Please join us in person on Wednesday, Nov 4th at 12 noon for a conversation exploring how the pending introduction of autonomous vehicles in Berkeley presents challenges and opportunities for the use and allocation of street, sidewalk, and curb space.  Technology is changing fast and it’s about to impact our street-level experience — for better or worse.

This session builds on our spring sessions about streetscape and sidewalks. Waymo has approval to operate in Berkeley. They’ll need drop-off locations. How will this change the way we design and use curbs? How does this technology impact our curb access and use?  Will fewer people drive their own automobiles and instead “grab a Waymo”?  Does this mean the city should reallocate curb space away from parked cars to rideshare drop-offs?  Should the rideshare companies pay to access the curb?  Will enough people stop parking, allowing the city to create more parklets and widen sidewalks? Or will Berkeley streets instead resemble Bangkok with even more cars and even more jockeying for the curb? Come add your voice and perspective to the conversation.

This meeting will not be available via Zoom. To receive calendar invitations for this and our other events, join our email list.

Location: AIA East Bay Conference Room, Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way #310, Berkeley, CA 94709

Many thanks to AIA East Bay for hosting this event!

Creative Commons Image, Source: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “San Francisco (CA, USA), California Street, autonomes Fahrzeug (Waymo) -- 2022 -- 2925” / CC BY-SA 4.0