Brave New Road: The Role of Technology in Achieving Safe and Just Transport Systems
How can new technologies help correct the many equity and equality issues facing our transportation system? How can we ensure the deployment of new technologies doesn’t exacerbate these existing issues?
Co-sponsored by the University of South Carolina School of Law
Over the course of March, April, and May, experts and advocates will join together to discuss how to ensure emerging transportation technologies (Such as automated vehicles (“AVs”), micromobility, connected infrastructure, and unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs”)) are deployed in ways that focus on justice and safety for the communities they are operating in. This focus will include experts from a number of disciplines and focus on the safe systems approach, civil rights, equity, and the law and policy considerations related to those issues.
Information on all of the experts participating in this conference is available along with links to their work and other recommended reading.
Expert Participant Bios & Other Materials
Week One – March 23 and 24
Does Newer Mean Better? – The Present and Future of Emerging Transportation Technologies
Tuesday, March 23 – 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Eastern
Emerging Transportation Technologies, a Primer
A write-up of this panel is available here
Expert participants will provide an overview of emerging transportation technologies, focusing on AVs, micromobility, connected infrastructure, and UAVs. The discussion will include details on how these technologies work, their capabilities, and the technical, legal, and policy challenges they face when deployed in public.
Moderator:
Emily Frascaroli, Managing Counsel, Product Litigation Group, Ford Motor Company (US)
Expert Participants:
Jennifer A. Dukarski, Shareholder, Butzel Long
Nira Pandya, Associate, Covington
Bryant Walker Smith, Co-Director of Law and Mobility Program, Associate Professor of Law, University of South Carolina Law School
Wednesday, March 24 – 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM Eastern
A Conversation with Paul C. Ajegba, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation
Join us in conversation with Paul C. Ajegba, P.E., Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. Director Ajegba will discuss MDOT’s work with emerging technologies, as well as how the agency pursues community input and involvement in its projects, before taking time for audience Q&A.
Week Two – April 1
Getting From Here to There – Communities, Emerging Technologies, and Transportation Equity
Thursday, April 1 – 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Eastern
Transportation Equity and Emerging Technologies
A write-up of this panel is available here
Expert participants will highlight the inequalities and equity issues that exist in our transportation system, how to prevent new transportation tech from exacerbating these issues, and how new tech can potentially help correct those injustices.
Moderator:
C. Ndu Ozor, Associate General Counsel, University of Michigan
Expert Participants:
Robin Chase, Transportation Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Zipcar
Dr. David Rojas-Rueda, MD, MPH, PhD, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University
Dr. Regan F. Patterson, PhD, Transportation Equity Research Fellow, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
Week Three – April 6 and 7
Where Do We Go From Here?
Tuesday, April 6 – 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Eastern
Justice, Safety, and Transportation Policy
Building on what we’ve learned from the first two weeks, participants will focus on examining how transportation policy is generated and how policymakers can take a more active role in how new technology is deployed and used. This includes policy issues like policing, street and city design, and their intersection with technological adoption.
Moderator:
Ellen Partridge, Policy & Strategy Director, Shared-Use Mobility Center
Expert Participants:
Justin Snowden, Mobility Expert, Former Chief of Mobility Strategy for the City of Detroit
Kelly Bartlett, Connected and Automated Vehicle Specialist, Michigan Department of Transportation
Kristin White, Connected and Automated Vehicles Executive Director, Minnesota Department of Transportation
Wednesday, April 7 – 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM Eastern
Challenging Algorithms in Court: A Conversation with Kevin De Liban
Join us for a conversation with Kevin De Liban, Director of Advocacy at Legal Aid of Arkansas, who will discuss his work on a successful challenge to Arkansas’s use of an algorithm to make decisions on Medicaid home-care benefits. Kevin will discuss how to approach legal challenges to algorithmic decision-making and what that could mean for emerging technologies.