I started this blog as my virtual file cabinet of news and analysis about autonomous vehicle (AV) development and testing. That was back when there was not much news and it was easy to stay on top of it all. Along the way, as I only have so many hours in the day - and the cat or people claim some of those - I have discovered my priorities in the AV world and I report on those in my posts.
Slowly, both despite and because of my transportation analysis and technical assistance career, my priorities unfolded from the perspective of the passenger - the one who wants transportation - and of particular passengers, those with disabilities, older adults, and people without much money. These are individuals and communities who are not well served, and sometimes very much isolated, with our current transportation system, which requires money, skill, and health. Trying, in my own way, as we develop AVs to heal the world.
Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don't know ...
Transportation is my second career. I was an appellate attorney who defended indigent people who were appealing their criminal convictions and indigent habeas corpus petitioners. Talk about an education in who is cheated from birth through school and young adulthood - and that has nothing to do with guilt or innocence. I won some nice victories in the appellate courts of New York State and in the federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
I could write a book, but I was raising my kids. So instead I became a managing editor of a set of criminal law publications for criminal defense attorneys. It was lots of fun and I authored or oversaw in-depth training resources for defense counsel about DNA evidence, fingerprints, various Fourth Amendment topics, and eyewitness identifications, among others. One need that defense attorneys have is to learn the science of a particular topic and then be able to intelligently explain that in motions, briefs, and, if need be, to a jury. Then the legal publishing industry imploded with an endless Ms. Pacman game of acquisitions and my publications were purchased by a large company that was located far away.
I took time off, became involved in some land use and transportation activism in my own neighborhood and the area, and then got a job for the Community Transportation Association of America. I quickly started newsletters, was given a new partnership, the Partnership for Mobility Management, and grew that partnership into over 2000 members. Along the way, I provided technical assistance for a few projects, designed websites, got active on social media, and read an article that said AVs were coming soon. I could not let that go. I was promoted to be the founding director of the National Center for Applied Transit Technology, which examined and provided resources about shared-use transportation services, mobility as a service, electric vehicle sources, and other topics.
Imagining a better AV future
But I missed being immersed in the AV world and being the administrator of a big project was not fun. So here I am, figuring out the next step. I keep thinking that unless one or a bunch of crazy people press our representatives, our businesses, and our communities, when AVs arrive en masse we will not not have a more equitable, a more accessible, or a healthier transportation network. In addition to the money to be made as engineers and businesses create the next transportation revolution, why can't we also have a revolution to improve the transportation we actually get with all of that technology?
I am analyzing, reporting and writing about a vision I see of a better tomorrow so that when AVs become dominant, we can all be better served. So here I am, writing this blog. After all, you need to paint the picture of what the goal will look like.
No comments:
Post a Comment