Privacy is Different in Cars

Privacy is Different in Cars
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-31-2020 at 6:00 am

Privacy is Different in Cars

The New Yorks Times’ “The Privacy Project” highlights all that is terrifying about our surveillance economy. We blithely throw away our privacy for the privilege of freely accessing mountains of information about the things we want to buy, the celebrities and teams we follow or support, or to get directions

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Learning to Love Lyft Again

Learning to Love Lyft Again
by Roger C. Lanctot on 12-29-2019 at 6:00 am

When I landed at San Francisco International Airport last Tuesday morning around 1 a.m. I was determined to locate the airport taxi rank and take a cab to my hotel in Santa Clara. The idea of hailing an Uber or Lyft seemed essentially nonsensical to me since I knew professional taxi drivers would be waiting as they usually are at most… Read More


GM is Burning

GM is Burning
by Roger C. Lanctot on 10-27-2019 at 11:00 am

What is it about General Motors? The once largest maker of cars in the world (now sixth or seventh) has been in an all-fronts retreat for years – while Wall Street analysts and top GM brass whistle past the graveyard touting gains in the company’s stock price and profitability.

GM has exited key markets including Europe, India and

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Fossil Fuels in the Crosshairs

Fossil Fuels in the Crosshairs
by Roger C. Lanctot on 09-29-2019 at 11:00 am

In the heat of a presidential campaign, especially one with 19 competing candidates, the contenders may get carried away in the interest of getting attention and, presumably, attracting supporters. Beto O’Rourke might be accused of such rhetorical excess for his call, in the third Democratic Party debate, for a mandatory Federal

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Ford Prioritizes Safety; Revolutionizes Connectivity

Ford Prioritizes Safety; Revolutionizes Connectivity
by Roger C. Lanctot on 09-11-2019 at 10:00 am

Ford Motor Company’s debt may have been downgraded to junk this week, but the company’s savvy strategy for vehicle safety and connectivity has had an outsize influence on the broader automotive industry.  That is the takeaway message from this week’s ITS California gathering of transportation executives taking place in Los

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Automotive Deaths and Big Data

Automotive Deaths and Big Data
by Roger C. Lanctot on 02-07-2016 at 8:00 pm

Nothing focuses peoples’ attention quite as effectively as death and there’s been a lot of it on U.S. highways lately. Preliminary figures released this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reveal that for the first nine months of 2015 traffic fatalities increased 9.3%.… Read More