WBUR reporter Jack Lepiarz speaks with Prof. Marta Gonzalez about her traffic study that found that if drivers switched routes during rush hour they could cut back on congestion. “We have enough space, in theory, but we are all filling up a few streets that get congested,” Gonzalez explains.
Senior Lecturer Fred Salvucci speaks with Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson about what state and local governments could do to support public transportation. Salvucci explains that there, “has not been sufficient political will to put money into the subway systems.”
Prof. Emilio Frazzoli speaks with Nicole Dungca of The Boston Globe about his new startup nuTonomy, which is developing a fleet of driverless taxis for Singapore. Frazzoli explains that he feels the biggest impact of autonomous vehicles is in “really changing the way we think of personal mobility, or mobility, in general.”
MIT startup nuTonomy is developing driverless taxis to serve as a form of public transit in Singapore, reports Nyshka Chandran for CNBC. “The driverless taxis will follow optimal paths for picking up and dropping off passengers to reduce traffic congestion,” Chandran explains.
Fortune reporter Robert Hackett writes that MIT spinoff nuTonomy is developing a fleet of driverless taxis for Singapore. Hackett writes that the company “could become the first to operate fully self-driving cars, known as ‘level four,’ in a city commercially.”
Boston Globe reporter Kevin Hartnett writes about a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that envisions a future without traffic lights. “When sensor-laden vehicles approach an intersection, they can communicate their presence and remain at a safe distance from each other, rather than grinding to a halt at traffic lights,” explains Prof. Carlo Ratti.
Dr. Matthias Wikenbach speaks with Angus Loten of The Wall Street Journal about how big data and the Internet of Things can be used to speed up the last mile of deliveries. Loten writes that “data can be fed into creating better delivery training programs, more efficient routes, and helping companies determine the best type of delivery vehicles.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Angus Loten writes that MIT researchers are investigating the viability of developing underground networks where autonomous vehicles could deliver goods in urban centers. According to Loten, Prof. Sertac Karaman explained that “subterranean drones have a number of advantages over unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Popular Science reporter Kelsey Atherton writes that MIT researchers have developed a model that would allow cars to travel through intersections by communicating with one another, eliminating the need for traffic lights. “Rather than traffic lights working as valves dictating which stream can flow, the cars themselves are adjusted, cleanly separated and passed along,” Atherton explains.
During this CBS Radio segment, Sam Litzinger spotlights a new model developed by MIT researchers that would allow sensor-enabled vehicles to travel safely through intersections without traffic lights. Litzinger explains that the researchers have developed “what amounts to a central nervous system that can connect intersections with an incoming vehicle.”
MIT researchers have found that communication between vehicles could ease traffic at intersections, writes Thomas Tamblyn for The Huffington Post. The researchers found that by communicating with one another, vehicles could maintain safe distances, removing the need for traffic lights.
New Scientist reporter Rebecca Boyle writes that MIT researchers have found that taking a longer route in and out of the city decreases road congestion by 30 percent. “If we are able to remove a couple of cars from the morning commute, that’s going to save everyone else a lot of time,” explains graduate student Serdar Çolak.
Wendy Koch of National Geographic spoke with members of the MIT Hyperloop team about their work transforming their design for a levitating pod that could transport people at hundreds of miles an hour into an operational prototype. “It’s a great opportunity to learn and possibly to change the future of transportation,” says project manager and graduate student John Mayo.
MIT Hyperloop team members Philippe Kirschen and Sabrina Ball speak with Mike Nikitas of NECN about the team’s approach to the SpaceX competition. “We wanted to design a pod that was safe, scalable and feasible,” explains Kirschen.” We really focused on the technology that we thought we could develop… that could possibly be applied to a full-scale hyperloop.”
Wired reporter Alex Davies speaks with graduate student Phillipe Kirschen, team captain of the MIT Hyperloop team, about the team’s strategy. Kirschen explains that the team is focused on developing a “pod that is gonna go really fast, that is gonna levitate, that can have good attitude control, and that can brake well.”