Along for the Ride #107
Heya friends, happy Friday!
I’d like to start by saying that the past few weeks have been both busy and heart-breaking. With the police murder of Daunte Wright and 13-year old Adam Toledo here in the US.. it’s hard to find the heart / energy / headspace to write about transportation. I hope you’re taking care of yourselves out there.
Second, I’d like to welcome some new subscribers who have joined us following a panel discussion yesterday—welcome! I am humbled you’re here joining us for this ride.
This week’s edition is a lighter load as I just don’t have the bandwidth to wax lyrical about all that’s happening in the industry. On a more exciting note, next week’s edition will be the first guest edition of Along for the Ride (!), and I’m really, really, really looking forward to sharing that with you.
Before we jump into the news, here are a few relevant resources for those able to support:
Government and Policy
The original headline for this article reads “Routing Of Self-Driving Cars To Avoid The Bad Parts Of Town Raises Some Serious Eyebrows,” but I’d like to officially change that to “Routing Of Self-Driving Cars To Avoid “The Bad Parts Of Town” Continues Legacy of Racist Planning and Redlining to Impede Transport Access for Communities Already Disadvantaged by the System” (Forbes — I’d like to note that I usually refrain from sharing Lance Eliot’s work as I find it lacks complete nuance in this space, but I’d recommend reading this article if you need evidence of why we need more diverse perspectives in this industry.)
Philly plans to introduce Vision Zero education / safety curriculum into schools 😌 (Whyy)
A deep-dive into the history of interstate highways (this is a looooong read as an FYI) (The Metropole)
The UK Government might be downplaying carbon emissions associated with transport (The Guardian)
A plan for a new high-way expansion in Oregon details how a school would have to be removed to accommodate the expansion 😔 (OPB)
Industry
China’s car sales increased 69% year over year 😔😔 (WSJ)
Dominos and Nuro are partnering to bring pizza to your door-step using AVs (Reuters)
A run-down on Waymo’s current operations by a 14-year old nanotechnology enthusiast (low-key love a hot-take from a NUMTOT!) (Medium)
Waymo’s CEO steps down, co-CEOs appointed (Verge)
Intel and Mobileye plan to launch fully automated service in 2023 (Verge)
Cruise plans to bring AVs to Dubai (FT)
The AV that drove about South Korea… in 1993 (TechWire Asia)
Musings that Argo.AI may IPO this year (Yahoo Finance… sorry)
Ford announces BlueCruise, their new “hands-free driving system” (Verge)
Volvo deepens partnership with Nvidia (Nvidia)
WeRide is approved to operate in San Jose (TechCrunch)
Research and Academia
Analysis of bikeshare ridership for origin-destination pairs (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)
Pedestrian access barriers to transit (Illinois Center for Transportation)
Maro-analysis of car-use changes from transit oriented development (Journal of Transportation Geography)
Opinion
Can Biden’s infrastructure plan reduce car dependency? (CNN)
What if working from home makes us drive less? (Slate)
A parting poem
It’s still National Poetry month, which means another poem for ya. The Cool, Grey City of Love was recommended to me by my friend and subscriber, Debs, and is all about San Francisco.
Tho they tear the rose from her brow,
To her is ever my vow;
Ever to her I give my duty—
First in rapture and first in beauty,
Wayward, passionate, brave,
Glad of the life God gave.
The sea-winds are her kiss,
And the sea-gull is her dove;
Cleanly and strong she is—
My cool, grey city of love.
That’s all from me, have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah