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In today's episode of The Next Mile Podcast, Pouya Dianat is joined by Darin Givens, the cofounder of the urbanism advocacy group thread atl, based in Atlanta. He is also the ATL urbanist, and has been writing about urbanism and transportation for many years.

Key Points from this Episode:

• The difference between suburban and urban environments, and how they impact our daily lives
• The design of our roads and public spaces, and how it affects our behavior
• The potential for Atlanta to learn from other cities when it comes to transportation and urban design

Tweetables:

“The great thing is that answers are out there, and we know what makes better places in terms of transportation, engineering and road design. We know what makes safer places and less hostile places for walking. The hurdle is getting people on board with making those design changes.” – Darin Givens

“Instead of expanding capacity on Interstate highways, we could take the capacity that we have right now and dedicate some of it to bus rapid transit lanes and really dedicated purely to bus rapid transit lanes, so that those become just as speedy to use almost as as a rail line, yet less expensive to operate.” – Darin Givens

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

ThreadATL

ThreadATL on Twitter

Darin Givens on Linkedin

Darin Givens on Twitter

Darin Givens on Instagram

Darin Givens on YouTube

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In today's episode of The Next Mile Podcast, Pouya Dianat is joined by David Clapper, cofounder and CEO of ScamperVan. Theirs is a company that promotes driving without a destination in mind, and wonders what exploring the open road has to offer.

Key Points of This Episode:

• The origin of ScamperVan
• The resurgence of the van life movement and the community around it
• The healing and freeing experience of being on the open road

Tweetables:

“Just the freedom of not having to worry about catching a flight, going through security, all the things that come along with that.” – David

“... but when I'm driving and I don't have anywhere to be, I love just turning offroads. I have no idea where they go and just see where they go. Because it's oftentimes, those moments, that you'll find things that you never expected you'd find.” – David

“ And what a lot of people who are living the van life full time, they're realizing, "I don't need 25 shirts. I don't need 8 pairs of shoes. I don't need all this stuff." And that is allowing people to simplify their lives and get more connected with the things that matter most in daily life. And that's just your connection with the people you care about and the people with the earth that you live on.” – David

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Scamper Van

David Clapper on Linkedin

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In today's episode of The Next Mile Podcast, Pouya Dianat is joined by Sam Schwartz, a man who has been in the transportation industry since the late 1960s. He started as a cabby from New York and rose to become the traffic commissioner and the DOT’s Chief Engineer. He popularized the term “gridlock” and changed the way New Yorkers thought about traffic.

Key Points from this Episode:

• How will autonomous vehicles affect communities?
• The poor transit system in the US
• How citizens should take a more active role in this discussion
• Putting greater emphasis on system maintenance than on simple repair issues

Tweetables:

“…in the United States, I never opened with science when I'm trying to sell a plan to some community or state or federal government, it's always the economy. We open on the impact on the economy.” - Sam Schwartz

“The planet is on a collision course. We can't keep using the same amount of energy. We can't keep emitting the same carbon footprint. We can't be so selfish that we only count on what's good for ourselves. We have to start thinking collectively what is good for our planet.” - Sam Schwartz

“We see transit systems spending too much money on basic repair issues when, had they been able and had the money in the first place to maintain the systems, they could have done it for a lot less money. So, the public should take a real interest because when you allow infrastructure to fail, you pay an enormous price in so many ways.” – Sam Schwartz

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sam Schwartz

Sam Schwartz on Twitter

Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars on Amazon

No one at the Wheel on Amazon 

No One at the Wheel: Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future on Goodreads

Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars on Barnes & Noble

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In today's episode of The Next Mile Podcast, Pouya Dianat is joined by Jeff Lane, the director of the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. The museum is focused on cars that are unique and interesting, with a collection of 500 cars from all over the world.

Key Points from this Episode:

• How cars have changed and been designed throughout history
• The different types of propulsion used in cars
• How our circumstances change how we try to travel

Tweetables:

“So the thing is, you got to have the dream, but then at some point, you've got to have the technology to make it work.” – Jeff Lane

“And the thing is, driving a car is pretty easy. Flying an airplane is pretty easy, but you have to land, and that's not always an easy thing.” – Jeff Lane

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Lane Motor Museum

Tesla

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Just a little bit north of Atlanta, there’s a city that also works as a sandbox for technology and transportation innovation.

On any given day, the Lab, complete with infrastructure to support autonomous driving, plays host to everything from autonomous buses to teleoperated scooters as they try to create a city that gives new meaning to live, work, play. 

On today’s episode, I am talking about this tech-haven, with my guest, Betsy Plattenburg, who is the executive director of Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners. 

Don’t miss out, on Season 2’s first episode of The Next Mile, where we have an interesting conversation about the importance of creating test platforms in the real world for the wave of oncoming change in the transportation landscape.

Questions I ask:

• What is Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners? (01:13)
• What makes a public testing sandbox an attractive draw for startups and technology companies? (04:00)
• How does AV technology force us to reconsider the design of the car? (7:58)
• How does Curiosity Labs latest test with teleoperated scooters show how quickly tech pivots and adapts? (10:01)
• What are some of the differences we’d expect to see on the roads where testing is being done versus what we’re used to? (11:45)
• What makes Curiosity Lab unique as a public government-owned entity? (15:30)

In this episode, you will learn:

• Local Motors Olli autonomous bus at the Lab (4:15)
• The five levels of autonomy (5:55)
• What Curiosity Lab looks like (11:30)
• Curiosity Labs many infrastructure partnerships (16:30)

Connect with Betsy:

• LinkedIn
• Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners

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A rare moment of widespread global uncertainty has paved the path and proved the point for one industry poised to transform how we move freight across our planet – autonomous trucking. We speak with one of the leading companies in this space, TuSimple, and their head of government and public affairs, Robert Brown. 

From finding cost and time efficiencies to improving how we connect in a time of need, TuSimple’s robust sensor suite is doing more than just establishing new technology – it’s mending our planet one automated shipment at a time.  

On today’s episode, we’ll explore the technology and ethos that make up TuSimple’s vision for bringing autonomy to 18-wheelers. Don’t miss out on this episode of The Next Mile, where we have a conversation about the importance of this game-changing technology to our nation’s infrastructure pipeline.

Questions I ask:

• Why was the autonomous trucking sector so much more appealing than consumer AVs?
• What is the secrete sauce that sets apart the technology being used by TuSimple?
• What are the benefits TuSimple has found so far with truck automation?
• How is TuSimple leveraging partnerships with big logistics companies to prove their position in the marketplace?
• How has the COVID-19 pandemic forced you to reimagine some of the work you are doing?
• How does TuSimple balance the need for a human workforce with automation?

Connect with Robert and TuSimple:

• LinkedIn
• TuSimple

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Sono Motors thinks we need to redesign the car. Not with what the manufacturer wants, but with what the potential buyer's demand. With a mission built around sustainability and transparency, they seek to reimagine the automobile as they know it. With solar integration to cover most of your daily driving, a low price-point, and much, much more, Sono seeks to make a car that this generation wants to own. 

Other resources:

• Sono Motors Website
• Sion raises 53 million Euros in crowdfunding 
• Laurin Hahn Twitter
• Update from Season 1: The Ray 

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Civil Bikes is connecting Atlanta's past and present with historic tours throughout the city, but you won't find them sightseeing from a double decker bus. Civil Bikes is "street level", with tours being conducted on bikes and on foot. With Nedra Deadwyler at the helm, Civil Bikes is uncovering some of the city's lesser known stories and sharing them with the world so that these histories can continue to live on. In this episode Nedra discusses some of the advantages of conducting tours on bikes and the importance of keeping local histories alive.

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