MIT researchers have found that almost 90 percent of cars on the road could be replaced with electric vehicles, reports Amrith Ramkumar for Bloomberg. The researchers found switching to electric vehicles could lead to a “60 percent reduction in total U.S. gasoline consumption and a 30 percent decrease” in emissions from transportation.
A study by MIT researchers finds that electric cars could replace most of the cars on the road, reports Chris Mooney for The Washington Post. “87 percent of vehicles on the road could be replaced by a low cost electric vehicle…even if there’s no possibility to recharge during the day,” explains Prof. Jessika Trancik.
Sam Thielman writes for The Guardian that MIT researchers have found that electric vehicles would meet the needs of most American drivers. Prof. Jessika Trancik says her vision is that people would own electric vehicles, “but then being able to very conveniently get an internal combustion engine vehicle to take that long road trip.”
In an article for The New Yorker, Frank Rose features “The City of Tomorrow”, a new book by Prof. Carlo Ratti and graduate student Matthew Claudel. Rose writes that the city Claudel and Ratti envision is “a hybrid of the digital and the physical, a ‘triumph of atoms and bits’ that yields a sort of augmented urban reality.”
Prof. Jonathan How speaks with Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear about how researchers from MIT and Ford are collaborating on a new project aimed at better understanding vehicle mobility and demand in dense urban areas. The project will allow researchers to “investigate new planning and prediction algorithms in a complex, but controlled, environment,” explains How.
Researchers from MIT and Ford are collaborating on a new project to measure pedestrian traffic and predict the need for on-demand shuttle services, reports Kirsten Korosec for Fortune. The researchers hope to use the data they collect to predict demand for shuttles, and then "routing those vehicles to areas where they’re needed most at the corresponding times.”
In a BBC News article about the resurgence of bicycling, Kent Larson, director of the Changing Places group, describes the bicycle his group is developing. “You think of the demographic profile of [a] bike rider now as quite limited,” says Larson. “We are working on an electric vehicle that we think of as democratising bike lanes."
Ian Sample of The Guardian writes that a new study co-authored by Prof. Iyad Rahwan highlights forthcoming issues for autonomous vehicles. “[D]riverless cars that occasionally sacrificed their drivers for the greater good were a fine idea, but only for other people,” says Sample.
John Markoff writes for The New York Times that a new study co-authored by MIT Prof. Iyad Rahwan finds that drivers are conflicted when it comes to the ethics of autonomous vehicles. Prof. Rahwan and his colleagues found that “what people really want to ride in is an autonomous vehicle that puts its passengers first.”
A study by Prof. Iyad Rahwan of the Media Lab finds that while people want autonomous vehicles that minimize casualties, they ultimately want the car they’re driving in to prioritize passengers over pedestrians, writes Amy Dockser Marcus of The Wall Street Journal.
A new study co-authored by Prof. Iyad Rahwan grapples with the ethics of autonomous vehicles, writes Hal Hodson for New Scientist. When it comes to saving passengers versus pedestrians, researcher worry the findings will “[limit] the promise of this technology to dramatically cut road deaths.”
MIT will be offering employees free MBTA passes for local bus and subway service to encourage more people to use public transportation and reduce the environmental impact of commuting, Inside Higher Ed reports.
In an article for The Boston Globe, Steve Annear writes that MIT is rolling out several new benefits for faculty and staff commuting to campus, including free, unlimited subway and local bus usage. “By providing employees with the pass, the school hopes to ease the demand for parking near campus and help reduce carbon emissions,” Annear writes.
Boston.com reporter Bill Griffith spotlights the 6th Annual Automotive Technology conference at MIT, which is focused on the future of automotive technology and driving.
Popular Science reporter Christine Jun writes that the MIT team has unveiled the pod they developed to compete in the SpaceX Hyperloop competition. Jun explains that the MIT team’s pod is “8 feet long, weighs 500 pounds, and is expected to reach speeds up to 230 miles per hour with an acceleration of 2.4 Gs.”