Research is about more than just studying a problem in search of a solution. Sometimes, research is about realizing a vision.
Imagine, for instance, a city with a robust downtown, vibrant neighborhoods, and bustling suburbs. It’s a city of the future, in which people circulate freely, but not by routinely using their own cars. Oh, people still have cars; they just don’t think of them as their sole (or even primary) mobility option anymore. Instead, they consider options like on-demand mobility, self-driving vehicles, readily-available transit, biking, walking, and others, all made more practical thanks to lightning-fast technology advancements and innovative thinking.
The city I describe here has evolved through multiple development strategies that enable people of all races, incomes and ages to move about freely in pursuit of strong schools, promising jobs, and abundant leisure activities. It’s a city where crippling traffic congestion that chokes economic activity is a part of history. (Read More)