How we describe autonomous vehicles and ride-sharing services is a “gigantic lot of nonsense”

This week at a major transport conference in Adelaide, keynote speaker Professor Graham Currie from Monash University, will discuss the gross misconceptions he believes we have about the impacts of autonomous vehicles, ride sharing services and other “new mobility” developments.

He will build on his research that has included the technical paper “Lies, Damned Lies, AVs, Shared Mobility, and Urban Transit Futures”. According to Professor Currie the use of the expression “ride sharing”, to describe services such as Uber and Lyft, incorrectly suggests that they involve lots of shared vehicle occupancy. His research proves otherwise.

He also says that autonomous vehicles, as far as cars are concerned, are anything but the utopian dream that we have been led to believe. He believes that this distortion means that we will fail to develop the right transport system to effectively meet our needs.

The annual National Conference of the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management (AITPM) (www.aitpm.com.au) is being held, this year, at the Adelaide Convention Centre. It is a conference with a strong reputation for addressing practical issues, not just grand theories on transport.  This year it has attracted close to 400 delegates from all over Australia and overseas. The conference proper is on Wednesday (31^st July) and Thursday (1^st Aug) and there are workshops on Friday (2^nd Aug).

Other Keynote Speakers

Phil Jones: A managing editor for Manual for Streets 2 “ It aims to increase the quality of life through good design which creates more people-oriented streets”.
Dr JD (‘Doug’) Hunt: Professor of Transportation Engineering and Planning in Canada “Computer modelling including solutions to cultural, organizational, and technical challenges”.

• Prof Currie is available for interview: Call David Brown – 0402 143 920
• Media representatives are invited to attend all conference sessions.
• Conference Home page
• Conference program