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Brookfield To Introduce Self-Driving Cars At Massive Northern Virginia Development (2-8-19)

Courtesy of Brookfield A rendering of the Optimus Ride self-driving car in front of the Wegmans at Brookfield’s Reston development.

One of the world’s largest real estate firms will roll out self-driving vehicles at a huge property it owns in Northern Virginia this summer.

Brookfield Properties announced Thursday it will deploy Optimus Ride self-driving cars at an office park in Reston where it plans to launch a $1.4B development.

The vehicles will be introduced in June at One Reston Crescent and Two Reston Crescent, the two existing office buildings on the 36-acre site where Brookfield is planning a 3.5M SF mixed-use project.

Read Full Story Here (via Bisnow)

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Boeing’s First Autonomous Air Taxi Flight Ends In Fewer Than 60 Seconds (1-23-19)

Everyone has to start somewhere, and air taxis are no exception.

Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company, said it completed the first flight of its autonomous air taxi Tuesday at a small airport outside Washington, DC. No one was on board. The flight lasted less than a minute, according to Boeing, and it didn’t actually go anywhere. Instead, it hovered above the runway. Boeing declined to share how high above the ground it flew. But Boeing is hailing the achievement as a milestone for its NeXt division, which develops autonomous airplanes. The flying car prototype is 30 feet long and 28 feet wide. It’s designed to fly up to 50 miles at a time.
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Transportation For America Releases Micromobility Policy Guide (1-16-19)

Dive Brief:

  • To help cities grapple with the unexpectedly rapid influx of new micromobility services, Transportation for America has released a “playbook” with policy options around licensing, maintenance and equity, among other topics. The guide was produced with officials from 23 cities participating in the group’s Smart Cities Collaborative.

 

  • Among other policy options, the playbook explores how cities can permit and license new micromobility options, including the right to deny and appeal. Notably, the guide recommends that cities should “require all companies to indemnify the city from legal liabilities” related to loss or damage to persons or property from using dockless options on public space.

 

  • “The rapid emergence of these new micro-mobility services has created new clean and convenient options for people to get around, and they certainly offer a wealth of potential benefits. But there’s still so much to learn,” Russ Brooks, Transportation for America’s Director of Smart Cities, said in a statement.

Read Full Story Here (via Smart Cities Dive)

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Seven Things To Know About Our Last Smart Cities Collaborative Meeting Of 2018 (12-12-18)

Last week in Atlanta, Georgia we wrapped up our second cohort of the Smart Cities Collaborative with the fourth meeting of 2018. Once again, staff representing cities, counties, transit agencies and other public sector agencies from 23 cities gathered together to share their experiences and learn how others are using technology and new mobility to become better places to live.

Here are seven things we learned or heard last week:

Read Full Story Here (via Transportation for America)