Making mobility easier for all
Our society is coming into greater power as artificial intelligence makes machines and systems smarter and more intuitive.
At the same time, innovations in transportation are starting to make driving and shipping safer, more efficient and less harmful to the environment.
With the right approaches, we can combine and multiply the benefits of these technological advancements to make all forms of human and cargo mobility, along with the systems that organize and connect them more accessible, inclusive, functional, and sustainable for everyone.
That is both a responsibility and an opportunity, so while we do need to be careful, we should also allow ourselves to be hopeful.
Imagine how emerging transportation technologies can improve how we use vehicles and systems to make life better.
Think about people who can’t drive because of disability, age, illness, trauma, or injury. It doesn’t have to be that way.
What if we were able to deliver independence without driving, by finding other efficient and dignified ways to help everyone, regardless of age or ability, get from A to B?
Think about newcomers from countries with different rules, conventions and languages. If we could help them find their way through unfamiliar cities using technology that communicates with them in their own languages, some barriers to integration would fall away.
Think about people who need more time to cross the road. They may be very young, or very old, or have other reasons for needing more time. They have no less right to safety or dignity, and our traffic systems should embrace their needs.
The same is true for cyclists who need protection and access as they use their rightful share of the road.
Such efforts are the focus of the new Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence and Smart Mobility, an academicindustry partnership between McMaster University and Cubic Corporation’s Cubic Transportation Systems.
Cubic uses technology to help transportation agencies and municipal partners deliver equitable, integrated, and efficient mobility solutions that simplify daily commutes, reduce traveller frustration, minimize emissions, and make journeys safer.
Cubic’s mission aligns with that of the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre (MARC), a major transportation research hub where I hold a research chair. Our collaboration will engage faculty and student researchers, experts, and users from many professional backgrounds and walks of life.
Our current transportation systems, which still reflect almost total reliance on fossil fuels, are no longer sustainable, which is triggering massive changes, including electrification.
Electrified vehicles, featuring advanced driver-assistance systems and built on more efficient and intelligent platforms, create greater opportunities to integrate smart features that will make transportation simpler and more accessible.
Today, we are at the most complex juncture in the transformation: the in-between period when our roadways accommodate gas, electric and hybrid vehicles with differing levels of autonomous capabilities.
At the same time, we are also seeing changes in car ownership, signalling a potentially broad movement toward ride sharing, which could have profound economic and social impacts. As these and other forms of change converge, it will be critical to manage the development of all components of our transportation systems simultaneously, from vehicles themselves to public transit systems, roadways, cargo shipping, and delivery systems.
Artificial intelligence, for all its promise, can only be as good as the data we put into it. This is a critical time to make sure our thinking is as diverse and inclusive as possible, so our approaches to mobility meet the needs of everyone.