People are at the heart of innovation, not technology
Innovations can’t succeed unless people are at the center of the discussion
Thinking differently is ingrained at SEPTA (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority). They’ve had recent pilots testing AI weapons detection using the thousands of cameras in their system, and the SCOPE program we covered before is changing how SEPTA helps the most vulnerable in the city.
In her conversation with Paul, CIO Emily Yates talks more about the non-technical innovations than the tech-based ones. From not making parents unload and fold up strollers on the bus to mental health initiatives for operators. These people-centric initiatives help make transit more accessible and safer for everyone.
But not all pilots go as planned, the AI-assisted camera pilot mentioned above didn’t succeed for a lot interesting technical reasons, but more importantly Emily and her team have taken what they learned from that pilot to pivot and continue to find ways to make transit safer.
And this is the essential part of innovation, not everything works or goes to plan. From new AI technology to battery electric buses, pilots test new ideas and technologies to learn from the experience with the smallest financial impact possible.
Remember, there’s more to innovation than shiny tech toys, but the tech tools are certainly cool.
????️Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged: Paul’s newest book is out!
Paul’s newest book The New Future of Public Transportation is out and it burned a path straight to number one on Amazon.
To celebrate the launch of the book, Paul is chatting with two of the 30 contributors: Dr. Karen Philbrick, Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute, and Paige Malott, High Speed Rail Researcher with the International Union of Railways.
Make sure you tune in to hear what these two transit leaders think about the future of public transportation.
⛲Did you know Kansas City is The City of Fountains?
There are 48 publicly-operated fountains in the city and once a year in the spring, they all come back to life. This year it was April 16th, what a sight that must be! In this episode of Transit Unplugged TV you get a look at just one of the amazing fountains, but if you want to learn more, Visit KC is the site to visit and dip your toes into the water.
And maybe stop somewhere for a roll of pennies too, can’t hurt right?
