ATLsherpa

Nvidia closes in on the $1 trillion club

* The world is having a Copernicus Moment (podcast embedded below) * Nvidia's stock is up 30% in pre-market trading after crushing earnings estimates last night * NVDA market cap now at $983 billion * AAPL, $2.7 trillion * MSFT, $2.3 trillion * IBM, $114 billion * HD, $295 billion * KO, $263 billion * NVDA now worth 1.4X (DL+HD+KO+UPS) * NVDA Corporate Overview [https://images.nvidia.com/aem-dam/Solutions/homepage/pdf/NVIDIA-Story.pdf] * NVDA Body of Work [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/about-nvidia/#slide-14-095fee10] NVIDIA Corporation accelerates computing to help solve the computational problems. The Company has two segments. The Compute & Networking segment includes its data center accelerated computing platform; networking; automotive artificial intelligence (AI) cockpit, autonomous driving development agreements and autonomous vehicle solutions; electric vehicle computing platforms; Jetson for robotics and other embedded platforms; NVIDIA AI Enterprise and other software; and cryptocurrency mining processors (CMP). The Graphics segment includes GeForce GPUs for gaming and personal computers (PCs), the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; virtual GPU (vGPU), software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and omniverse enterprise software for building and operating metaverse and three-dimensional Internet applications. ATLsherpa is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.atlsherpa.com [https://www.atlsherpa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Atlanta: Prize of War

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.atlsherpa.com [https://www.atlsherpa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Welcome! This is the first in a series of educational podcasts by ATLsherpa [https://www.atlsherpa.com/p/atlsherpa] that focus on the Atlanta Campaign. Free subscribers can access about 30% of each podcast. Paid subscribers [https://www.atlsherpa.com/about] can access each podcast in its entirety. They can also participate in (contribute to) the discussions [https://on.substack.com/p/chat], which appears at the end of each podcast. Exploring Atlanta is a podcast & newsletter for those interested in getting to know Atlanta on a deeper level. My mission is to help you connect with Atlanta’s past, present, and future. In addition to the Substack app [https://substack.com/app], this podcast is available on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/4zeKtodrzo8gP4ypfuy0Mt?si=f31dbb5586f7429e]and Apple Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exploring-atl/id1640977665]. Stay curious and keep exploring! Thank you for reading Exploring Atlanta by ATLsherpa. This post is public, so feel free to share it. The Atlanta Campaign Overview The Atlanta Campaign was a major military operation during the American Civil War [https://sites.google.com/exploreatl.com/battle-of-atlanta/reference-materials?authuser=0#h.w6t4rvfzc2f]that took place from May to September 1864. The operation involved dozens of battles and other military activity that occurred between Chattanooga and Atlanta. This podcast series will focus on the major battles, which are listed chronologically below. "So Atlanta is ours and fairly won." — General William T. Sherman, September 3, 1864 — The campaign aimed to capture the city of Atlanta, which was a crucial transportation hub for the Confederacy. The Union forces, led by General William T. Sherman [https://sites.google.com/exploreatl.com/battle-of-atlanta/military-personnel], engaged in a series of battles and maneuvers against the Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by General Joseph E. Johnston [https://sites.google.com/exploreatl.com/battle-of-atlanta/military-personnel]. Ultimately, the campaign was a significant Union victory, as they were able to capture Atlanta and deal a significant blow to the Confederacy's war effort.

The world is having a Copernicus Moment

This podcast begins under the heading, “About this Podcast.” The audio clip above is an intro piece I recorded later to tee up the podcast. In all, this podcast contains 8 audio recordings (in addition to the intro) totaling ~90 minutes of content. You can access these by clicking on the audio players that are embedded below. In addition, there are ten embedded videos (with explanations) that will help you get up to speed on the AI revolution. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber [https://www.atlsherpa.com/about] if you find this podcast useful. Thank you. Of all discoveries and opinions, none may have exerted a greater effect on the human spirit than the doctrine of Copernicus. The world had scarcely become known as round and complete in itself when it was asked to waive the tremendous privilege of being the center of the universe. Never, perhaps, was a greater demand made on mankind, for by this admission so many things vanished in mist and smoke! — Johann Goethe — The father of the “Mother of all Ah-ha’s” Nicolaus Copernicus [https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/astronomy-theories-nicolaus-copernicus] (1473–1543) was a Polish mathematician and astronomer who proposed that the sun was stationary in the center of the universe and the earth revolved around it. Up to that point, the consensus “world view” was that the Earth was stationary and at the center of the universe. Copernicus’s theories were rejected by scholars of his time, and they incensed the Catholic Church. His writings were banned from the church after his death and were not allowed to be read for three centuries. Copernicus spent his final years defending his work and died on May 24, 1543, at the age of 70. The publication of Copernicus's heliocentric model [https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/OrbitsHistory] in his book De Revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) was a major event in the history of science, triggering the Copernican Revolution [https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=1328] and making a pioneering contribution to the Scientific Revolution. Have you had a Copernicus Moment? A Copernicus Moment occurs when you suddenly become aware of something significant that was previously unknown to you. One can also occur when you learn that something you thought to be true turns out to be false, or vice versa. Copernicus Moments can be personal or societal, in nature. They can, simultaneously, vindicate unpopular views and eradicate erroneous ones. Reactions can vary… * No way! * It’s all hype. * How is this even possible? * I (we) didn’t see this coming. * How could I (we) have been so wrong? * OMG, this changes everything! If you are unaware or skeptical about Artificial Intelligence [https://www.ibm.com/topics/artificial-intelligence], this podcast might trigger a Copernicus Moment for you. Many of the smartest people in the world are saying that this is an inflection point for civilization, as we know it. They are also saying that this technology is advancing much faster than most people realize. The scale of change, and the rate at which it is occurring, increase the probability of getting blindsided. Artificial intelligence will impact every business in every industry. It will also impact every public and private institution in the world. Every man, woman, and child will be affected. The sooner you get up to speed on this technology, the better. — ATLsherpa [https://www.atlsherpa.com/p/atlsherpa#details] About this Podcast * Might be the most important content I have shared in 40 years * Potential impact on every aspect of life and business * Scale of change * Rate of change * Learning tool (crash-course in AI & ChatGPT) * Carefully curated content (avalanche of information) * Approach it like a course * Pace yourself * Content appears in order of “digestability” * You’ll hear directly from people you should listen to (becase they know what they’re talking about) * Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet (Google) * Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google * Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft * Creators of ChatGPT (co-founders of OpenAI) * Greg Brockman * Ilya Sutskever * ARK Invest Research Team * Deep Learning: An Artificial Intelligence Revolution, June 2017* * Geoffrey Hinton (godfather of artificial intelligence) * Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA * Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle * Save this podcast * Share this podcast * Take this podcast seroiously! (*) This is a reasearch paper, not a video. You will find the link at the bottom of the podcast under the heading, Explore More > AI the Opportunity. AI Buzz IMPORTANT UPDATE » MAY 23, 2023 — When I published this podcast on May 2 NVDA stock was at $285/share. Today, it closed at $390/share. That’s an increase of 37% in three weeks. PLEASE check with your financial advisor before trading this or any other stock. UPDATE » FEB. 5, 2024 — NVDA stock closed today at $693/share and is currently trading at $700/share in after-hours trading. Yesterday, BoA raised its price target on NVDA to $800/share. UPDATE » MAR. 22, 2024 — NVDA stock is trading at $911/share today. Earlier this week, several Wall St firms raised their price target to $1,000/share. The highest is $1,400. NVIDIA's GPUs have become central to AI for several reasons. First, they can perform many calculations simultaneously, making them much faster than traditional central processing units (CPUs) at handling complex calculations. This allows researchers and developers to train larger and more complex neural networks, which are the foundation of many AI applications. Second, NVIDIA has developed software libraries and tools specifically for AI and ML tasks, such as the CUDA parallel computing platform, cuDNN deep neural network library, and TensorRT inference optimizer. These tools allow researchers and developers to accelerate their AI workloads on NVIDIA GPUs and get the most out of the hardware. Finally, NVIDIA has made significant investments in AI research and development, and has worked closely with researchers and industry partners to advance the field. This has helped to drive innovation and create new applications for AI and ML, from autonomous vehicles and robotics to healthcare and finance. Source: ChatGPT—3.5 Inflection point for civilization? You cannot be serious! iPhone moment for Artificial Intelligence Jim Cramer [https://www.cnbc.com/jim-cramer-bio/] sits down with NVIDIA [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/about-nvidia/#slide-14-095fee10]CEO Jensen Huang [https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/bios/jensen-huang] to discuss the company's move into artificial intelligence, announced today at the GPU Technology Conference. AI Revolution We may look on our time as the moment civilization was transformed, as it was by fire, agriculture, and electricity. In 2023, we learned that a machine taught itself how to speak to humans like a peer — which is to say with creativity, truth, error, and lies. The technology known as a chatbot is only one of the recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence; machines that can teach themselves superhuman skills. CEO Sundar Pichai [https://blog.google/authors/sundar-pichai/] told us AI will be as good or as evil as human nature allows. The revolution, he says, is coming faster than you know. — Scott Pelley, 60 Minutes [https://www.cbsnews.com/team/scott-pelley/] (April 2023) Scott Pelley: [https://www.cbsnews.com/team/scott-pelley/] Do you think Society is prepared for what's coming? Sundar Pichai: [https://blog.google/authors/sundar-pichai/] You know, there are two ways I think about it. On one hand, I would say no (society is not prepared) because there seems to be a mismatch between the pace at which we can think and adapt as societal institutions and the pace at which technology is evolving. On the other hand, I have seen more people worried about AI earlier in its life cycle than with previous technologies, so (in that sense) I feel optimistic. The number of people who have started worrying about the implications is significant, hence the conversations are starting to become serious as well. Technology that we interact with at the human scale… Walter Isaacson: [https://values.tulane.edu/content/walter-isaacson-biography] You know, industrial, scientific and technological revolutions sometimes sneak up on us. I mean, nobody woke up one morning in 1760 and said, Oh my God the industrial revolution has started, but in the past three or four weeks — between my students and myself — we suddenly feel that we're in a revolution, where artificial intelligence has become personal; it's become chatbots and things that will integrate into our lives. Do you think we're on the cusp of some new revolution? Eric Schmidt: [https://ericschmidt.com/bio/] I do, and this revolution is happening faster than I've ever seen. ChatGPT, which was released a few months ago, now has more than 100 million users. It took G-mail five years to get to the same point. There's something about the diffusion of technology that we interact with at the human scale that's going to change our world in a profound way, much more profound than people think. Most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface... Bill Gates: [https://www.gatesnotes.com/Bio] In my lifetime, I’ve seen two demonstrations of technology that struck me as revolutionary. The first time was in 1980, when I was introduced to a graphical user interface [https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/glossary/gui-graphical-user-interface] — the forerunner of every modern operating system, including Windows. I sat with the person who had shown me the demo, a brilliant programmer named Charles Simonyi, [https://www.edge.org/memberbio/charles_simonyi] and we immediately started brainstorming about all the things we could do with such a user-friendly approach to computing. Charles eventually joined Microsoft [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about], Windows became the backbone of Microsoft, and the thinking we did after that demo helped set the company’s agenda for the next 15 years. The second big surprise came just last year. I’d been meeting with the team from OpenAI [https://openai.com/about] since 2016 and was impressed by their steady progress. In mid-2022, I was so excited about their work that I gave them a challenge: train an artificial intelligence to pass an Advanced Placement biology exam. Make it capable of answering questions that it hasn’t been specifically trained for. (I picked AP Bio because the test is more than a simple regurgitation of scientific facts — it asks you to think critically about biology.) If you can do that, I said, then you’ll have made a true breakthrough. I thought the challenge would keep them busy for two or three years. They finished it in just a few months. In September, when I met with them again, I watched in awe as they asked GPT [https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt], their AI model, 60 multiple-choice questions from the AP Bio exam — and it got 59 of them right. Then it wrote outstanding answers to six open-ended questions from the exam. We had an outside expert score the test, and GPT got a 5 — the highest possible score, and the equivalent to getting an A or A+ in a college-level biology course. Once it had aced the test, we asked it a non-scientific question: “What do you say to a father with a sick child?” It wrote a thoughtful answer that was probably better than most of us in the room would have given. The whole experience was stunning. I knew I had just seen the most important advance in technology since the graphical user interface. — Bill Gates, Gates Notes (March 2023) [https://www.gatesnotes.com/The-Age-of-AI-Has-Begun] How Smart is ChatGPT? Note the improvement in one year… CEO Fireside Chat with Jensen Huang and Safra Catz at Oracle CloudWorld Tune in as CEO Jensen Huang [https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/bios/jensen-huang] and CEO Safra Catz [https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/safra-catz] discuss their multi-year partnership and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s major GPU expansion including NVIDIA AI Enterprise software and services [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/products/ai-enterprise/]. This collaboration will help customers solve business challenges with accelerated computing and #AI and aims to bring the full NVIDIA accelerated computing stack [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/solutions/accelerated-computing/] — from GPUs to systems to software — to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) [https://www.oracle.com/cloud/]. OpenAI Co-founder Greg Brockman on ChatGPT, DALL·E and the Impact of Generative AI The past year proved that AI is here to stay. We have seen AI disrupt every major industry, from search engines to art and music. The change will be felt in nearly every aspect of our daily lives. In this session (recorded at SXSW2023 [https://www.sxsw.com/about/]) OpenAI’s Co-founder and President Greg Brockman [https://gregbrockman.com/] talks to Laurie Segall of Dot Dot Dot Media [https://dotdotdotmedia.com/our-team/] about the future that is here already and the ethical guard rails that come along with this new era of innovation. The conversation will give an insider's look at the research lab behind popular creative tools “DALL·E” [https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2] and “ChatGPT” [https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt] and some of the most sophisticated advances in AI. We’ll talk about the future of identity, media and what it means to be human in a world of artificial intelligence. The Inside Story of ChatGPT’s Astonishing Potential: TED talk by Greg Brockman In this TED talk from the cutting edge of technology, OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman explores the underlying design principles of ChatGPT and demos some mind-blowing, unreleased plug-ins for the chatbot that sent shockwaves across the world. After the talk, the head of TED Chris Anderson joins Brockman to dig into the timeline of ChatGPT's development and get Brockman's take on the risks, raised by many in the tech industry and beyond, of releasing such a powerful tool into the world. Fireside Chat: Jensen Huang: AI Today and Vision of the Future (March 2023) Ilya, unbelievable. Today is the day after GPT-4. It's great to have you here. I'm delighted to have you, I've known you a long time. The journey and my memory of the time I have known you and the seminal work that you have done — starting at University University of Toronto; the co-invention of AlexNet [https://towardsdatascience.com/alexnet-the-architecture-that-challenged-cnns-e406d5297951] with Alex and Jeff Hinton that led to the Big Bang of modern artificial intelligence; your career that took you out here to the Bay Area; the founding of OpenAI, GPT123 and then, of course, Chat-GPT, the AI heard around the world. This is the incredible resume [https://www.cs.toronto.edu/~ilya/] of a young computer scientist, that an entire community and industry in awe with all your achievements. I guess I just want to go back to the beginning and ask you about deep learning. What was your intuition around deep learning? Why did you know that it was going to work did you have any intuition that is was going to lead to this kind of success? Artificial Intelligence: Creating the Assembly Line for Knowledge Workers From BIG Ideas 2023 [https://ark-invest.com/big-ideas-2023/] by ARK Invest Generative AI made waves this year, from DALL-E-2 to ChatGPT. These tools are improving the productivity of knowledge workers; ~2x in the case of AI coding assistants. AI training cost declines continued at an annual rate of 70%, the cost to train a large language model to GPT-3 level performance collapsing from $4.6 million in 2020 to $450,000 in 2022. We expect cost declines to continue at a 70% rate through 2030. AI should increase the productivity of knowledge workers more than 4-fold by 2030. At 100% adoption, AI could increase global labor productivity by ~$200 trillion, dwarfing the ~$32 trillion in total knowledge worker salaries. Listen in as Frank Downing, [https://ark-invest.com/articles/analyst-research/ai-accelerators/] ARK Director of Research: Next Generation Internet, and William Summerlin [https://ark-invest.com/articles/analyst-research/productivity-gains-could-propel-the-ai-software-market-to-14-trillion-by-2030/], ARK Analyst & Co-Lead, ARK Venture, explain more. "Godfather of artificial intelligence" talks impact and potential of AI Geoffrey Hinton is considered a godfather of artificial intelligence, having championed machine learning decades before it became mainstream. As chatbots like ChatGPT bring his work to widespread attention, we spoke to Hinton about the past, present and future of AI. CBS Saturday Morning's Brook Silva-Braga interviewed him at the Vector Institute in Toronto on March 1, 2023. Bonus Video Ahead of this year’s Nvidia GTC developer conference, CNBC sat down with founder and CEO Jensen Huang to talk about ChatGPT, gaming, the omniverse, and what’s next. In this full interview, Huang takes us on the journey of Nvidia, from its early days in a condo to the dominant player in GPUs, gaming, and now A, which is a major focus of GTC this year. Huang also talks about how he handled China export controls, and geopolitical tensions swirling around Taiwan where most of its chips are made. — CNBC, March 2023 Explore More AI the Disruptor * Disruptive Innovation: Why Now? [https://ark-invest.com/white-papers/innovation-why-now-white-paper/] — ARK Invest, May 2019 * The Age of AI has begun [https://www.gatesnotes.com/The-Age-of-AI-Has-Begun] — Gates Notes, March 2023 * How A.I. could change the future of work [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/28/how-ai-could-change-the-future-of-work.html] — CNBC, April 2023 * Chegg could be in big trouble as ChatGPT and A.I. threaten growth, Jefferies says [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/02/chegg-could-be-in-big-trouble-as-chatgpt-and-ai-threaten-growth-jefferies-says.html] — CNBC, May 2023 * ‘The Godfather of A.I.’ Leaves Google and Warns of Danger Ahead [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/technology/ai-google-chatbot-engineer-quits-hinton.html] — New York Times, May 2023 AI the Enabler * Bill Gates says A.I. chatbots will teach kids to read within 18 months: You’ll be ‘stunned by how it helps’ [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/22/bill-gates-ai-chatbots-will-teach-kids-how-to-read-within-18-months.html] — CNBC, April 2023 * Artificial Intelligence is booming – but how will it impact your career? [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/20/artificial-intelligence-is-booming-but-will-it-impact-your-career-and-job.html] — CNBC, February 2023 * How A.I.-powered robots are changing retail [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/22/how-ai-powered-robots-are-changing-retail.html] — CNBC, April 2023 * From making parts with A.I. to digitally cloning cars: What factories will look like in the future [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/19/from-generative-ai-to-digital-twins-how-tech-will-transform-factories.html] — CNBC, April 2023 AI the Opportunity * Deep Learning: An Artificial Intelligence Revolution [https://ark-invest.com/white-papers/artificial-intelligence-white-paper/] — ARK Invest, June 2017 * Productivity Gains Could Propel The AI Software Market To $14 Trillion By 2030 [https://ark-invest.com/articles/analyst-research/productivity-gains-could-propel-the-ai-software-market-to-14-trillion-by-2030/] — ARK Invest, July 2022 * Microsoft reports earnings beat, says A.I. will drive revenue growth [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/25/microsoft-msft-q3-earnings-report-2023.html] — CNBC, April 2023 * Want to invest in the A.I. boom? Veteran tech fund manager names 4 stocks to own [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/21/want-to-invest-in-the-ai-boom-tech-fund-manager-names-4-stocks-to-own.html] — CNBC, April 2023 * How Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood is investing behind the artificial intelligence boom [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/01/ark-invest-cathie-wood-artificial-intelligence-chatgpt.html] — CNBC, February 2023 * Artificial intelligence is a $38 billion revenue opportunity for retailers. Here’s how to play the trend [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/22/artificial-intelligence-will-transform-the-retail-industry-.html] — CNBC, April 2023 * Here’s the bear case for artificial intelligence [https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/16/heres-the-bear-case-for-artificial-intelligence.html] — CNBC, February 2023 AI the Technology * Advancing AI for everyone [https://ai.google/] — Google * Build the future faster with Microsoft AI [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/about] — Microsoft * The Most Advanced AI, Ready for Enterprise [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/ai-data-science/] — NVIDIA * AI research and deployment company [https://openai.com/about] — OpenAI * NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang shares the AI technologies affecting every industry–and our everyday lives [https://youtu.be/DiGB5uAYKAg] — NVIDIA, March 2023 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.atlsherpa.com [https://www.atlsherpa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Yea, I got a map for that

“I’ve always been fascinated by maps and cartography. A map tells you where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going — in a sense it’s three tenses in one.” — Peter Greenaway [https://variety.com/2022/film/features/peter-greenaway-career-walking-to-paris-1235267108/] (Welsh filmmaker) Greenaway boasts what is arguably the most playful c.v. of any major living director, overflowing with visual puns, mathematical puzzles and imaginary languages. He’s obsessed with lists, maps and all manner of taxonomic tools that humans have designed to make sense of a chaotic world (that’s his structuralist impulse in action), even as he so clearly takes pleasure in subverting those very same systems (for which he’s been labeled a “post-structuralist” by those who share his affinity for classification). — Variety, May 2022 [https://variety.com/2022/film/features/peter-greenaway-career-walking-to-paris-1235267108/] The Past * Map Collection [https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/p17222coll5] — Atlanta History Center * Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Collection [http://Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Collection] — Digital Library of Georgia * Historic Map Collection [https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/woodruff/news/explore-marbls-digital-historic-map-collection] — Emory * Hargrett Rare Map Collection: Frontier to New South [https://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/nine.html] — UGA * Historic Maps Vault [https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/hmf]— University System of Georgia * Dynamic Map of History [https://www.runningreality.org/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAjbagBhD3ARIsANRrqEv-trDe1ykA71Lq7XiZkLnk42cmbzCKI8UGU14RSnwBDVfcQY8gIJkaAktkEALw_wcB#01/01/1700&39.30913,-94.20985&zoom=5] — Running Reality The Present Informational * City of Atlanta Maps & GIS [https://gis.atlantaga.gov/] * Midtown Development Tour Map [https://www.midtownatl.com/business/development-tour] * MARTA Interactive System Map [https://martaonline.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=0ce5941618fe4cfe827155225d9640cc] * Georgia DOT Maps [https://www.dot.ga.gov/GDOT/Pages/Maps.aspx] * Georgia Geologic Survey Maps [https://epd.georgia.gov/outreach/publications/georgia-geologic-survey-maps] * Georgia Highway & Transportation Maps [https://www.dot.ga.gov/GDOT/Pages/Maps.aspx] — GDOT * Georgia Data Center Map [https://www.georgia.org/georgia-data-center-map] — Georgia Department of Economic Development * CSX Route Map [https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/customers/maps/csx-system-map/] — CSX Recreational * Interactive Maps by ATLsherpa [http://exploreatlmaps.com] (tools for explorers) * Appalachian Trail in Georgia Maps [https://www.georgia-atclub.org/hike-the-a-t/maps-profiles] — Georgia Appalachian Trail Club * Full Appalachian Trail Interactive Map [https://appalachiantrail.org/explore/hike-the-a-t/interactive-map/] — Appalachian Trail Conservancy * Atlanta Beltline Interactive Map [https://beltline.org/map/] * PATH Foundation Maps [https://www.pathfoundation.org/metro-atlanta-path-trails] * Hiking Atlanta's Hidden Forests by Jonah McDonald [https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Atlantas-Hidden-Forests-Intown/dp/1889596299/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=Cj0KCQiAjbagBhD3ARIsANRrqEt715R7nOIR8hu5Vrb2G3IG7JzP5WluT1I9DtVuLpc3uhMEHYJwC5IaAoYnEALw_wcB&hvadid=241894382833&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9011027&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7854977992563864502&hvtargid=kwd-309025108496&hydadcr=2352_10355772&keywords=hiking+atlanta%27s+hidden+forests&qid=1678632971&sr=8-1] (see video above) * Best Trails in Georgia [https://www.alltrails.com/us/georgia] — AllTrails * Interactive Trail Map [https://www.discovergeorgiaoutdoors.com/hiking/interactive-map/] — Discover Georgia Outdoors The Future * Atlanta’s Ring of Fire Map by ATLsherpa [https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1QH9fHYHcra6D9GxGDooZNDMnqxlMLdox&usp=sharing] * Atlanta Regional Commission, Data & Maps [https://atlantaregional.org/browse/?browse=type&type=data-maps] * Atlanta Beltline Subarea Master Plans [https://beltline.org/the-project/grant-application/master-planning/] * The Future of Atlanta is Downtown [https://www.atlantadowntown.com/blog/the-future-of-atlanta-is-downtown] — Central Atlanta Progress (Feb 2023) * Midtown Development Tour Map [https://www.midtownatl.com/business/development-tour] (window to the future) Exploring Atlanta by ATLsherpa is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.atlsherpa.com [https://www.atlsherpa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

My thoughts about the Atlanta Streetcar East Extension

This story originally appeared in the June 2021 episode [https://www.atlsherpa.com/p/podcast-newsletter-june2021] of Exploring Atlanta. Please use the player below to listen to the audio portion of the podcast. Thank you. Backstory The Streetcar East Extension project is the first extension of the existing downtown Streetcar [https://martaguide.com/atlanta-streetcar-map-and-destinations/], originally opened in late 2014. This project runs along Edgewood Avenue to the BeltLine at Irwin Street and up to the Poncey-Highland neighborhood. The Siemens S70 Streetcar [https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:37498876-88e1-4a17-997d-9f1d0136ccf2/atlanta-s70-streetcar-data-sheet.pdf] weighs about 48 tons (96,500 lbs) In 2018, MARTA formally took on ownership of the existing downtown Streetcar and future expansions of the streetcar system. The Streetcar East Extension project is advancing based on a detailed review of the planning and design work prepared by Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI) on behalf of the City of Atlanta (COA). Preliminary engineering of this corridor continues to advance considering possible effects to adjacent properties, existing utilities, vehicle and operational needs, neighborhood accessibility, and proposed stop locations. This project has advanced with continued coordination with CoA and ABI. Source: MARTA The video below is a recording of the March 27, 2021, which I reference in my June 2021 podcast. If you watch this video first, my comments will make more sense. “We are talking about a 90-ton vehicle travelling 2 to 25 miles per hour inside the Beltline corridor” — Beltline Official Mass transit, also called mass transportation, or public transportation, the movement of people within urban areas using group travel technologies such as buses and trains. The essential feature of mass transportation is that many people are carried in the same vehicle (e.g., buses) or collection of attached vehicles (trains). This makes it possible to move people in the same travel corridor with greater efficiency, which can lead to lower costs to carry each person or—because the costs are shared by many people—the opportunity to spend more money to provide better service, or both. — Encyclopedia Britannica My thoughts… The narration for this segment begins at 14:25 in the audio recording above * Beltline = Mass transit [https://www.britannica.com/topic/mass-transit] * Solution looking for a problem? * Throwing good money after bad? * Low (mass transit) priority vs other areas * Construction disruption * EV, AV and AI technologies are advancing faster [https://youtu.be/qKAVn58q5bA] than many realize * These disruptive technologies will alter mobility needs and habits * A LOT has changed since 1999 * Are we better off employing more flexible, scalable options such as BRT? * MARTA is seeking public input [https://marta-streetcar.dh8qz31pqmn6d.amplifyapp.com/MartaStreetcar/StreetcarEastProject/MartaStreetcarMeeting1/] now Today's era is one of unprecedented disruptive innovation in mobility. Many transportation agencies’ processes and procedures are rooted in the mid-20th century and could be ill-suited to today’s rapidly evolving landscape. In the last decade alone, the transportation ecosystem has expanded to include transportation network companies, ride-hailing, car-sharing, bike-sharing, micromobility, and micro-transit, as well as digital trip planning, ticketing, and payment. At the same time, changes in commuting habits and demographic shifts are altering the economics of mass transit. Traditional transportation agencies aren’t built for rapid innovation. Their typical decades-long planning cycles and procurement processes and workforce systems tend to be incompatible with many new approaches—and could hinder their ability to thrive in the future of mobility. — Deloitte, from Transportation Agency of the Future: Managing mobility amid disruption and digitization [https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/future-of-mobility/future-of-transportation-agencies.html] (Aug 2020) Recent News (2023) * MARTA sidelines streetcars over safety concerns [https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/marta-sidecar-safety-concerns] — Fox 5 News, 01.04.23 * MARTA dismisses Josh Rowan from leadership position — Atlanta Business Chronicle [https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2023/01/06/marta-josh-rowan-leadership-change.html], 01.06.23 * Some MARTA officials question Atlanta Streetcar extension [https://www.ajc.com/neighborhoods/atlanta-intown/some-marta-officials-question-atlanta-streetcar-extension/2ZWE4VT4O5A6XE5ASLTNGPRPNA/] — AJC, 01.26.23 * MARTA addresses City Council committee on alleged budget shortfall: What we learned [https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/marta-presentation-atlanta-city-council-transportation-committee/85-ffb3a35a-aedb-4cb5-9d17-bc20ec74096c] — 11 Alive, 01.26.23 * A streetcar on the Beltline would be a train wreck [https://saportareport.com/a-streetcar-on-the-beltline-would-be-a-train-wreck/columnists/guestcolumn/derek/] — Saporta Report, 01.27.12 * MARTA board uncertain over Atlanta Streetcar extension — Atlanta Business Chronicle [https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2023/02/10/marta-board-streetcar-beltline-downtown-uncertain.html] (02.10.23) * Atlanta Streetcar: Grand Plans and Failed Ambitions [https://www.georgiapolicy.org/news/atlanta-streetcar-grand-plans-and-failed-ambitions/] — Georgia Public Policy Foundation, 02.16.23 * Atlanta businesses wary of extending streetcar to BeltLine [https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2023/02/24/marta-beltline-streetcar-business-community.html]— Atlanta Business Chronicle, 02.24.21 * Neighbors air grievances about proposed Atlanta Streetcar extension [https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/02/24/neighbors-air-grievances-about-proposed-atlanta-streetcar-extension/] — Atlanta News First, 02.24.23 * OPINION: Beltline rail: Will spending $230 million screw up a good thing? [https://www.ajc.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-beltline-rail-will-spending-230-million-screw-up-a-good-thing/CPNR6CMJEVEKVMBLITTHQL73A4/] — AJC, 03.25.23 * OPINION: Beltline visionary gets testy with opponent as rail up for vote [https://www.ajc.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-beltline-visionary-gets-testy-with-opponent-as-rail-up-for-vote/7VK4555NBZCQXP2VH3IKR3L3GI/] — AJC, 07.07.23 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.atlsherpa.com [https://www.atlsherpa.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]