AI Earth Summit — Sustainable Mobility
A majority of the topics covered in my article series are related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable mobility, while not explicitly listed as a goal, is implicitly one as well. Whether you are looking at affordable and clean energy, industry innovation and infrastructure, or sustainable cities and communities, transportation has a role to play in all of them.
In 2017, Americans drove for 87% of their daily trips, compared to car trip shares of 50–65% in Europe. It isn’t only that we have farther to go either. Roughly 30% of daily trips are shorter than one mile on either side of the Atlantic. Of those trips under one-mile, Americans drove 70% of the time; meanwhile, Europeans made 70% of their short trips by bicycle, foot, or public transportation.
The United States (U.S.) is particularly car-reliant, especially when compared to our European counterparts. The U.S.’s economy depends heavily on the personal and freight transportation system. Essentially, transportation allows for trade of products and services — energy, food, manufacturing, etc. — between people and regions. The need for transportation service is not unique to the US — but the amount of personal and industrial roadway travel is.
A quick glance at the numbers, and one might exclaim, “Americans are just lazy!” However, there are deeper explanations, rooted in the collective American mentality regarding transportation. Car ownership is something that is ingrained into American culture, starting with the mass motorization movement in the 1930’s. The country’s infrastructure is built to enable mass transportation of cars between cities, but many cities have neglected to include other transit options as a part of their city planning.
On top of neglectful planning, Americans also view public transit as a welfare system for those who cannot afford to drive. Some even take it into the political space, likening a conservative alignment with the freedom of the automobile and a liberal alignment with the benefits of the public transit. This mentality risks perpetuation of mobility inequalities. In areas where commutes are long, it is hard for children to escape poverty; in many cities, areas with poor mobility have high unemployment and low incomes.
This combination of forces has led our country to an unequaled reliance on cars, which is simultaneously contributing to and threatened by climate change. In 2017, the U.S. transportation sector accounted for 29% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with cars and trucks accounting for 65% of that total. Petroleum accounts for 93% of the nation’s transportation energy use.
Besides contributing to changes in the climate through emissions, transportation systems are also being affected by climate change. It will affect transportation systems directly through infrastructure damage, and indirectly through changes in trade flows, agriculture, energy use, and settlement patterns. Disruptions to transportation systems, therefore, can cause large economic and personal losses.
The transport sector has the potential to improve the lives and livelihoods of billions of people — their health, their environment, and their quality of life — and stabilize climate change. However, today it is stuck going in the wrong direction, with transport contributing to gross inequalities in access to economic and social opportunities, intensive fossil fuel use, and massive emissions of greenhouse gasses.
So, how can we practice more sustainable mobility? Technology has a huge role to play in getting us there (pun intended). More data and connectivity can lead to more efficient and convenient mobility. For example, advances in analytics and automation are already showing great promise in reducing consumption of energy. Additional mobility services supplemented by smartphones have already started a move away from vehicle ownership toward shared vehicle usage. Services such as car sharing, ride hailing, and carpooling are all becoming more mainstreamed. Even autonomous and smart vehicle technology — enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) — could help optimize traffic patterns and roadway usage, potentially saving billions of lives.
The transportation sector is ripe for a more sustainable overhaul. This could mean making more efficient motors, decreasing fossil fuel reliance, shifting our mental model of public transit, or even using data and mobile technology to move away from vehicle ownership. Regardless of the method, sustainable mobility is a way to decrease inequality and combat climate change, which is why it was chosen as one of the breakout session topics at the AI Earth Summit.
Tech Talk: https://sustainability-techtalk.eventbrite.com
Techstars Startup Weekend: https://aila-techstars.eventbrite.com
Chloe Grubb is a senior in Robotics at Olin College of Engineering who has focused her time in user-centered (UX) design. She hopes to bridge the gap between engineering and design to create impactful experiences for users. Over the past four years, she has dedicated these skills to addressing the need for increased environmental awareness. Spearheading a Climate Action semester at her school and piloting a start-up, Drina, to allow users to make environmentally conscious decisions highlights her desire to utilize UX design to engage and excite people in the changes that need to happen for environmental stability. Being a contributor to AI Earth Summit is the next step in her environmental action involvement.
