With the dawn of autonomous automobiles on the horizon, one firm began to think outside of the box a little. IDEO, a design firm, thought of making autonomous vehicles that weren't cars, but rather offices. The self-driving work pods would travel around at off peak hours to minimize traffic and they would park themselves closer to the people who need them. You would no longer commute to the office, but now your office would commute to you. The pods would also take advantage of places that are not heavily trafficked. For example during the off-season for sports teams, the pods could park themselves in stadium parking lots to set up work places for people. I think this idea sounds great and very futuristic, and yet not that far off. Now we just play the waiting game to see when laws begin to allow driverless cars on the roads.
This time of year is full of travel. Whether you’re driving, taking a train or flying, travel can be exhausting. We've all been there; a long flight finally arrives at its destination. You grab your carry-on from the overhead bin excited to finally exit the plane, only to be treated by another ten minutes or so of waiting for the crowd in front of you to exit. It can be frustrating when you're so close to being done with your traveling. That frustration proved to be too much for one man on a flight to Hainan, China. He couldn't wait to unload from the plane any longer so he decided to open the emergency door and deploy the emergency slide to get off the plane. The short cut cost over $16,000 in damages. When police confronted the passenger he claimed he was unaware that the emergency slide and door were for emergencies. I'm not sure how much clearer it can be than to put the word emergency in the name of the door and slide, but then again all that waiting to unload the plane makes me go a bit insane as well.
Uber, the ridesharing app that matches riders with people willing to offer rides for cash is being sued by the city of Portland. This isn't new territory for Uber, pretty much any place with a taxi service wants to stop them due to the competition. The people on the other hand love the service Uber provides so these lawsuits are always interesting to see play out. Portland's lawsuit is based off of the idea that Uber is running as an illegal taxi service. They are unregulated drivers whereas Portland’s taxi and transportation services are held accountable for a particular set of standards (health and safety, insurance, etc). The people of Portland are fighting for the approval of Uber as it provides an easier way to catch a ride, at a much more affordable rate. The hearing is expected to be on December 19th, so we will see which way the court leans on this. Should they rule in favor of Uber we will see new laws and regulations set in Portland to allow the service. There are over 7000 fans of the service in Portland that have petitioned to save the company in their city so far.
Typically when Girl Scout cookie season rolls around, I’m patrolling the streets searching for a makeshift stand set up for me to buy out some little kid’s stash of Thin Mints. If I can’t find a stand somewhere, I’m forced to wait for one of the pint sized door-to-door saleswomen to come by and supply my cravings. Now there is finally a new way to get your hands on the sweet treats. Girl Scouts of America have approved online cookie sales for their young saleswomen. The new online portal will allow people to place their order online and have the cookies shipped directly to your house! This is excellent news for my addiction, but potentially bad news for my waistband. If you are interested in ordering online, speak with any of your local Girl Scouts for info on how to access the cookie portal.
Researchers at the University of Alberta in Canada are fitting major roads in Edmonton with sensors to relay real time information to cars on the road. We've heard about the technology before, but now it's actually getting implemented. The sensors will be fitted to roads and traffic signals, and they will monitor congestion, speed, accidents and other factors that cause traffic. As part of the study, two hundred cars will be fitted with the wireless technology to receive the information from the sensors in real time. This will give the drivers the ability to make on-the-fly decisions about their commute. This has great potential to lower traffic congestion on roads because drivers will be able to see what's happening and decide to change routes ahead of time. David Lynch, the Dean of Engineering at the University of Alberta, was quoted as saying, "time we spend in traffic jams is time that we are not being productive or enjoying our personal life" by the Edmonton Journal. Truer words have never been spoken. No one enjoys sitting in traffic, it's a waste of time. Technology and research like this could potentially be the beginning of the end for traffic jams and wasted time on the road.
