autonomus cars

Artificial intelligence is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the U.S. transportation landscape. Beyond headline-grabbing crashes with driverless cars, though, some advocates may not realize how else this rapidly-emerging technology is shaping their streets right now — and how it might be used in the future. 

On this episode of The Brake, we sit down with Renee Autumn Ray of Hayden AI to talk about her recent Eno Center report, "Understanding AI & Transportation," which unpacks the concept of machine learning and its many applications for cities, transit agencies, and more. And along the way, we explore some of the pitfalls of over-relying on AI, as well as how transportation leaders can best use it "as a tool to help humans do their jobs" — whether that's analyzing crash data to identify interventions to save lives, spotting and ticketing bus lane blockers, or just helping advocates illustrate what a human-centered street might look like. 

Many sustainable transportation advocates fear that the era of autonomous vehicles will spur us to even further optimize our streets for the efficient operation of machines rather than the cultivation of experiences that make us fully human. By adopting a framework that radically centers 'livability' on our roads, though, could we make the robo-cars work for us — and maybe, undo the damage of the first wave of automobobility? 

On this episode of "The Brake," Kea Wilson sits down with author Dr. Bruce Appleyard to talk about his new paper, "Designing for street livability in the era of driverless cars", as well as his book, Liveable Streets 2.0, and the the legacy of his father, Dr. Donald Appleyard, who wrote the original edition. And along the way, we talk about why "livability" is about so much more than safety and the difference between "desigining" and "programming" our places to prioritize our humanity.