The road to riches, success, and happiness (not in that order) is paved with failure. So no wonder those working on the future of transportation are willing to experiment a bit before they totally break the mold. This week, WIRED's Transportation team explored the ever-confusing "flying car" market, the researchers studying how people could use autonomous vehicle tech, the companies rethinking how to pay for taxis (there will be snacks), and one ride-hail company's push to get more people to share trips with strangers. But it's clear that as the the way we move changes, the way people make money by moving us will have to change, too. So let's get you caught up.

The nonprofit faces $1,000 per-day fines imposed by the city if the roving 5-foot-tall Autonomous Data Machine dubbed "K-9" is caught making the rounds without a proper permit. This shouldn't be an issue, however, as the SPCA has presumably returned the $6-per-hour rental robot with a "commanding presence" to its maker, Silicon Valley startup Knightscope, following significant public uproar and threats of retribution. The backlash began in earnest after the San Francisco Business Times published an interview with SF SPCA President Jennifer Scarlett in which she implied that the robot, adorned with stickers of cute-as-a-button kittens and at least one life-sized Chihuahua, was enlisted with the purpose of shooing away homeless San Franciscans living in encampments on the fringes of the SPCA campus, which encompasses an entire city block in the rapidly gentrifying Mission District. San Francisco, which is in the throes of a seemingly never-ending affordable housing crisis, has the sixth highest largest homeless population in the United States. Just under 7,000 people are living on San Francisco's streets per estimates from the Department of Housing and Urban Development although local authorities and homeless advocacy groups believe the number to be much higher.