The Short Cut: TomTom furthers important deal with Hyundai, and more industry news

Welcome back to another edition of The Short Cut. After a short break, we've returned to bring you all the stories that are catching our eye at TomTom Towers. This week we're talking about how car culture has impacted language, how location data has helped scientists model disaster responses and we take a quick look at the latest announcement from TomTom.

TomTom furthers deal with Hyundai Motor Group

We start this week's Short Cut with some news from 'inside the house.' Earlier this week, TomTom announced a deal with Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) which will see the Asian automaker use TomTom's maps, ADAS Map and real-time traffic data in its vehicles' digital cockpits in Europe.

TomTom's tech will find its way into all the group's vehicles in the EU, including those from its luxury marque Genesis, Hyundai and Kia, over the coming years.

The location tech HMG will be using is especially valuable in light of the recent implementation of Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) regulations. ISA regulations require carmakers to use hybrid map-camera systems to detect speed limits and warn drivers. For HMG, TomTom's ADAS Map will be providing that data to ensure its vehicles are totally compliant. You can read the full official announcement here.

Now that's out the way, on with the usual programming.

Roads are for people, not just cars

When you really think about it, the way we talk about roads and infrastructure is largely colored by the car. By drivers. As The Guardian points out, when a road is inaccessible to cars and motorists we say it's closed, but rather it's "open to people."

Indeed, before the motor vehicle dominated our streets, they were a place where people would do all manner of things. However now, "car logic" has woven its way through our language.

Think about vulnerable road users, they're only now considered vulnerable thanks to the fact there are so many big, heavy, fast moving vehicles on the roads. We tend to focus on the vulnerability of pedestrians rather than the danger of cars.

City streets are dominated by cars, but that doesn't always have to be the case. We need to think more holistically when it comes to how we allocate space. Credit: Recep Tayyip Çelik.

As society moves to reduce the number of vehicles on roads to make them safer and less congested -- and as multimodal transport gains popularity -- it's worth thinking about. Should we be more considered in how we talk about traffic to better frame the benefits that come from reducing it?

Head over to The Guardian to read the full article by Thalia Verkade and Marco te Brömmelstroet, (translated by Fiona Graham) and find out how car culture has taken over how we think about roads and streets.

GM's Cruise division is looking for talent, lots of talent

General Motor is seemingly ramping up its efforts on self-driving car tech. As Business Insider reports, the company is hiring for more than 200 roles in its autonomous vehicle division, called Cruise.

There are roles across the division, but 75% are reportedly in engineering. And the company is welcoming people from outside the automotive industry, experience in tech might also be an advantage.

This could be a sign of a number of things. One is that GM's Cruise is taking the VW Cariad approach, and bolstering its ranks to pivot to being more of a software tech company than an automaker. Or it could be a sign that there's still a long way to go to perfect self-driving tech.

But it's not all prosperous news. This year, GM has also had to recall its self-driving software following a crash, Reuters reports. It made the necessary improvements, rolled out an update and continued its operations.

EVs coming soon

There's more choice than ever when it comes to picking out an electric vehicle (EV). And choice is only getting better. By hook or by crook, electric vehicles are going to be the main choice of vehicle for most motorists in the coming decade. If you ask me, it's something to get excited about.

The Maserati GranTurismo is going to come in gasoline and electric variants. But surely the EV version will be the one to have? Credit: Maserati.

The good folks over at What Car? have put together a great roundup of all the new electric vehicles coming soon. There're offerings from MG, Hyundai, VW, Polestar, Fisker and my personal favorite, the fully electric Maserati GranTurismo.

Head over there and see what takes your fancy.

Location data helps scientist predict how people move after storms and pandemics

Scientists and engineers have developed a new mathematical model by analyzing the anonymous location data pings of 90 million people across the US.

Scientists examined how people moved after events such as storms and pandemics. They found there were some consistent truths: people tend to leave their homes more after the passage of time after an emergency event, those in poorer neighborhoods left their homes sooner and more frequently than those that lived in wealthier areas.

According to Qi Ryan Wang, the lead researcher on the project, this model can help emergency services understand how to target their response during disasters. They could also use the model to understand where the most vulnerable people will be located and how they might move around after a disaster.

Read the full story on Phys.org to find out more.