6.5 Webinar for Next Week

As a boy, I loved cars. When I turned 18, I lost my best friend to a car accident. Like this. And then I decided I'd dedicate my life to saving one million people every year. Now I haven't succeeded, so this is just a progress report, but I'm here to tell you a little bit about self-driving cars.

I saw the concept first in the DARPA Grand Challenges where the U.S. government issued a prize to build a self-driving car that could navigate a desert. And even though a hundred teams were there, these cars went nowhere. So we decided at Stanford to build a different self-driving car. We built the hardware and the software. We made it learn from us, and we set it free in the desert. And the unimaginable happened: it became the first car to ever return from a DARPA Grand Challenge, winning Stanford 2 million dollars. Yet I still hadn't saved a single life.

Since, our work has focused on building driving cars that can drive anywhere by themselves -- any street in California. We've driven 140,000 miles. Our cars have sensors by which they magically can see everything around them and make decisions about every aspect of driving. It's the perfect driving mechanism. We've driven in cities, like in San Francisco here. We've driven from San Francisco to Los Angeles on Highway 1.

We've encountered joggers, busy highways, toll booths, and this is without a person in the loop; the car just drives itself. In fact, while we drove 140,000 miles, people didn't even notice. Mountain roads, day and night, and even crooked Lombard Street in San Francisco. (Laughter) Sometimes our cars get so crazy, they even do little stunts.

(Video) Man: Oh, my God. What? Second Man: It's driving itself.

Sebastian Thrun: Now I can't get my friend Harold back to life, but I can do something for all the people who died. Do you know that driving accidents are the number one cause of death for young people? And do you realize that almost all of those are due to human error and not machine error, and can therefore be prevented by machines?

Do you realize that we could change the capacity of highways by a factor of two or three if we didn't rely on human precision on staying in the lane -- improve body position and therefore drive a little bit closer together on a little bit narrower lanes, and do away with all traffic jams on highways? Do you realize that you, TED users, spend an average of 52 minutes per day in traffic, wasting your time on your daily commute? You could regain this time. This is four billion hours wasted in this country alone. And it's 2.4 billion gallons of gasoline wasted.

Now I think there's a vision here, a new technology, and I'm really looking forward to a time when generations after us look back at us and say how ridiculous it was that humans were driving cars.

Thank you.

Imagine a future where vehicles talk to one another and to critical infrastructure. This connected vehicle technology can change our transportation system as we know it by enabling safe interoperable network wireless communications among vehicles, infrastructure, and personal communications devices. Connected vehicles provide drivers with 360-degree awareness of similarly equipped vehicles within a range of approximately 300 meters. This secure system keeps personal information private and does not track your vehicle. Drivers will receive warnings that inform them of potential hazards through a visual display, seat vibration, or tone. These are only warnings. The driver remains in control of the vehicle at all times. However, the technology can also support limited automated functions in which the driver only cedes partial control of the vehicle. Warnings can help drivers respond quickly to avoid potential crashes. For example, the intersection movement assist application warns drivers when it is unsafe to enter an intersection. The do not pass application warns drivers when it is not safe to pass a slower moving vehicle. The emergency electronic brake light application notifies the driver when an out-of-sight vehicle several cars ahead is braking, and imagine the value of this blind spot warning application which lets this commercial driver virtually see what's happening in his or her blind spot. Connected vehicles can communicate with smart roadside infrastructure like rail grade crossings to alert drivers when a train is coming even if the driver cannot see or hear the approaching train.

Connected vehicles can help with weather-related traffic and safety issues too. This is especially true with conditions such as black ice, where the weather may not appear to be dangerous, but the roads are slippery. Information collected from multiple connected vehicles can help determine when a potential hazard exists such as icy roads and warn drivers before they experienced them. Road weather data from the vehicles can be sent to traffic management centers or TMCs providing detailed, real-time information to help monitor and manage transportation system performance. The centers can then take actions like adjusting traffic signals and speed limits, notifying maintenance crews, dispatching maintenance vehicles to the road, and broadcasting warnings for motorists. Motorists can get real-time road weather information from in-car displays by dialing 511 or by listening to highway radio stations. Motorists will be able to get road weather information on their personal devices before leaving home.

Connected vehicles can even help us to reduce our carbon footprint and facilitate green transportation choices. Eco lanes are similar to today's HOV lanes, but with a big difference. Motorists in these lanes agree to drive eco-friendly vehicles and drive at a speed that conserves fuel. Drivers will be alerted about the proper speed with dynamic message signs.

Connected vehicle applications can help vehicles to reduce idling and unnecessary stops by communicating with smart traffic signals. Traffic signals broadcast data about their current signal phase and timing and systems inside the vehicles use the data to determine speed advice for drivers. Drivers could then adjust their vehicle's speed to pass the next traffic signal on green or slow down to a stop in the most eco-friendly manner, thereby saving fuel, reducing emissions, and saving drivers money. Connected vehicles can enhance awareness of unexpected roadside incidents like disabled vehicles, car crashes, police activity, and first responders caring for crash victims. Incident zone warnings will alert drivers about incidents ahead and warn them to slow down and change lanes. Communications could also be sent to first responders at the scene via shoulder radios to warn them of the danger of approaching vehicles. Connected vehicle technology can help control traffic flow and reduce the resulting congestion at accident sites before it gets out of hand.

With millions of connected vehicles, our ability to share robust data with each other and with smart infrastructure will continue to improve traffic flow, enhance coordination with transit, and make our communities even more safe and livable. The connection protection application gives public transportation providers and travelers the ability to communicate two ways. The connected network gives passengers real-time transit information so they can more accurately predict whether they will make their next connection. If multiple people on a delayed bus will miss their next connection, transportation providers can adjust bus departures to enable the passengers to make their next connection. Dynamic ridesharing applications make the logistics of ridesharing, scheduling, reliability, and communication easier by connecting vehicles and handheld devices. Applications do the matching for us, authenticating users and connecting riders with drivers. The co-operative adaptive cruise control app helps drivers avoid stops and starts, which can also help conserve fuel and improve traffic flow. And the queue warning app monitors traffic data to detect stretches of slow-moving traffic and warn motorists to reduce speeds to avoid potential rear-end collisions.

Connected vehicle technology can help pedestrians, too. For example, the mobile accessible pedestrian signal system app sends an automated pedestrian call from the smartphone of a pedestrian with disabilities to the traffic controller holding the walk signal until the pedestrian has cleared the crosswalk. This application also alerts drivers of the presence of a pedestrian with disabilities at the crosswalk.

The potential benefits of a connected transportation system, one that is able to enhance safety and mobility and address environmental impacts are wide-ranging. They will be felt by every one of us, enhancing the livability of our communities and ultimately making our transportation safer and smarter. Imagine the possibilities.