Along for the Ride #271
Heya friends, happy Friday
Quick plug for the next London Mobility Meet-Up (June Edition), happening June 12th at 5:30pm at the Artillery Arms. Register at the link above :)
Secondly, I’ve also been thinking a lot about the war in Gaza this week, with every week presenting some headline that is worse than the previous’ weeks. There is no world where letting thousands of babies die due to a lack of humanitarian aid is acceptable. Wherever you are in this corner of the world, I hope you continue to call your political representatives / send emails urging them to act now demanding the war on Gaza end.
That’s my only introduction this week. Here’s some silly news about transport.
I find it overwhelmingly sweet that my friend Rosie made this illustration based on article shared by our other friend Maca. Sometimes the world is very cute.
This research “investigates whether participatory budgeting - a form of participatory democracy where citizens directly decide how to spend public money - can contribute to a fairer active travel system, where women in the UK cycle as much as men.” The lack of data available today means that the researcher focused on developing recommendations about how participatory budgeting can produce more gender-equitable outcomes. Thoughts of food for thought here!
Traffic fatalities are a choice
“In 2022, more than 42,000 people died on American roads, and more than two million — 1 in every 170 — required emergency medical care from automobile-related accidents.” Many readers here are already very familiar with the history of vision zero infrastructure, but this article provides a detailed recap of how cities have decreased traffic fatalities through infrastructure (while also making their cities healthier and more sustainable).
Washington State introduces Shared Streets Law
Currently it is illegal to set a speed limit lower than 20 mph on a street in Washington (big whelp). However, come July, that will change! “Washington cities will have the legal authority to create a new type of street that features much lower speed limits and puts pedestrians first.” Love to see it, political will power appears to live on!
Why Singapore isn’t interested in winning the AV race
Singapore is taking a slow and steady approach to deploying AVs. The LTA has cited the need to “build confidence in operating AVs on bus routes, ensuring public transport operators can train workers effectively, and assuring commuters that the technology has been thoroughly tested before going mainstream”. Singapore has also stated that the first phase of AV deployment in the city-state will focus on fixed-route shuttles such as road-sweeping and logistics AVs.
Singapore saw 2.3 road deaths per 100k people in 2023, compared to the USA’s 12.9 road deaths per 100k people. It’s almost like good infrastructure is the solution :)
Wales is seeing record low collisions on roads with lower speed limits
Maybe the theme of this newsletter is we already know how to make our streets safer, we’re just a bit blindsided by fancy new technology that offers us the promise of not having to change our behaviours….
I am sharing this report with the biggest pinch of salt; this report is made and funded by private AV / transportation companies and is designed to present their most favourable perspectives to win the favour of politicians, city decision makers, and others who can influence regulations that will lead to greater profits for these companies. Read it without rose coloured glasses, please and thank you!
Make no mistake, this report surveyed the CEOs of AVs companies (lol), and you’d never guess (!) that 81% of CEOs said that they were “optimistic the new political leadership in Washington will make helpful changes to AV policy”. Reading that alone gave my whole body the bad vibes shivers.
I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about Kier Starmer’s government right now, but I don’t hate that they are delaying AVs launching in the UK. The previous government promised fully autonomous vehicles on the road by 2026, however Labour is pushing that out to the second half of 2027. So naturally, Uber is making some noise pushing for the government to speed along support.
Waymo is partnering with Magna to build a manufacturing site in Arizona
That’s one way to beat the US tariff drama. The new facility is going to be able to manufacture “tens of thousands” of autonomous vehicles a year for Waymo’s fleet once fully operational.
Waymo expands further in the Bay
Waymo’s Northern California empire continues to expand, this time welcoming San Jose into their service area.
Clocking miles and trips
Waymo has announced they’ve delivered over 10m trips, while Baidu’s Apollo Go quickly followed that announcement by saying they’ve delivered a cool 11m trips.
I want to know who funded this research / article….. it’s essentially advocating we continue to design our cities around cars (again), and claims that making longer commutes possible is a good thing which is just ….. hathe thou not read any research about quality of life and mental health and commuting??
Why Hong Kong should pump the brakes on AVs
“Given the city’s narrow roads and crowdedness due to high-rise buildings, the cost of fully fledged development of driverless technology will be high, as a significant number of roadside units will need to be installed at buildings or facilities for driverless vehicles to detect people, objects and other obstacles to ensure safety, which may not be cost-effective.”
This weekend my friends and I got together to go salsa dancing (don’t worry I am bad at it), and when we got there, a part of the bar was a whole train carriage so I naturally made everybody go in and we had a lil photoshoot.
In a very sweet group chat moment, my street in London rallied behind a neighbour who had her outdoor cat, Pablo, snatched. We were able to get him back and he’s back to roaming the street and it really made me happy this week. The story of him being snatched was very dramatic and the street was bereft over it, thankfully good people can accomplish anything!
My friend Alessandra knit me this sweet tomato red scarf and I’ve been wearing it every day. 20/10 recommend having crafty friends!! It was also her birthday last week, happy birthday Ale!!!
That’s all from me. Have a beautiful weekend friends.
Sarah
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