Autonomous

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A self-driving shuttle got pulled over by police on its first day carrying passengers on a new Rhode Island route.

You can build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door, Ralph Waldo Emerson noted in the late 19th century. More than 100 years later, Ryan Walsh is building a better mailbox so the world’s goods can be delivered to your door.

The U.K. is falling behind in employing robots as firms make do with older machines or hire human workers.

Penske Truck Leasing has joined Partners for Automated Vehicle Education, a coalition of industry leaders that seeks to educate and assure the public about automated vehicles, according to a news release from the two organizations.

Transport Topics’ coverage of “The Road to NTDC 2018” and the 2018 Management Conference & Exhibition are among the entries that have earned national accolades from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

More than half of Chinese consumers can’t wait to get out from behind the wheel and into an autonomous car. That makes China more positive than most about driverless vehicles, with Western consumers cooler on the technology.

The first major self-driving taxi service needed six months to reach 1,000 customers, another sign that growth may be slow as companies try to build businesses around autonomous vehicles.

General Motors Co.’s self-driving unit drew $1.15 billion in fresh investment, with T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. joining existing backers, including Honda Motor Co. and SoftBank Vision Fund.

Elon Musk described autonomous-driving technology as “transformative” to Tesla Inc. in a call aimed at ginning up interest in the electric-car maker’s debt and stock offering of about $2 billion, according to two people who dialed in.

As FedEx Corp. and UPS Inc. beef up automation to keep pace with surging e-commerce and a potential threat from Amazon.com, they’ve been stumped at a crucial stage: loading and unloading trucks.