Waymo robotaxis are headed to Munich, but hailing service may not be available before end of 2027

Good news! But why not to my hometown Frankfurt am Main?

What took Waymo so long or was it the infamous German bureaucracy?

"Waymo said Tuesday [8/25/2026] it plans to launch a robotaxi service in Munich, months after the Alphabet-owned autonomous vehicle company set up an entity in Germany. ...

Waymo said in a blog post on Tuesday that it is working with Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), state authorities, and local officials, and expects to open commercial ride-hailing to the public toward the end of 2027. ..."

Waymo robotaxis are headed to Munich | TechCrunch

Servus München: Waymo is Coming to Germany (original news release)

Amateurish German Website About Recently Discovered Nazi Era Art

Official Website

This is the official website to look at the recently discovered art works in Munich, Germany dating from the Nazi era and suspected to be looted art: http://www.lostart.de/

An Embarrassment

The website is so amateurish. It’s unbelievable. The photos are of low quality (I did not look at every photo).

The website does not allow you to navigate intuitively and easily from one to the next photo.

The English version of the website does not seem to provide access to the individual art work nor photos.

Germany: Massacre Of 11 Israeli At 1972 Olympic Games In Munich

Childhood Memories

I was about 11 years old when it happened. I remember well that I was in high school that day when the students were asked to interrupt their usual class and come to the large gym to view the live broadcast of the memorial service. This was a highly unusual deviation from a regular school day. From this day on I became a great admirer of Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony, because it was played at the memorial service.

Some of the photographic pictures of this massacre and its Arab perpetrators are still vivid in my memory. Having lived within about 1000 yards of the World Trade Center in Jersey City, NJ on September 11, 2001, I have little doubt there is a connection between these two terrorist attacks and the rather coward response to repeated Arab/Muslim violence by Western countries over decades. The sheer fanaticism to cause such mayhem at the Olympic Games and the World Trade Center one aspect that links these two events.

Arab Fanaticism Against Peace

To target the Olympic Games, which have “The goal … to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced in accordance with Olympism and its values.” was an incredible, unprecedented perversion by Arab fanatics. To what extent the former Soviet Union and the KGB was behind this attack is not known to me.

Germany’s Incredible Incompetence For The Whole World To Witness

According to Wikipedia’s article on the event too many things went wrong:

·         German authorities were supposedly warned a few weeks ahead of time by a Arab informant that something was to happen at the Olympic Games (is this confirmed?)

·         Germany was totally unprepared, unprofessional, and too inflexible to deal with such a hostage situation by militants

·         Supposedly the Israeli government offered to send special forces, but Germany declined (this is not confirmed or is it?)

·         What happened during the shootout at Fuerstenfeldbruck airport can only be described as an operational disaster by German forces and leaders. E.g. five insufficiently trained men were selected as snipers; they were not given radio communications, one of the snipers was severely wounded by friendly fire, because police officers did not know about the snipers and much more.

Germany Handled The Arab Perpetrators Like Fools

The bodies of the five Palestinian assassins killed during the Fürstenfeldbruck gun battle were delivered to Libya, where they received heroes' funerals and were buried with full military honors. Why did Germany do this?

It gets worse: On 29 October 1972, hijackers of a West German Lufthansa passenger jet with 172 passengers on board demanded the release of the three surviving gunmen, who had been arrested after the Fürstenfeldbruck gunfight and were being held for trial. These three killers were immediately released by West Germany, receiving a tumultuous welcome when they touched down in Libya (see Wikipedia article). It is reported that the son of Robert Kennedy was on board of this hijacked plane.

Traffic Rules Apply To Everyone: San Francisco Prosecutes Bicyclist For Manslaughter

Reckless And Dangerous

According to the Wall Street Journal (6/16/12, p. A3, US Edition), city prosecutors are going to file a felony vehicular manslaughter charge against a bicyclist who allegedly hit and killed a pedestrian after he ran a red light. Why in previous, similar cases prosecutors tended to file only misdemeanor charges is beyond comprehension.

Wake Up Call

It’s about time that prosecutors take it more seriously when bicyclists run red lights and or hit pedestrians. Sure most accidents probably result in minor injuries to the pedestrian. However, as with the broken window policy, if you let too many bicyclists (who are hard to catch anyway) get way with a slap on the wrist …

No Surprise Here

Coming originally from Germany, I have observed for decades how many bicyclists in inner city areas frequently violate traffic rules, drive aggressively, and harass pedestrians. Such bicyclists are also a menace to car drivers, because they act so unpredictably. Too many of these bicyclists were acting in arrogance and self-righteousness.

I have been an avid bike rider myself for many years in Germany.

Downtown Munich – Pedestrians In Danger From Bicyclists

Last time I visited Munich a few years ago, I was several times nearly hit by bicyclists while walking about beautiful downtown Munich, because these bicyclists drive everywhere, they do not evade you and they do not bother to signal or otherwise warn you. It is also quite an experience as a pedestrian when all of a sudden a high speed bicyclist out of nowhere passes by you just inches away. You wonder what would have happened had you made a wrong move.

Separation Of Bicyclists, Pedestrians, And Car Drivers

It is my current belief that pedestrians, bicyclists, and car drivers should be carefully separated. Such a separation would avoid most of the many conflicts we face today in inner cities. E.g. bike lanes along streets is not a good solution. Analogous, the German solution of having bike lanes on e.g. sidewalks is not very good either.

It might be conceivable to reserve certain streets only for bicyclists, while other roads are for cars only. In big cities this would be feasible to some extent, if there are enough bicyclists.

Here in Phoenix, Arizona, you still find many horse riders. Are they allowed to ride on streets or sidewalks? I believe not. But the city of Phoenix allows horse riders in many city parks and there is even an Arizona Horse Lover’s Park in northern Phoenix. I am not trying to say, this is a solution for bicyclists but it is worth thinking about.

I have to admit that I am not very familiar with the situation of bicyclists, e.g., in the Netherlands or Oregon.