Those contemplating the widespread availability of self-driving cars are predicting everything from a new urban nirvana to a hellish exurban dystopia. But all of these projections hinge on a single fact about autonomous vehicles that we don’t yet know: how much they will cost to operate.
Read MoreHow does a city balance the expectations of drivers with the needs of productive places and the people who use them, when fast-paced technological change may soon upend the basic realities on which such assessments are built?
Read MoreDense cities that want to live in the real world of space and time, and that do not want to become dystopias that are functional only for the rich, need to use urban space efficiently. That includes public transit.
Read MorePublic transit is environmentally-friendly, affordable and helpful for economic development. But there's a fourth virtue of public transit: it saves space.
Read MoreFor those of you who expect to be sitting in your own personal car being whisked around in effortless comfort and privacy as you commute to distant suburban locations… Not quite.
Read MoreIs there a disruption on the horizon that could potentially put us out of business?
Read MoreAutonomous vehicles have the potential to change the way we develop our cities in very positive ways. They could, in fact, be one more chink in the armor of the existing 'build it and they will come' model of auto-oriented suburbia with its wide roads and vast acres of parking.
Read MoreAuthor, civil engineer and University of Minnesota professor David Levinson (Twitter) joins the podcast to talk about his new book, The End of Traffic and the Future of Transport, which he co-authored with Kevin Krizek.
Read MoreIt might be role of O'Toole, and those who would follow him, to simply serve as a warning for others. That's a useful role in society.
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