Pretty cool video that offers a nice overview of the 2nd avenue subway project and its impact on residents and businesses in the Upper East Side neighborhood. The size and scope of the project in addition to the geographical location makes for an interesting combination..
We have all seen a ton of dash cam videos from Russia but nothing like this. ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS and one of the craziest things ever caught on camera on a Russian road. Moral of the story: When in Russia, never get out of your car to fight anyone on the road. But if you feel so compelled better not mess with a dude who wears a Sponge Bob costume.
Did you know that for every 1km/h reduction in average speed, there is a 2% reduction in the number of crashes? With the growing population of humans and vehicles globally, the safety of road users is becoming more and more important. The 2013 World Health Organization (WHO) report indicates that worldwide the total number of road traffic deaths is ~1.24 million per year. Only 28 countries, covering 7% of the world’s population, have comprehensive road safety laws on five key risk factors: drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. What’s more scary is the fact that this number is going to rise sharply – 1.9 million fatalities /year by 2020 if we don’t take any action.
So, how do we achieve a better safety record for the rest of the 93% global population? How do we build communities where every one can access the transportation infrastructure safely? One of the easiest ways to reduce the number of crashes is by reducing the speed of vehicles, which can have immediate and direct impact on the number of crashes according to this infograph from PTV. If you want to learn more about road safety, download PTV’s free white paper and register to participate in webinars on this topic in early September.
Image Courtesy: PTV Group Traffic Inside
Infographs are always a nice way to tell a story visually and this one below gets adopts that visual story telling to explain the complex societal impacts that are in the offing as the auto & tech heavy-weights like Google are vying to bring their self-driving technology to the mass market.. Imagine a world with no crashes, no traffic lights and no parking? Mind boggling stuff for today’s drivers but that future doesn’t seem too distant anymore.. Though I think Level 4 automation (i.e., completely autonomous) is at least a decade away, anyone would get excited about the prospect of not waiting for a light to turn green (or for that matter to not drivearound in circles looking for parking)…
The Amazing Ways The Google Car Will Change the World
The ridesharing battle between Uber and Lyft has taken a fierce turn with the companies recruiting each other’s drivers, offering refunds on commissions and canceling rides to clog the system. At the end of the day, the customers are winning (and some may argue otherwise) and the ones who are losing out in this battle are the taxi companies. The staid old taxi businesses are left wondering how they can remain relevant. Click here to read the entire article.
And an interesting infograph accompanying the WSJ article that succinctly captures the details of this street fight:
Image Courtesy: WSJ
Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece that covers the various efforts underway in the world of autonomous vehicles (aka driverless cars i lay people speak) and how manufacturers are working with legislators to introduce their products to the tech-hungry driving public at least in a few states across the country.. here is a video that accompanies that article.
What caught me by surprise is the sheer volume of activity and how certain people are that they will see autonomous vehicles on the roads in just a few short years.. As much as I would like to believe, full automation (Level 4) is still a decade away and we still have a lot of hurdles on the technology, policy and infrastructure side. As one of the interviewed researchers points out, there are many concerns that dog this challenge incl. the high cost of laser vision, the risk that radar and camera sensors won’t see properly in bad weather, and complex legal issues raised by giving control to a robot. Let’s hope we overcome these hurdles soon because we, as a society, are paying a heavy price in terms of human lives and hard earned treasure as we continue to drive with manual control (~33K people killed on American roads during 2012).
Today the British government has announced that testing of automated cars will be allowed on public roads from January next year. The tests are then intended to run for between 18 to 36 months. What more innovative is the approach they have taken to doing this. The government has invited cities to compete to host one of three trials, which would start at the same time. Cities interested in hosting the trials have until early October to declare their interest and the Department for Transport has created a £10m fund to cover their costs (BBC says the sum to be divided between the three winners but not sure what the criteria would be for this split). Quite novel! Good to see the British government pushing the envelope on its road safety agenda using the driverless cars. Hope this nudges other EU countries (and the rest of the world) to get their act together and pave way for the automated vehicles.
via WSJ Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting article that explores the roadblock posed by sky-high prices of the LiDAR units, which offer the vehicles’ “seeing” and “navigating” capabilities , in the widespread adoption automated vehicles. That pesky little roof mounted LiDAR unit atop the Google’s prototype vehicle apparently cost between $75,000 and $85,000, which explains why it will be a problem for mass market. Click here to read the entire article. What caught me is this simple infographic that accompanied the article. It nicely explains how the LiDAR works.
Image: Eyes of a Car via Wall Street Journal.
The Dutch are leaving no stone unturned in their effort to make cycling appealing to their population (all the while adding to the jealousy of many around the globe). This time around, they have built the a fantastic bike parking facility in Utrecht that is a beauty to behold.. What I like about the facility is how functional, clean, airy, well lit and accessible it is (awesome design) for users. The lanes are clearly marked with easy to navigate aisles and lanes. And what’s more? It accommodates all kinds of bikes, even the ones with the baskets upfront and the saddles in the back. All this at an affordable price – the first 24 hours of parking are free. After that it costs €1.25 per following 24 hours (€2.50 for larger bicycles).If you are a regular users, might as well consider getting annual subscription for €75/year.
Check out the video below to see how awesome it is and head over to Bicycle Dutch to read a thorough narrative that explains everything you may want to know about this facility.
