Daniel Sperling
Daniel Sperling, distinguished professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy, and founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, will present “Three Transportation Revolutions: A Call to Action” at a Director’s Special Colloquium on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. in the Building 402 Auditorium. All employees whose schedules permit are invited to attend.
Abstract
Passenger transportation has seen little system innovation in half a century. That is now changing. The ubiquity of smart phones is enabling the commercialization of a range of new mobility services, led by Uber, Didi, Ola, Lyft, and others; rapid advances in battery and fuel cell technology are enabling electrification of vehicles; and rapid advances in sensing and artificial intelligence technologies are enabling automation of vehicles. The challenge for researchers is to anticipate and understand the transformations, and for policymakers to direct these revolutions toward the public interest.
Biography
Daniel Sperling is distinguished professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy, and founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis (ITS-Davis). He holds the transportation seat on the California Air Resources Board and served as chair of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies in 2015-16. Among his many prizes are the 2018 Roy W. Crum award from TRB, its highest research award; and the 2013 Blue Planet Prize from the Asahi Glass Foundation Prize for being “a pioneer in opening up new fields of study to create more efficient, low-carbon, and environmentally beneficial transportation systems.” He served twice as lead author for the IPCC (sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize), testified 7 times to the US Congress, and provided 20 keynote presentations in the past year. He has authored or co-authored over 250 technical papers and 13 books, including “Three Revolutions: Steering Automated, Shared, and Electric Vehicles to a Better Future” (Island Press, 2018), is a regular contributor to Forbes, an energy expert contributor to the Wall Street Journal, is widely cited in leading newspapers, been interviewed many times on NPR radio, including Science Friday, Talk of the Nation, Marketplace, and Fresh Air, and in 2009 was featured on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.