Autonomous Vehicles Topics

Speed Limits - David & Wes talk about speed limits: what they can do, what they can’t do, and the surprisingly complicated question of how robotaxis should handle them. Japan is moving toward lower speed limits on a large share of its roads, shifting many streets from 60 km/h to 30 km/h. That sounds simple enough, but speed is never just the number on the sign. It looks different from behind the windshield, in the crosswalk, inside a traffic study, or at the moment of impact. From there, David &...

Senior Mobility - David & Wes talk about older drivers, road safety, and the uneasy idea of “driving forever.” Wes starts with a paper he co-authored about how people think about driving, aging, and the possibility that they may someday need to give up the keys. But the point is not just what happens when someone can no longer drive; it is what happens before that. David then talks about visiting his parents’ retirement community, where slow streets, golf carts, and walkable destinations offer o...

Transit Funding Freeze - David & Wes dig into our frozen federal transit funding situation and what happens when major transit projects are not officially killed, but also are not allowed to move forward. After new reporting on the Trump administration’s apparent halt in final agreements for Capital Investment Grants, they talk about what these delays mean, why stalled transit funding makes projects more expensive, and the hard reality that cities can no longer assume the federal government will...

Rural AVs – David & Wes take a deep dive into the future of rural transportation and why mobility challenges outside our cities deserve far more attention. From David’s experience trying to get around West Virginia to Wes’ take on “rural urbanism” and the awesomeness of some rural Main Streets, they explore what rural villages get right, where and why rural areas struggle, and how autonomous vehicles might help the cause even more so than in urban areas. Other topics: 🔹 Iowa’s Anti-Bike Bi...

AV Safety – David & Wes explain why an online kerfuffle about autonomous vehicle safety unexpectedly put David himself in the spotlight. They unpack why autonomous vehicle debates so often generate more noise than insight, how narratives take on a life of their own, and what cities should be paying attention to right now. Listeners will come away with a clear sense of where autonomous vehicles truly stand and why context, logic, and governance matter more than bold promises. Other topics: 🔹 T...

Robotaxi Meltdown – David & Wes discuss how robotaxis affect urban resilience after a blackout brought mayhem to San Francisco’s streets. As robotaxis expand in cities across the United States and Europe, how will they react to emergencies and unforeseen events? If autonomous vehicles freeze en masse, transportation networks could grind to a halt. Other topics: 🔹 The quiet power of city sidewalks 🔹 Best ways to keep biking in the winter 🔹 The uncertain future of transportation & urban plannin...

Waymo in Cities – David & Wes explore why cities are beginning to push back on Waymo and other robotaxi companies, and what that resistance reveals about local control, safety, and trust in emerging technologies. Using Boston’s response as a case study, they dig into the tensions between innovation narratives and municipal responsibility. Listeners will come away with a clearer understanding of why cities are asserting themselves now, what’s at stake in these confrontations, and how regulation s...

Robotaxis – David & Wes look ahead to the arrival of robotaxis and what cities should be doing (or not doing) to prepare. Rather than asking whether autonomous vehicles will “work,” they focus on the decisions cities actually control. Listeners will come away with a clearer sense of why waiting for technology to mature is not a plan, and how today’s choices could lock in decades of consequences for safety, access, and street life. Today, we also talk about: 🔹 How we go about finding a neighbo...

Tesla Autopilot – David & Wes unpack the implications of Tesla’s Autopilot being put on trial and ask what accountability for automated driving systems could or should look like. As tech companies promise to solve road safety, this conversation asks the harder questions. When technology fails, who bears responsibility, and who pays the price? We then examine why expensive hype-driven approaches to safety often distract from proven, low-tech, inexpensive solutions. Today, we also talk about: 🔹...