Autonomous Future

A single car in an empty parking lot full of only bright yellow bollards. A caption on the image reads, "Keep calm and carry on."

Keep Calm. Carry On. AVs Are Just the End of Parking.

Opinion: As autonomous vehicles continue to appear on roads around the world, planners and engineers must be proactive in devising new and creative uses for soon-to-be-obsolete urban parking.

August 8, 2022 - William Riggs

Self-driving minibus

Still No Flying Cars: The Underwhelming Progress of Autonomous Vehicles

While we're still far from a Jetsons-style reality, understated autonomous features could be the key to safer transportation.

February 23, 2021 - City Monitor

Autonomous Vehicles

Waymo One Now Offering Fully Autonomous Rides to the General Public

Is this the "Kitty Hawk moment" driverless car companies have been seeking?

October 9, 2020 - Waymo

Driving

Fighting for the Right to Drive in an Autonomous Future

There is a growing movement of humans who don't like the idea of being forced to hand the wheel over to robot drivers.

May 1, 2019 - The New Yorker

Robot car

Watch a Self-Driving Car Take Out an Autonomous Robot

Is this the future we've been waiting for?

January 11, 2019 - Daily Mail

Driverless Bus

Jacksonville's Driverless Transit Plan Is More Hype Than Hope

Jacksonville's transportation authority has proposed a flashy public transportation service designed around autonomous busses. The proposal does little to improve the public transit system of a growing, Sunbelt city.

March 6, 2018 - Modern Cities

Cleveland Warehouse District

10 Principles Toward More Sharing and Less Sprawl

A manifesto for street livability, health, and humanity in the era of driverless cars.

January 18, 2018 - Bruce Appleyard

banksy

Anti-Homeless Robot Raises Eyebrows in San Francisco

File under 'high-tech urban dystopia.”

December 18, 2017 - Business Insider

Glen Ellen, California

Could Autonomous Vehicles Save Lives in Disasters?

Autonomous vehicles could provide life-saving assistance in the event of a large-scale evacuation, if a shared fleet of autonomous vehicles is built with this purpose in mind.

November 15, 2017 - Michael R. Boswell

Self-Driving Cars

Autonomous Vehicles and Urban Contexts: It's Time to Engage All Stakeholders

At the 2017 Autonomous Vehicle Symposium, a group of experts were asked to predict the effects of autonomous vehicles in two case study communities, and to generate a list of proposed policy actions to prepare for a future of autonomous vehicles.

October 16, 2017 - Nico Larco

Suburban Three-Car Garage

Autonomous Vehicles: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out?

The implications of autonomous vehicles for social interactions are potentially vast.

July 6, 2017 - William Riggs

Robot car

Beware the Utopian Visions of Transportation Technology Boosters

At the dawn of automated vehicle technology, humans, and Americans in particular, should recall the shortcomings of past utopian visions.

June 30, 2017 - Eno Transportation Weekly

Autonomous Vehicle

A New Policy Agenda for Autonomous Vehicles: It's Time to Lead Innovation

A call for planners, policy makers, and the car industry to assertively lead the policy development in anticipation of the coming wave of autonomous vehicle technology.

February 9, 2017 - William Riggs

Pedestrian Crosswalk

Thinking Beyond the (Autonomous) Vehicle: The Promise of Saved Lives

While car companies and federal regulators concentrate on the mechanisms of automated vehicles, they're still overlooking the ability for the car to connect with the outside world. The benefit of such a focus could come in lives saved.

December 13, 2016 - William Riggs

Biker Bike Bikes

The Bicyclists' Manifesto for an Autonomous Vehicle Future

"Policy goals" won't be enough to protect bicyclists once the cars start driving themselves. Strong standards will be necessary to govern the interactions between cars and bikes in an autonomous future.

September 13, 2016 - William Riggs

Robot car

Why Autonomous Vehicles Probably Won't Induce Sprawl

There are a few good reasons why a worldwide fleet of autonomous vehicles will not necessarily lead to a new era of sprawl.

August 31, 2016 - William Riggs

Google Self-Driving Car

No Business as Usual in an Autonomous Vehicle Future

Among the reasons to reconsider new investments in expanded roadway capacity: the impending revolution in transportation that will arrive when cars start driving themselves.

March 28, 2016 - William Riggs

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