Bryan Reimer, Pnina Gershon, Bruce Mehler Star in Supply Chain Frontiers Episode
by Niels Wu
For the July episode of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics’ Supply Chain Frontiers, Advanced Vehicle Technology (AVT) Consortium co-directors Dr. Bryan Reimer, Dr. Pnina Gershon, and Bruce Mehler joined host Mackenzie Berry to discuss how AVT is shaping the future of mobility, automation, and vehicle safety.
The AVT Consortium was founded to address a critical knowledge gap: how driver behavior and road safety will be impacted by the proliferation of vehicles outfitted with advanced driver assistance technologies. “Once the keys are handed to the consumer, there’s very little understood,” said Reimer. “That white space was what AVT was built upon.”
Using naturalistic driving studies, the Consortium collects real-world data from vehicles equipped with automation technologies such as Tesla’s Autopilot and GM’s Super Cruise. “We are collecting data from real people driving real roads in their own environments and doing their regular routine,” explained Gershon. This long-term, real-world approach allows researchers to capture how everyday driving behavior and trust evolve through changes like system updates.
The scale of data collection is extensive. “We were the second largest user of storage space here on the MIT campus,” recalled Mehler as he spoke about the early days of the Consortium. Yet, it is the insights from the data—not just its volume—that drive the Consortium’s impact. “It is totally eye-opening for engineers to go and look at these videos and see what people are actually really doing in the car,” Mehler added.
The podcast also explored implications of AVT for the auto industry. “Automation is not set and forget,” said Reimer, highlighting a major takeaway from the Consortium’s research. “We have a dynamic exchange going on here. At times I want to drive. At times I’d love to be assisted.”
The Consortium’s tenth anniversary event brought together industry leaders and emphasized shifts in the global landscape of AVT development. “The United States and the Western world no longer lead in the area of Advanced Vehicle Technologies—China does,” Reimer warned. “We need to be thinking—how do we accelerate forward?”
Looking ahead, the Consortium is expanding into new areas such as vehicle electrification and AI-powered assistive technology. “Tomorrow is old news a year or two from now,” said Reimer. “As we look forward into our second decade, it's really continuing to evolve in looking at the intersection of behavior, technology and policy in new ways.”
Listen to the full episode here.
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