Step one get educated

GET EDUCATED, GET CONNECTED, GET INVOLVED OR GET NOWHERE—

So I’m standing on a corner (no not in Winslow Arizona)…and I hear or barely hear  the sound of what for the world seems like  maybe  a #shark vacuum maybe loud remote control  4x4 toy …well it was neither.  It was  of course an electric  car and as it approached I  knew that’s t I wouldn’t be keeping my  carpet clean with it—however, I also knew two other things.  

One— as a pedestrian I had better pay more attention to this “new” sort of road noise and/or 

Two—These much quieter modes of transportation may  need to actually emit  some signal to the public (including those  who don’t see  so well and/or  have earbuds in.  So that’s where my story began…. what  would happen if we had more of these electric cars  on the road?  Then I  started hearing about  “self-driving”  cars?  Well, if I can talking my phone and  have it playHey Jude” just by asking then  I could see a car that could drive itself.  I also  thought  immediately about  how much independence it could bring to  folks  who have bodies that  are functionally diverse and therefore  traditional car travel is not an option…. well 

that is when I really started doing some serious  reading and thinking about  the #internet of things specifically  transportation and  to date….there are two  or three sources of information I  go to.  

First  of course  there is Google Alerts and you can choose what you might want Google to alert you about in an email.  So I have that set up.  Then I looked to  the podcast arena because a lot of people are listening to these (ironically while in their cars).  

Third, I  started  hearing dribbles about  some diversified group of engineers,   policy-makers,  safety experts, and the like  building this  coalition dedicated not to market  the AV or to try to stunt its development, but to get the facts into the hands  of folks who could then enter into the discussion armed with the most  dangerous  weapon today—the facts.  

I 

These folks  are known as  thePartnership for Autonomous  Vehicle  Education —PAVE and  you can check  out their growing set of resources at 

http://www.pavecampaign..org  Yes they are on twitter too.  

By the way according to this group 80 percent of all people with disabilities  or the elderly  indicate  transportation issues are  a major  barrier to participation in  the world of  work or  in the area of social participation.

These  folks were featured on  a recent episode of the “autonocast” (this blog will review some podcasts in an upcoming  entry).

So….this blog is  getting a bit long for me to write… and so it must  seem like the”Grapes of Wrath”  tfor the reader about now.  

What I started  out to say is  all of this AI, and AV,  and self-driving, or smart machine talk is not only science—it is a personal issue for most of us.  There are places to get educated  (including  this blog).  There are  people to get connected  with all over the blogosphere, youtube, andpodcast carnival… so connect with some of these folks and learn.  The more  you learn the more  you will realize  that there are important decisions being made right now  and  many decisions left to chelp

ome.  You can have  a say in this future…or you can sit back and let  other people  make  choices about trivial things like the cars you will get to ride in, the roads  you will be traveling, the safety of “new players on-drivers” out in public and ultimately  who will pick up the transitional costs of all this.  

For  today I just want  you to remember it’s personal… Pave  will serve as a valuable resource, and you can use Google too.

Google is what  the next issue of this blog will talk about….I have heard some feedback  from  some of you and  please keep sending it my way…

More… probably about Monday …unless  between now and then I decide to  have a little Wackiness Weekend” version  of this blog in which case  look for a short  blog with a music video  tomorrow.

Peace and Joy  to  you all.  

and I will I am