“please wait for me,”
sent the anxious young dad,
“at a parking spot
on the side road,”
the taxi app received

“once parked,
you will see me
taking care of my children
crossing roads, dodging vehicles
getting on their school bus

once they have left,
then you and I can leave.
please wait for a minute or two.
thank you
did you receive? Can you confirm?”

the anxious dad
sidelined, ghosted
autonomously walked to work
sidewalked, roasted
finding embodied calm ’n’ walk-by pause

along the self-traffic jam
of carless depleted drivers,
driverless cars charged,
electric scooters laid to rest cast aside
of stand still progression

                          —-animasuri’24

---

—-•

triggers

Andaryana, A. Z., Bell, M., Ramezani, M. (2024, January 8). Autonomous Vehicles: Friend or Foe (or both)? From our ‘Thinking outside the box’ series. Online: The University of Sydney Business School. https://www.sydney.edu.au/business/news-and-events/news/2024/01/08/autonomous-vehicles.html

Iapaolo F. (2023). The system of autono‑mobility: computer vision and urban complexity-reflections on artificial intelligence at urban scale. AI & society, 38(3), 1111–1122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-022-01590-0

Metz, D. (2018). Developing Policy for Urban Autonomous Vehicles: Impact on Congestion. IN: Urban Science. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2020033.

University of Adelaide. (2019, October 23). Driverless cars could lead to more traffic congestion. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191023104558.html

Xie, H., & Xiao, P. (2022). Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Algorithm Based on Trajectory Prediction for Driverless Buses. Machines. https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10100893.

Lu, Y. (2023 Nov 20). ‘Lost Time for No Reason’: How Driverless Taxis Are Stressing Cities In San Francisco and Austin, Texas, where passengers can hail self-driving vehicles, the cars have added to the workloads of city employees. Online: The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/technology/driverless-taxis-cars-cities.html