Learning from the Past for a Better City of the Future

3.5 CM / LU pending

To accommodate the last mobility revolution—1929 to 1933—we created the regulatory framework for the arrival of the automobile, including criminalizing walking for the first time, and putting into law AAA’s marketing term, “jaywalking.” As a result of that regulatory prioritization of convenience over safety, 3.5 million Americans have died by automobile since 1929, nearly seven times those killed in wars. The current regulatory trajectory for autonomous vehicles has us point straight toward Susan Shaheen’s “Hell” scenario. What do cities, states, and well-intentioned technology companies need to be doing today to help us use this new technology for the public good?