READY TO RIDE
Aurora forges forward on trucking, highlights safety as passenger autonomy struggles
Aurora is flexing its safety and transparency achievements ahead of a commercial launch that could extend its lead in the autonomous vehicle industry as the passenger side of the market struggles.
The Pittsburgh company said its software is almost completely ready for a commercial launch by the end of 2024 — a milestone that will allow Aurora to remove backup human drivers from about 20 autonomous trucks hauling freight along I-45 in Texas. Recent testing has shown the trucks to be safer than human drivers in some instances, CEO Chris Urmson detailed in an investor call last week.
Aurora’s software predicted that a red pickup truck would run a red light and slowed the Aurora truck down to avoid a collision, Mr. Urmson said. Other vehicles were “not as quick to react,” he said, and proceeded through the intersection, where they were hit by the pickup.
In another instance, Aurora’s computer detected an “unpredictable vehicle” that weaved suddenly into the truck’s lane and braked to avoid the collision.
“Seeing the Aurora driver’s performance in scenarios like these further reinforces the conviction we have in the safety benefits our technology can deliver to our customers,” Mr. Urmson said.
Delivering freight faster and more safely will be key to competing with the price of human drivers, Mr. Urmson said.
He said the truck’s software is 93% ready based on a publicly reported autonomy readiness measure that Aurora developed. “We are the only company in the industry who provides this level of transparency,” Mr. Urmson said.
The update comes as robotaxi companies have faced major setbacks due to safety concerns. General Motors subsidiary Cruise suspended all operations last fall after California regulators said it withheld footage of a pedestrian accident in San Francisco. Waymo this week issued a software recall after two of its cars hit the same pickup truck in the span of a few minutes. The recall impacted more than 400 autonomous vehicles after the December incident in Phoenix.
As it chases safety in its software, Aurora is also making inroads on the political side of safety.
In December, its chief safety officer, Nat Beuse, was selected to join the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee, and in January, one of the company’s government affairs executives, Melissa Wade, was named board chair of the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association.
The appointments give Aurora a prominent voice in the federal government and an opportunity to shape the marketing of the autonomous vehicle industry. Ms. Wade is tasked with convincing lawmakers, regulators and the public of the technology’s safety, mobility and economic benefits.
Aurora raised $820 million last July in its second year as a public company — a year Mr. Urmson called “pivotal,” for the company, which is still chasing profitability. Its current liquidity, $1.3 billion in cash and investments, should support operations into the second half of 2025.
In January, the company eliminated 3% of its 1,800person workforce as part of its “continued commitment to financial discipline.” Investors will learn more about Aurora’s finances at a March meeting.
On the call last week, analysts wondered if Aurora might be poised to expand into passenger vehicles given “recent exits” and other challenges on the robotaxi side. Earlier in February, the only company testing on Pittsburgh’s streets, Motional, lost support from one of its major investors just as it planned to start removing human backup drivers from select rides.
Aurora has a small fleet of Toyota Siennas outfitted with the same hardware and software as its trucks, but the company isn’t yet ready to enter the fragile market, Mr. Urmson said.
“When it makes economic sense and there’s a strong business case, then we look forward to introducing the technology into that space and working with the great partners we have there in Toyota and Uber,” he said.
“We still very strongly believe the right first application for automated vehicles is in trucking.”
Trucking is a larger, more developed market, Mr. Urmson said. It’s also a “much less emotional” use case, compared to “moving people through the world.”
Aurora isn’t the only company set to pull backup drivers from robot trucks this year.
Two Silicon Valley startups — Gatik and Kodiak Robotics — are both planning to finalize routes in Texas without human drivers in 2024. Texas became a testing hotbed after passing a law in 2017 that allowed driverless systems on public streets. Pennsylvania passed a similar allowance in 2022 after lobbying from Aurora.
Mr. Urmson said a longrange partnership with Continental makes Aurora “the only company capable of driverless commercial operations at scale.”
The company said it is currently logging about 25,000 miles a week with customers like FedEx, Werner, Schneider, Hirschbach and Uber Freight. Aurora did a series of mock traffic stops with the Frisco Police Department to “simulate how autonomous trucks can recognize and respond to emergency vehicles.”
Those simulations came after robotaxi company Cruise was blasted for delaying ambulances and other first responders in San Francisco.
In the call, Mr. Urmson acknowledged that “reputations in the autonomous vehicle industry have been tested.”
The company hopes by fostering good will in Texas, it can gain favor on routes across the country.