It was a lucky coincidence that Princeton’s 6th SmartDrivingCars Summit coincided with the decade anniversary of the publication of Google’s Potential End Game – Transport and Organize the World’s People, Not Just Information. What differentiates this conference is its host, Dr. Alain Kornhauser, and his focus on people.
The theme of the SmartDrivingCars conference series is about giving people opportunities to live richer lives by expanding their geographic accessibility; whether that means opening up new job opportunities, making a doctor’s appointment, or going to a park. Autonomous mobility, in the context of the SmartDrivingCar Summit, is not a status quo solution; it is about growing the pie and improving quality of life.
A Model for Action #
The conference is about action, specifically taking the nascent technologies and applying them to give affordable rides to people who need rides. Affordable is key, as Kornhauser likes to say, “This isn’t alms for the poor.”
To that end, Kornhauser and his students have spent a decade developing a tool that quickly provides a rough business case for autonomous transit networks. One of the highlights of the conference was the demonstration by Kornhauser and current Princeton student Bryce Rasmussen of this tool (see Kornhauser demonstrate it here) that simulates a MOVES (Mobility Opportunity – Vehicle Equity System) deployment.
But those efforts are just the start. As Michael Sena, co-author of The Real Case for Driverless Mobility, so eloquently wrote in the June Dispatcher
“At this time next year, there should be a real MOVES pilot project in a real community, not just a simulation…the real purpose of having a gathering is for participants to roll up their sleeves and discuss problems that have been identified during the previous year and ways to make improvements… However, if the mission of SmartDrivingCars – at least as I understood it – is to be fulfilled, it is with delivering rides to the large number of people who need a ride but who cannot afford one.”
Michael L. Sena – June 2024 Dispatcher
People, People, People #
As alluded to by Sena, the summit is a catalyst for progressing autonomous mobility solutions that help people. It is the conference’s format that makes this possible.
Kornhauser’s generosity in opening up his home and university home to the attendees creates friendships and relationships that last long after the two-plus days of content-filled sessions and after-hour events.
Relationships are central to subsuming the complex and magical technology of autonomous mobility from a carnival ride to an everyday service that becomes part of one’s everyday experience (much like the magic of communicating on a wireless phone is lost on the younger generation).
Stay tuned.
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