At TRB 2024 we sat down with Renee Autumn Ray, Senior Director at Hayden AI, to unpack one of the most discussed (but perhaps the least meaningfully understood) topics in transportation: artificial intelligence.  Renee gives us the highlights of her recent Eno Center of Transportation report, Understanding AI & Transportation, and goes deeper into some practical applications of AI in the industry. She also shares what she’s been up to at Hayden AI, how they’re using next-generation...

In this episode, we ushered in the new year by getting together at TRB's 2024 meeting (a.k.a. the greatest transportation show on earth) and introducing our newest host, Sam Roxas.  Sam dove right in by sharing her transportation story, starting with her grandmother, who instilled the importance of walkable cities and their ability to create community and resilience for historically underserved communities. We're excited to bring Sam's experience in local government, insights on...

No person in Congress has done more to promote active transportation and livability than Representative Earl Blumenauer. With his brightly-colored bike lapel pens, he has long been one of the most recognizable people on Capitol Hill. Since his election to the US House of Representatives in 1996, Congressman Blumenauer has been a tireless advocate for livable communities that are safe, healthy, and economically secure.  Ahead of his retirement at the end of this year, The Mobility Podcast was...

In this Back to School episode, we interview Anna Siprikova – a global leader in designing safer streets for kids and families. Anna is Senior Program Manager for the Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI), where she works with communities around the world to implement GDCI’s Streets for Kids program.  Since 2018, Streets for Kids has partnered with over 30 cities to improve the lives of kids in cities through. They work to inspire leaders, inform practitioners, and empower communities to...

Hilary Cain is a leading voice on autonomous vehicle policy in the United States – and she’s deeply concerned that federal inaction will cede American leadership in AV technology.  Hilary is Vice President of Technology, Innovation, and Mobility Policy at the Alliance For Automotive Innovation, where she oversees policy development on technology and future mobility issues, including regulation of connected and automated vehicles, data privacy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and...

One highlight of ARTS 2023 was when Chris Gerdes intentionally made the audience groan by displaying a slide that mentioned the infamous Trolley Car Problem – before making it right by presenting a commonsense framework for determining the roadworthiness and safety of AVs.Chris is teaching the next generation of transportation tech professionals about ethics and equity of transportation systems. He’s a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, as well as a former director...

American roads are becoming more dangerous for everyone – especially those traveling on foot, in a wheelchair, and on a bike. Jonathan Adkins, CEO of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), joined us to discuss the need for widespread adoption of the Safe System Approach, putting Vision Zero into action, the greater risks that larger vehicle designs pose to vulnerable road users, and why Al Roker, one of America's favorite TV personalities, has become a champion for walking. We...

Building a safe autonomous vehicle isn’t just about installing sensors and programming software – it’s about building a safety culture, operationalizing safety processes, and communicating safety approaches to the public. It’s a massive undertaking, and even harder to translate into terms that most people can understand, which is why we made it a priority to catch up with Nat Beuse, Chief Safety Officer at Aurora, during TRB ARTS. In this episode, Greg Rogers and guest co-host Sophie Jantz...

San Francisco is a hotbed for AV testing and deployment – and the city’s transportation chief had strong opinions to share about it during his keynote at TRB ARTS. Greg Rogers and guest co-host Sophie Jantz had the opportunity interview Jeff Tumlin, Director of Transportation at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), after his keynote to further explore the questions he likes to ask when new transportation technologies are introduced to the city’s...

AV wonks from around the world converged on San Francisco last week for TRB ARTS – the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Automated Road Transportation Symposium (ARTS). This ARTS was one for the books. We were thrilled to partner with TRB ARTS again this year to interview representatives from government, industry, and academia about the state of the AV industry, and what’s next. In this meta-interview, Greg Rodriguez seeks treatment for his ARTS FOMO in an interview with Greg Rogers...

Transportation, climate resilience, and public health are deeply intertwined — and understanding the connection between them is essential for building thriving, livable communities in the 21st Century. At TRB 2023, Greg Rogers sat down with Carlos Cruz-Casas, the Chief Innovation Officer at Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works. Carlos and Greg covered a wide range of topics, including: • Opportunities to encourage mode shift through right-sizing transit and...

A new record: Avery Ash made Mobility Podcast history with his third appearance on the show! Avery, who was the Head of Global Public Policy and Product Strategy for INRIX (at the time of this recording), appeared alongside Niti Anand, Head of Strategy and Business Development at GM Future Roads, to discuss Safety View, a new collaboration between their companies. Safety View is intended to provide granular, actionable insights to help government decision-makers understand transportation...

Minnesota’s Autonomous Rural Transit Initiative, goMARTI, is a unique community-led partnership to bring autonomous shuttles to Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Greg Rodriguez and Greg Rogers sat down with Tammy Meehan Russell and Justin Johnson at TRB Annual Meeting 2023 to explore how they worked with the Grand Rapids community to introduce an autonomous shuttle service powered by May Mobility. In this episode, you’ll hear Tammy and Justin share the secret sauce for deploying autonomous transit...

"What's your transportation story?" became our new favorite question to ask our guests after this interview with Kristin White. Kristin is the COO of ITS America, the former Executive Director of Minnesota DOT's CAVx program, and a passionate advocate for improving mobility outcomes for all. She joined the Gregs Rodriguez and Rogers at the TRB Annual Meeting to discuss how we can seize this transformative moment in transportation policy, the opportunity for the federal government to lead with...

In this special TRB Week episode we interview Neil Pedersen and Victoria Sheehan, the past and present Executive Directors of the Transportation Research Board. Neil discussed his experience of leading TRB for the past several years amid a period of tremendous technological change, and Victoria shared her goals for continuing to build on TRB’s reputation for authoritative transportation research and elevating diverse voices in the sector. We also discuss the importance of volunteers to the...

We're back, just in time for TRB Annual Meeting! Greg, Greg, and Pete reunite after a "gap year" of focusing on work and family to explore what's next in transportation policy and technology. Stay tuned for many more episodes to come after the TRB Annual Meeting, and be sure to say hi if you'll be around Transportation Camp DC or TRB! Follow us on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast

#077: Laura Chace, President & CEO, ITS America Last month Greg Rogers and Pete Gould sat down with Laura Chace, the new CEO of ITS America, at the ITS America Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC. We discuss the need to focus on the opportunity to center new technologies around human outcomes, the importance of convening the public and private sector to work together on deploying new innovations, and implementation of the infrastructure bill (IIJA, or BIF) that President Biden signed into law...

After taking a summer break, we returned to celebrate our fourth anniversary of The Mobility Podcast and discuss the hottest topic in Washington today – the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (or whatever you'd like to call it). Please note: this episode was recorded in early September before Congress returned and conducted markups, but covers key issues around electrification, transit, and transportation funding that remain relevant. As always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on...

We're honored to welcome U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth to the podcast to discuss a bipartisan bill she recently introduced, the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Act of 2021. The ASAP Act would establish a federal grant program to support legacy transit and commuter rail authorities to upgrade existing stations to meet or exceed accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Learn more about the ASAP Act here:...

Pete Buttigieg appeared before Congress today for an overwhelmingly positive nomination hearing, where he garnered wide bipartisan support. In this episode, Greg Rogers, Greg Rodriguez, and Pete Gould provide a rapid recap and analysis of the hearing, and a discussion of the political appointees who have been announced so far. And for newcomers to the transportation policy world and the podcast, we also provide some quick explanations of federal transportation programs, policies, and...

Buckle up! We kicked off this year with an engaging hour-long discussion of transportation policy with Beth Osborne, Director of Transportation for America. We discuss a huge range of topics, including: -How Secretary Pete Buttigieg's USDOT could improve transportation decision-making; -Beth's recommendations for writing an impactful surface transportation reauthorization this year that actually helps put people to work; -How to pay for the next reauthorization; -Why we need to combine...

PennDOT Sec. Yassmin Gramian by The Mobility Podcast

President-elect Biden ran on a platform that promised bold action on climate change, including major investments in sustainable transportation. In this episode, Pete and the Gregs Rodriguez and Rogers discuss how the Biden-Harris Administration could take to reduce transportation emissions and explore ideas for improving transportation decision-making. We also discuss the prospects for the FAST Act reauthorization in 2021, USDOT's progress in preparing for emerging technologies over the...