Cities are overly congested with traffic and pollution. At present the most widely discussed solution is urban on-demand mobility based self-driving technology. The envisioned automated mobility-on-demand (AMoD) systems employ a centrally-controlled fleet of self-driving vehicles to provide on-demand point-to-point transportation to the users of the system. Such systems promise to revolutionise user behaviour and significantly improve the efficiency of urban transportation. As a case study, we will discuss and quantify the potential for car-sharing and ride-sharing to reduce the number of vehicles in the city of Prague, its application to other cities around the world and the implications for policy making.

The discussion after the presentation will be chaired by Dr Panagiotis Angeloudis.

Michal Čáp is a Technical Lead in isee AI, an MIT spin-off company developing self-driving technology, and a research associate in the Artificial Intelligence Centre at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He has studied information technology, agent technology and artificial intelligence and worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA and the Department of Cognitive Robotics, TU Delft, Netherlands. Motivated by the arrival of self-driving taxi companies, he recently became interested in the analysis of transportation systems that employ large fleets of self-driving cars.

Dr Panagiotis Angeloudis is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Transport Systems and Logistics based in the Centre for Transport Studies at Imperial College London. He also leads the Port Operations Research and Technology Centre within the Centre for Transport Studies. His work to date has spanned the areas of network optimisation, urban transport systems, logistics and maritime transport.

Part of the AI SCIENCE CAFÉ SERIES 2020 | Artificial Intelligence is the new phenomenon of the 21st century and has evolved out of the realm of science fiction and at best, a few technologically advanced minds and IT professionals, to everyday topics of discussion and one of the key drivers of the future progress of humankind. The objective of the AI Science Café series, which will consist of five presentations by high profile, world acclaimed experts, is to introduce, present and publicly discuss various topics that impact our professional as well as our personal lives. As AI topics clearly generate more questions than answers, the series will strive to unveil trends and expectations from the inevitable social and technological changes which the future will bring.

Part of the SCIENCE CAFÉ, a series of popular science presentations and talks by the best Czech scientists and innovators of today presented by the Czech Centre London. Inspired by the phenomenon of Cafe Scientifique which was first established in the UK in 1998 and spread across the world as a place where anyone could come to discuss the latest ideas in science and technology over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, Science Café is an informal forum for the discussion of current work and interesting scientific issues.