Transportist: April 2026
Pointers
Supply Chains
There is a war on, and fuel rationing is back on the table.
Cory Doctorow shares a poster of rationing in the 1940s
Australia government talks fuel rationing down (this week)
Yet there are shortages of diesel. This will affect groceries and waste collection.
See my post: Transport Solutions to the Energy Crisis. Sadly, the government has ignored me and decided to cut fuel excise taxes. It’s been called “bowser populism”. This will just increase consumption and scarcity, relative to any alternative (like just giving people cash, and letting them use it as they wish).
Delivery
A sidewalk robot crashed into a bus shelter glass window (Video by way of Wes Marshall BlueSky). They should be attached to Roombas
E-Bikes
We still lack the ability in Sydney, apparently, to make bikesharing companies or their users park their bikes appropriately. But in Seattle, AI cameras are being used to keep e-bikes and scooters off of sidewalks.
e-bike crackdowns in Sydney
See my post: E-Bikes: Convenience, Annoyance, or Menace?
Aviation
US Transportation Security Administration staff still not paid due to a lack of Congressional agreement on budget. Congress is controlled by the Republicans. Lines at airports are getting long.
Vehicle Automation
Vehicle Electrification
Network Resilience
The Academic Singularity
LLMs are sufficiently good and publisher’s systems (EM) sufficiently bad, it is now easier (and faster) to write a paper than submit one. The academic singularity: When we can write papers faster than we can submit them
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