The Heathrow Decision Is Supposed to Show Britain Is Open for Business. It Says the Opposite - TIME

The Heathrow Decision Is Supposed to Show Britain Is Open for Business. It Says the Opposite Posted: 25 Oct 2016 09:29 AM PDT It was a decision over 50 years in the making. The British government today gave its approval to the expansion of Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s largest and long one of its most congested by air traffic. The construction of a third runway at the airport on London’s western flank is forecast to cost £18 billion ($22 billion), but analysts say it could give the British economy a £147 billion boost. The main alternative plan under the government’s consideration had been to expand Gatwick Airport, a far smaller facility in London’s southwest, and one much further from the city’s center than Heathrow. That cheaper and less ambitious proposal would have mainly benefited the European tourists who currently fly into Gatwick, and not the airlines and other businesses who have been pleading with the government to expand the country’s main air hub for a generation. Heathrow airport’s runways currently operate at 98% capacity, which restricts air traffic and makes costly delays more likely. The Transport Department said the government’s approval “underlines its commitment to keeping the U.K. open for business now and in the future and as a hub for tourism and trade.” And on the face of it, this seems like just the message for Britain to be sending to international markets, as the country prepares to leave the European Union: Look how we’re still willing to listen to the business community, and make the big decisions to keep Britain booming. But this decision arrived at its destination after years and years of delays, and faces many more years of debate before the first spade digs into Heathrow’s turf—if it ever does. It may end up sending another kind of message altogether. The tale of British airport expansion is a sorry saga of briefing papers, aviation studies and political inaction, all bound tightly in red tape. Enthusiasm began to build for a third runway at Heathrow in the 1990s, but new terminals were built or planned instead. The Labour government under Tony Blair argued there was a strong case for a third runway in 2003, and again in 2007. David Cameron’s coalition government set up an Airports Commission in 2012 which recommended last year—again—that a third runway would be the best way to increase capacity. Today, finally, the government cleared it for takeoff. The saga isn’t over, however. Now begins the daunting process of gaining approval —first, from the U.K. parliament, which will vote on expansion late next year or early 2018. Why the wait? Because many in Westminster, including some in Prime Minister Theresa May’s own cabinet, are against the new runway. Some oppose it on environmental grounds, others on the impact more air traffic will have on local communities in southwest London and surrounding areas. The debate will be long, and fierce. If the proposal gets through parliament, the airport—owned by a consortium of investors from Spain, Qatar, China and Singapore, among others—must get planning permission from the regional authority and the communities minister, conducting health, environmental, and technical assessments that will hold construction up for at least another two years. Multiple legal challenges are also expected, from local municipalities worried about quality of life to environmental groups concerned about the increase in carbon emissions it will bring. Each will stymie progress at every step of the way. The most optimistic prediction for construction to begin is 2021. Heathrow thinks the runway will be complete by 2025. Most experts think 2030 is more realistic. Some think it may never be built, that the roadblocks in its way are insurmountable. The approval of Heathrow’s extension risks being not a symbol of Britain’s openness to global investment, but a reminder that the country is frequently hamstrung by turgid, centralized bureaucracy, deficient planning laws that act as a brake on growth, and a thornily complicated legal system that can bind up investors in court for decades. May could have sent the world a message that Britain was willing to act more quickly and fearlessly — perhaps, by fast-tracking a decision on Heathrow, instead of weighting an already drawn-out process with another year of parliamentary debate before putting it to a vote. The government risks looking docile, just when it needs to appear agile. If Britain is to have a successful Brexit, it must be willing to make tough decisions, not just big ones.

Here’s How Tesla Is About to Take On Uber - Fortune

Here’s How Tesla Is About to Take On Uber Posted: 21 Oct 2016 07:21 AM PDT Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no stranger to risk. Fans of the company have called its leader savvy and visionary; critics and competitors have described some of his decisions as reckless. Reaction to Musk’s latest move, announced on Wednesday, has been no different. His decision to equip all new Tesla vehicles with radar and cameras that will enable them to (eventually) drive autonomously—without human intervention—has been described as brilliant while others have called it dangerous. This is a speculator’s game. Here’s what is not: Tesla’s announcement marks a turning point in the race towards fully autonomous vehicles. And the underlying subtext of the announcement as well as the more detailed information on the company’s website contains some remarkable milestones. There Is Now a Price Benchmark for Full Autonomy Tesla customers will be able to order “Full Self-Driving Capability,” when they buy a new car. Vehicles with this ability will have eight cameras (not the standard four), ultrasonic sensors, radar, and a supercomputer capable of processing data 40 times faster than previously. Tesla says this enables full self-driving in “almost all circumstances, at what we believe will be a probability of safety at least twice as good as the average human driver.” The self-driving package costs $8,000. The software, or the brains, will still need to be validated and then eventually rolled out via updates to the system. The proper regulatory approvals will also need to be sorted out, so it’s unclear when customers will be able to experience fully autonomous driving. Until now, the price of self-driving car has seemed untenable. It’s one reason why so many other automakers are pursuing self-driving taxis first. A personal self-driving car has been viewed as too expensive for the masses. “People are always talking about how expensive fully autonomous cars will be initially,” Gartner analyst Mike Ramsey told Fortune. “It might be $100,000 and would only be run by cabs. But it’s not. We now have a price for full autonomy.” Over-The-Air Software Updates Tesla regularly updates the software in its cars via wireless networks to enhance performance and fix security bugs. It’s been using these so-called over-the-air software updates for years. This capability has helped the company continually improve its cars even after they’ve been sold and to stay ahead of bigger and more established automakers. This latest announcement not only validates the importance of easy software updates, it shows how central it is to Tesla’s business model and survival. Loading cars with hardware that might not be used for years—and requires a software download to unlock the features—is unprecedented in the industry. First Steps Towards Turning Tesla Into a Ride-Hailing Network Musk has talked about using self-driving cars for a ride-hailing network that owners could deploy and use to generate some extra income. Uber, Ford, and General Motors have also indicated plans to introduce self-driving taxi services. The first signs that Tesla is moving towards this vision are on the company’s website, included in a description about the self-driving capability. The disclaimer reads: Please note also that using a self-driving Tesla for car sharing and ride hailing for friends and family is fine, but doing so for revenue purposes will only be permissible on the Tesla Network, details of which will be released next year. This means owners won’t be permitted to use their self-driving Tesla to pick up people using the Uber ride-hailing app. Rather, they can only do so as part of what is now being called the Tesla Network. Tesla Has Picked Sides in the Hardware Wars Tesla’s new self-driving hardware doesn’t include Lidar, the light-sensitive laser imaging radar that Google, Ford, and other automakers are using to develop driverless cars. And the company has ditched the computer vision chips and software that its former supplier Mobileye uses, instead it has opted to develop its own vision processing tools used for helping cars perceive the world around them. This choice could help keep costs lower in the short term, but Lidar is expected to drop in price thanks to heavy investment from automakers and companies developing the tech. All of this raises the stakes for other automakers, says Ramsey. “You can discount Tesla six ways from Sunday and with good reason, but this puts a huge amount of pressure on the other automakers,” Ramsey says before referencing Tesla’s pending acquisition of rooftop solar company SolarCity. “They may not be able to make money and they may go out of business when they combine with SolarCity, but they definitely have a disruptive effect on the rest of the industry.” This article originally appeared on Fortune.com