna, a leading auto engineering and manufacturing company that produced the Jaguar I-PACE Waymo uses at its Graz, Austria, plant. It replaces a smaller Detroit assembly facility Waymo opened in 2019, also with Magna, and closed at the end of 2024. Inside the cavernous space, there are no conveyor belts or loud metal stamping you'd see at traditional assembly plants. The work pace is steady but not high volume. Raw cars roll into the building at one end, with plastic covers on the body panels over precut sections where sensors will be installed. They enter a manual assembly line where dozens of workers remove those covers, bumpers and other exterior components to begin the process of carefully installing an electrical wire harness, computers, sensors on each corner of the vehicle and Waymo's telltale 'top hat' unit–housing the main laser lidar for 3D vision, multiple cameras and audio sensors. 'Every vehicle comes in with those cutouts done in advance, and with a mounting plate on the top,' said Amanda York, the factory's program manager, who previously helped run assembly operations at Johnson Controls and Boeing. 'Those are elements that help us streamline and improve our process and the efficiency on the production line.' Once that's complete, bumpers and other exterior pieces are reinstalled and Waymo badging and decals are added. The final step is a series of tests to calibrate the AI system and sensors, including short drive evaluations in a lot outside the facility. A completed Waymo robotaxi drives out of the factory to go into service in the Phoenix area. 'That process takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, just to make sure everything is working correctly–that's it's seeing everything correctly,' Liu said. 'And then all this data, we upload it to a server in Mountain View to make sure that everything checks out.' One day last month the target was to complete six vehicles during a single work shift. Waymo's Liu said that could soon double. And there's no shortage of vehicles to prep. Hidden from public view, parked behind a high wall next to the factory is a secretive storage area where more than 2,000 I-PACEs, all white, sit under the bright Arizona sun waiting to be turned into robotaxis. Jaguar discontinued the luxury model last year, priced at about $72,000, but Waymo bought thousands of them and will keep using them for years to come. Soon two additional models will join Waymo's fleet, including a small van from Zeekr, an EV brand recently created by China's Geely Group, which also owns Volvo and Polestar, that's already getting Waymo's gear. A version of Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 electric hatchback for Waymo is to start arriving by the end of the year, produced at the Korean auto giant's Ellabell, Georgia, 'Metaplant' that opened in March. Both cars should be significantly cheaper than the Jaguar, though Trump's tariffs have created a snag with the Zeekr. Direct imports of the van were already a pricier option, as the U.S. boosted tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to 100% under President Joe Biden. A possible workaround at that time would have been to import them in sections and do so-called kit assembly in Mesa — which appears to have been Waymo's plan. But with Trump jacking up tariffs on Chinese products to 145%, the Zeekrs will be very costly even if assembled in sections in Arizona. Waymo won't discuss details of its Zeekr plans, beyond the fact that it will continue testing them in the U.S. and has completed crash-testing of the vehicles to allow their use on U.S. roads. Waymo has begun testing Zeekr electric vans with its autonomous tech, but the Chinese model faces steep U.S. tariffs. About a dozen Zeekrs, all periwinkle blue, were parked around the Mesa factory, before being trucked out for testing. They're an attractive option as a robotaxi with a roomy cabin that's easy to enter and exit, sliding side doors and a lower, flat floor. The car is slightly larger than rival Zoox's small electric van, which unlike Waymo's models, has no steering wheel, pedals or exterior mirrors. All of Waymo's tech is designed in-house, including its lidar, radar, cameras and computing system, and manufactured by Alphabet's vast, global base of suppliers. Would-be robotaxi rivals like Tesla think they'll have a big cost advantage over Waymo because vehicles like the future Cybercab shown off last fall have much lower production costs. But that's because Tesla is using far less sophisticated sensors and computing systems. Instead of the high-end lidar and radar used by Waymo, the company uses rudimentary 5-megapixel digital cameras. That might save thousands of dollars in additional costs, but Waymo believes its far more robust vision system better maximizes rider safety. And its cars are actually on the road. All of Waymo's tech was designed in-house, including its lidar, radar, cameras and computing system, and is manufactured by Alphabet's vast, global base of suppliers. Along with the addition of new, lower-cost cars, Waymo has said its sixth-generation hardware that goes into use later this year will be dramatically cheaper than what it's currently using, without elaborating. That was before Trump's tariffs, though. For now, the company is working to find the most efficient ways to install its tech in the Jaguars and truck them out to fleets in all the cities it's driving in. But not all of them are heading out via semi-truck. Those going to the Phoenix fleet drive themselves from the factory to start picking up riders, maybe from Sky Harbor airport, as soon as they're approved for service. 'It takes about 20 or 30 minutes to get into that service zone from the factory,' said Liu. 'And as soon as it gets into the service zone it's picking up customers already.'
CBC
04-04-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
How many Uber and Lyft drivers are there in London? The number might surprise you
Bylaw officials and police in London gave out more than 500 tickets during a month-long safety blitz targeting taxis and riseshares, but it might be another number that stuns Londoners: There are more than 7,500 registered Ubers and Lyfts in the city — one rideshare driver for every 60 people in a city of 450,000. "We've seen our business decline for some time now, going back to the summer of 2015 when Uber first started here. The city really brought this on themselves when they didn't set a limit on how many ride-sharing vehicles could be on the road," said Huruy Woldemicael, the general manager of Green Taxi, which has pivoted to more accessible cabs to make up for the decline in sedan rides. "They'll never have enough resources to monitor and enforce the vehicle-for-hire bylaw when there are so many of these vehicles. And with the ongoing tariff crisis, I assume there will be even more job losses and more people wanting to work for these ride-sharing apps part-time for extra income." The goal of the safety crackdown was to enforce rules and make sure drivers know what their legal obligations are, London police Sgt. Michael Anderson said. The enforcement crackdown saw a total of 47 vehicles for hire inspected by mechanics for safety violations, which builds on previous work done by bylaw enforcement officers in February to crack down on illegal rides. A large number of the infractions were given to rideshare drivers, not drivers with cab companies, bylaw officials said. There were 515 provincial offence notices issued during the safety initiative, along with 32 licence plates and driver's licences seized. There are roughly 500 cabs and 100 limos in operation in London, in addition to the 7,500 private rideshare cars, officials said. Cabs and limos have to undergo safety checks annually when their licences are renewed, but they're massively outnumbered by their less regulated counterparts. Rideshare drivers are subject to safety requirements as well under municipal law and the rules of the apps they operate on. But Woldemicael worries that the trade war with the United States and looming recession could force more people to get into the rideshare business for extra cash. "Right now, there are 7,500 of them, but there's no hard cap," he said. "If there's a recession or job losses, that number could creep up to 20,000 overnight. There's nothing that's going to stop that number from growing. Then what will the city do?" The eroding trust in who takes you from one part of the city to another has a negative effect on cabbies as well, said Woldemicael. "We've always stressed that there should be cameras in all vehicles, more markings to identify those who are offering vehicles for hire services," he said. "People feel more comfortable getting in a taxi because they know the brand has existed for quite some time.
