1. How ebikes affect bicycle use<\/span><\/h2>\nFirst up is the article: Effects of e-bikes on bicycle use and mode share<\/span><\/a><\/strong>, by Aslak Fyhri and Nils Fearnley. Published in the journal Transportation Research, this article takes a look at the impact ebikes have on changing how we get around.<\/p>\n![\"muto,](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/06\/20200502_121017.jpg\")
Credit: M Beedham<\/figcaption><\/i><\/a>Muto ebike, somewhere in Amsterdam. May 2020. The Muto ebike is designed for life on a bike. It\u2019s adaptable, well-made, and reliable. It\u2019s one of SHIFT\u2019s favorites.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs ebikes began to gain popularity, some believed that they were just going to electrify cycling and there wouldn\u2019t be a positive environmental benefit. In other words, people didn\u2019t think they would actually get more people cycling instead of driving.<\/p>\n
So, in short, this paper seeks to answer the question: do ebikes get people out of cars and onto bikes? But no spoilers, go read it to find out.<\/p>\n
2. The economics of Hyperloop technology<\/h2>\n
Hyperloop technology, is making big promises. It\u2019s meant to be fast, clean, energy efficient, and zero emission. However, Hyperloop is still an unproven concept in the real world and there is still much debate<\/a> over the economics and cost-effectiveness of the vacuum tube transportation.<\/p>\nWhile testing is slowly going in the right direction, it\u2019s unclear when it will be available and how much it\u2019ll cost passengers.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2018\/07\/HTT.jpg\")
Credit: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies<\/a><\/figcaption><\/i><\/a>Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. It\u2019s supposed to revolutionize transport, but it will come at a cost.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThankfully, there\u2019s a fair bit of research that looks into possible scenarios that need to play out for it to be profitable. Check out this article from Virgin Hyperloop One on the economics of their system<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\nOr if you want to dive even deeper, Jacob Covell, from Penn State University, wrote their thesis on the topic<\/a>. Their article is good read if you\u2019re new to hyperloop technology and also want some background on the tech itself, before getting on to the economics.<\/p>\n3. The overselling of automated driving technologies<\/h2>\n
Despite various technological advances, there are still no true self-driving vehicles on our roads. Sure, there is plenty of testing happening, and Tesla rolled out its Full Self Driving Beta last month, but we\u2019re a still long way off the tech being a reality.<\/p>\n
Indeed, with marketing and names like Autopilot and Full Self Driving, one would be forgiven for thinking that the tech is already here.<\/p>\n
If one thing has happened this year, though, it\u2019s this: we are waking up to the risks and dangers associated with the misuse of automated vehicles technologies.<\/p>\n![\"Autopilot,](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/06\/Screenshot-2020-06-02-at-16.00.50.png\")
Credit: Dixon – Transportation Research<\/figcaption><\/i><\/a>Elon Musk is no stranger to demonstrating Autopilot as capable of driving itself entirely. Even though Musk takes his hands off the wheel here, it is wrong and against Tesla\u2019s user agreement for its drivers to do the same. Musk\u2019s action set a misleading expectation of what Tesla vehicles are capable of.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOne of the biggest risks we face comes from the fact that many of these technologies are oversold, and have vague or outright misleading brand names. This is called autonowashing<\/a>, a word that was officially coined by human-machine interaction researcher Liza Dixon.<\/p>\nThe phenomenon was outlined in her 2020 paper: Autonowashing: The Greenwashing of Vehicle Automation<\/a>.<\/strong> With self-driving vehicles just over the ever impending horizon, it\u2019s a highly relevant read for modern times.<\/span><\/p>\nSo there you have it, a first step into the world of academic literature in the field of mobility tech. Happy reading.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/07\/Polestar_wordmark_pos.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/a>SHIFT<\/a> is brought to you by Polestar. It\u2019s time to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. That is why Polestar combines electric driving with cutting-edge design and thrilling performance.<\/span><\/i> Find out how<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Published December 22, 2020 \u2014 15:00 UTC <\/p>\n
As ebikes began to gain popularity, some believed that they were just going to electrify cycling and there wouldn\u2019t be a positive environmental benefit. In other words, people didn\u2019t think they would actually get more people cycling instead of driving.<\/p>\n
So, in short, this paper seeks to answer the question: do ebikes get people out of cars and onto bikes? But no spoilers, go read it to find out.<\/p>\n
2. The economics of Hyperloop technology<\/h2>\n
Hyperloop technology, is making big promises. It\u2019s meant to be fast, clean, energy efficient, and zero emission. However, Hyperloop is still an unproven concept in the real world and there is still much debate<\/a> over the economics and cost-effectiveness of the vacuum tube transportation.<\/p>\n While testing is slowly going in the right direction, it\u2019s unclear when it will be available and how much it\u2019ll cost passengers.<\/p>\n Thankfully, there\u2019s a fair bit of research that looks into possible scenarios that need to play out for it to be profitable. Check out this article from Virgin Hyperloop One on the economics of their system<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Or if you want to dive even deeper, Jacob Covell, from Penn State University, wrote their thesis on the topic<\/a>. Their article is good read if you\u2019re new to hyperloop technology and also want some background on the tech itself, before getting on to the economics.<\/p>\n Despite various technological advances, there are still no true self-driving vehicles on our roads. Sure, there is plenty of testing happening, and Tesla rolled out its Full Self Driving Beta last month, but we\u2019re a still long way off the tech being a reality.<\/p>\n Indeed, with marketing and names like Autopilot and Full Self Driving, one would be forgiven for thinking that the tech is already here.<\/p>\n If one thing has happened this year, though, it\u2019s this: we are waking up to the risks and dangers associated with the misuse of automated vehicles technologies.<\/p>\n One of the biggest risks we face comes from the fact that many of these technologies are oversold, and have vague or outright misleading brand names. This is called autonowashing<\/a>, a word that was officially coined by human-machine interaction researcher Liza Dixon.<\/p>\n The phenomenon was outlined in her 2020 paper: Autonowashing: The Greenwashing of Vehicle Automation<\/a>.<\/strong> With self-driving vehicles just over the ever impending horizon, it\u2019s a highly relevant read for modern times.<\/span><\/p>\n So there you have it, a first step into the world of academic literature in the field of mobility tech. Happy reading.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>SHIFT<\/a> is brought to you by Polestar. It\u2019s time to accelerate the shift to sustainable mobility. That is why Polestar combines electric driving with cutting-edge design and thrilling performance.<\/span><\/i> Find out how<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Published December 22, 2020 \u2014 15:00 UTC <\/p>\n3. The overselling of automated driving technologies<\/h2>\n
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