Covert Facial Recognition Street Lights—Coming Soon to a Neighborhood near You?: NMA Weekly E-Newsletter #514
From guest writer Joe Cadillic of the MassPrivtel Blog A recent Reuter’s article revealed that ST Engineering has been awarded $5.5 million to install facial recognition street lights in Singapore. ST’s smart street lights come equipped with sensors, LED screens and covert cameras already installed. Incredibly, ST claims their spying street lights can bring “healthcare benefits to residents.” […]
What Do Young Drivers Think About Driverless Cars and Mobility as a Service?
Decades ago, we would only dream about cars that could drive themselves. Now, self-driving cars are the newest solution to a lesser pollution and the new experience of sitting in the driver’s place without the need to get involved. Personally, I believe that driverless cars and mobility as a service is a great thing, especially […]
All Hail more Traffic Congestion
From Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director This NMA weekly E-Newsletter #484 appeared in April 2018. Ridesharing is still not the solution but indeed-much of the problem for traffic congestion. Some new linked articles appear at the bottom of this post. The math is simple. More cars on the streets equals more traffic congestion. Ridesharing companies […]
Dueling incentives
Accused of contributing to urban congestion, Uber wants a tax to price you out of the city while their cars pay a lower rate. Ride-sharing services love “congestion fees.” In its simplest form a congestion tax is a barrier toll around part of a city, say London or lower Manhattan. You pay $25 to drive […]
Should I Buy a Car Even Though I Live in the City?
In the United States, there were 222 million people who had a driver’s license in 2016. People are driving to work, school, vacations and other personal reasons. When living in rural or suburban areas, owning a car is a must. Work, grocery stores and local schools can be over 15 minutes to an hour away. […]
The Carrot and the Stick Approach to Vehicle Tracking: What’s wrong with congestion pricing and Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax Schemes?
This article first appeared in the NMA Foundation quarterly magazine Driving Freedoms Winter 2016 edition. Smart Growth supporters claim their transportation fixes will reduce congestion and lead to more accessible roads for all users. In practice, the opposite may be true. In the winter 2015 Driving Freedoms, a California NMA member described how congestion and […]
Top 5 Smartest Futuristic Cars
From James Bond to Back to the Future, the movie world has always pushed the boundaries in the functionality and practicalities of cars. But what about in real life? Recent technological advancements are seeing some equally innovative concepts come to life. In this article we explore some of the newest technologies on the market and […]
Vision Zero—In the Trenches of New York City: NMA Weekly Newsletter #503
From New York City NMA Member Joshua Hotto Vision Zero is a huge nightmare for everyone that lives or works in NYC. Since the introduction here of Vision Zero, commute times have more than doubled. The city has introduced road diets, has converted streets for bike and bus only lanes and has gotten rid of […]
Has Uber Really Grown Up?
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has already been at the helm for a year and recently Fortune posted an editorial called Uber is Finally Growing Up. In reading between the lines, it does seem that the company is no longer spiraling out of control. In the past month, a number of stories have been posted talking […]
Why Don’t We Trust Self-Driving Cars?
Self-driving cars promise a future of fewer accidents, less congestion and maybe even lower transportation costs. Yet for many Americans, the idea of driving alongside cars that are 100 percent computer-operated belongs in a science fiction movie. Could a vehicle really move from point A to point B efficiently, safely and with the same ability […]