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Elon Musk says Los Angeles is open to using his traffic tunnels
Elon Musk might just have the first customer for his traffic-skipping tunnels. The tech entrepreneur says he's having "promising conversations" with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti about using The Boring Company's technology as part of a larger underground network that would shuttle cars, bikes and people. It's not clear exactly how well the talks are going, but Garcetti is clearly open to the idea -- he even name dropped Musk's effort during an ABC interview.
LA fights soaring pedestrian deaths with an interactive map
Open data can be an incredibly powerful tool, but it still requires context and people to actually pay attention to the information for it to be valuable. Los Angeles has discovered this the hard way. Its Vision Zero initiative aims to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, but compared to other cities with similar programs, LA is coming up short in terms of results. After the program's first full year (2016), fatalities rose by some 43 percent according to the Los Angeles Times. There are a number of reasons for this, including more pedestrian and bicycle traffic, distracted driving and driving under the influence. To combat the rising number, the city looked to data as a means of discerning the most fatal roadways.
City of LA's electric vehicle fleet includes a Tesla Model S
For anyone who thought that Los Angeles' efforts to turn its traffic problems green would end after a partnership with Waze, think again. The City of Angels has committed to leasing 160 battery-powered electric vehicles and 128 plug-in hybrids for its municipal fleet. A post on the LAPD blog says that the police, fire, general services, water and power departments will split the former, while the general services will also take all of the latter. Mayor Eric Garcetti says that this move puts LA closer to its goal of becoming the "most sustainable city in America."
New LAPD Tasers will trigger body cameras before every shot
Remember those 7,000 body cameras that Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti promised to buy for local police officers this year? Well, now the LAPD has ordered more than 3,000 Tasers that can activate them automatically as soon as the safety is flicked off. The police department has opted for the Taser X26P, a "smart" weapon unveiled two years ago, to refresh 2,270 of its older stun guns. A second order will introduce a further 860, all of which are designed to work in parallel with Taser's AXON body cameras. As Reuters reports, later this year the LAPD will be able to pair the two over Bluetooth so that, in theory, there's a video recording every time an officer fires a Taser. The weapon itself can also record important information about each incident, such as the date, time and duration of each shock. As tensions grow around officer misconduct in the US, it's hoped the tools will provide greater transparency and accountability, in particular as evidence in court.
The LAPD is getting a body camera for every officer on the street
We've seen a few police departments institute wearable cameras for their officers, but not to the scale of what Los Angeles is doing. The city is purchasing 7,000 body cameras for its cops in an effort to increase transparency, according to The LA Times. At a press conference, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti admitted that cameras weren't a cure-all for the current climate surrounding the nation's police forces, but that they're a "critical part of the formula." The cameras will record audio and video, with advocates telling The LA Times that the tech could insulate against officer misconduct and possibly clear police accused of wrongdoing.
