Page 42 - TT Magazine Aug-Sep 2018

MOBILITY

Beyond Efficiency

Redefining Success in Mobility

A plea for disruptive thinking in
the era of autonomous vehicles
from urban planning expert

Camilla Siggaard Andersen.

afety. Efficiency. Cost. Comfort. These are
all familiar performance indicators within the
realm of mobility. The private vehicles that we
have known for the past eighty years typically
Sscore high on comfort, but are by nature less
safe, less efficient, and costlier than most other modes of
transportation. To mitigate these shortfalls of the private
vehicle, complex infrastructural systems have been put
in place all over the world, often at the severe expense
of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit. Enter: the
autonomous vehicle…
Manufacturers of Autonomous Vehicles promise to
improve upon all of the aforementioned indicators, in
order to justify their continued or increased value in the
transportation network. But what if our indicators are
wrong? The shift from private vehicles to AV’s has created
an opening for us to throw out the established metrics,
and think about – really think about – how to define
successful mobility.
Imagine if vehicles were tactile and
engaging

Imagine if the success of a journey was measured by
how many people you connected with along the way, the
rising levels of happy-hormones in your body (dopamine,
oxytocin, endorphins, serotonin), or the benefits to your
cardiovascular system. Imagine if ‘comfort’ was measured
not just from the perspective of the vehicle’s passengers,
but also from the perspective of other travelers, specifically
those on foot and bike. Imagine if the success of the AV fleet

42 August-September ’18 / TrafficInfraTech www.trafficinfratech-com-500653.hostingersite.com