If you want to learn more about mobility, automated vehicle technology, and the people and policies that affect them all, don’t miss The Mobility Podcast. Each episode features high-level speakers from the 2019 Automated Vehicles Symposium and is hosted by Greg Rogers of Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), Greg Rodriguez of BB&K Law and Pete Gould of Shared Mobility Strategies.
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The Mobility Podcast stopped by the 2019 Automated Vehicle Symposium in Orlando to meet and interview experts and policymakers across the AV sector. We kick off the week in an interview with Jane Lappin, Chair of AVS and Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs at Toyota Research Institute, and Mike Greeson, Director of Business Development & Strategy at AUVSI. Jane and Mike joined SAFE Greg for a sneak peek into this week's keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and AV demonstrations at AVS 2019.
Greg Rogers sat down with Chris Urmson, CEO and Co-Founder of Aurora for a wide-ranging discussion on the evolution of the AV industry, the importance of public education, and the regulatory landscape for AVs.
Chris Urmson has been involved in automated vehicles since the DARPA Grand Challenges and Urban Challenges in the 2000s that birthed the modern AV industry and was instrumental in starting Google's Self-Driving Car Project (now Waymo). After seven and a half years at Google, Chris started a new AV company, Aurora, which has rapidly expanded to nearly 300 employees in the past two years and attracted investments from Hyundai, Kia, and Amazon.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is playing an active role in facilitating the safe and expeditious deployment of automated vehicle technologies across all modes of transportation. Greg Rogers and Pete Gould sat down with Finch Fulton, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Transportation Policy at USDOT, for an in-depth discussion of the Administration's approach to AV policy.
In this episode, we dove into:
- The exemption petitions from GM Cruise and Nuro, and what they mean for the future of AVs
- Voluntary Safety Self-Assessments from AV developers
- USDOT's research into revising FMVSS to prepare for AVs
- ADS Demonstration Grants and Buy America
- The importance of preserving the 5.9 GHz band for vehicle safety applications
- The Federal Transit Administration's visionary Strategic Transit Automation Research (STAR) Plan
- And why it's absolutely crucial that accessibility is a top priority in federal AV programs
Why is Florida a hotbed for AV testing? Florida Sen. Jeff Brandes and Chris Emmanuel from the Florida Chamber of Commerce joined SAFE Greg and Pete to talk about how The Sunshine State has set itself apart as a hub for AV testing, Florida's recently-enacted AV bill (HB 311), and the future of AVs in Florida.
Johanna Zmud is the Senior Research Scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, where she focuses on the social influence of technology. She heads up TTI's multimodal planning division. where her research focuses on changing technology, technological development, and public policymaking.
What’s better: public acceptance or public acceptability? Pete and SAFE Greg sat down to ponder AVs, PAVE, and public perception with Dr. Jack Stilgoe, Associate Professor at the Department of Science and Technology Studies at University College London. We discuss the perception challenges ahead for AVs, the international landscape for AV development and testing, and reactions to technology-related crashes.
In this episode, we took a step back from AV policy in the U.S. to explore how the transport authorities in Singapore and Australia are approaching AVs. SAFE Greg and Pete were joined by experts from each country: Chris Leck Deputy Group Director, Technology & Industry Development Group at the Land Transport Authority of Singapore, and Marcus Burke, Director of Automated Vehicles at the National Transport Commission (Australia).
Will there be a Napster of Mobility? SAFE Greg and Pete met up with Grayson Brulte (Brulte & Co.) and Mike Scrudato (Munich Re) at AVS 2019 to discuss the importance of brand trust for the adoption of AVs. In this episode we discuss the importance of branding for new technologies and Munich Re's new product, AVerified, which is meant to build trust in AVs through third-party verification.