Driverless Transit in Europe, Yes. Sexy, No.
歐洲無人駕駛運輸 不求時髦
By Mark Scott

On the outskirts of Berlin, Michael Barillere-Scholz is testing a driverless vehicle that is neither sleek nor futuristic. The machine is boxy and painted white. Its top speed barely reaches 20 mph.
巴瑞雷爾—休茲正在德國首都柏林市郊，測試一款外形既不時髦也不具未來感的無人駕駛車，這款車四四方方且漆成白色，時速勉強達32公里。

The self-driving vehicle is a shuttle with room for 12 passengers. Barillere-Scholz, who leads the driverless research team at Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s largest train and bus operator, and his team have been testing the vehicle around a local office park. Later this year, the partly state-owned public transit company will also begin separate trials of a similar autonomous bus on public roads in southern Germany, connecting a local train station with stops along a predetermined route.
這種自動駕駛車是可容納12人的接駁車。巴瑞雷爾-休茲在德國最大的鐵路與公車營運公司「德國鐵路」領導無人駕駛研究團隊，他和他的團隊已在當地一個辦公園區周圍測試這款車。今年稍晚，這家部分國有的公共運輸公司將在德國南部的公路上，展開類似巴士的另一項試驗，把當地一個火車站與一條預定路線上的公車站連接起來。

“We want to show that autonomous cars don’t have to be limited to luxury consumer vehicles, they also have a role in public transport,” Barillere-Scholz said. “The market in Germany for this type of vehicle is huge.”
巴瑞雷爾-休茲說：「我們想要展現的是，自駕車未必非得是豪華消費者車輛不可，它也能承擔大眾運輸任務，德國這種車的市場非常大。」

The coming age of driverless cars has typically centered on Silicon Valley highfliers like Tesla, Uber and Google, which have showcased their autonomous driving technology in luxury sedans and SUVs costing $100,000 or more. But across Europe, fledgling driverless projects like those by Deutsche Bahn are instead focused on utilitarian self-driving vehicles for mass transit that barely exceed walking pace.
正在來臨的無人駕駛車時代通常以矽谷那些雄心萬丈的公司為中心，如特斯拉、Uber與谷歌，這些公司已在要價10萬美元起跳的豪華房車和運動休旅車上充分展現自駕科技，不過在歐洲各地，像德鐵這類剛起步的自駕車測試專案，卻是著力於為最大多數人謀福利的公共運輸自駕車，車速幾乎和步行一樣。

Forgoing the latest automotive trends of aerodynamics and style, European transportation groups and city planners are instead aiming to connect these unglamorous driverless vehicles to existing public transportation networks of subways and buses. The goal is to eventually offer on-demand driverless services to those who cannot afford the latest expensive offerings from Tesla and others.
歐洲的運輸團體和都市規劃者並不跟隨最新的汽車空氣動力學和風格潮流，而是打算把這些外形單調的自駕車和既有的地鐵和公車大眾運輸網絡連接起來，希望最終能提供隨傳隨到的自駕車，讓負擔不起特斯拉等公司最新昂貴自駕車的人使用。

“When it comes to public transportation, we’re really close on making this technology work,” said Harri Santamala, who coordinates several projects involving autonomous public transport in Finland and directs a “smart mobility” program at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
桑塔馬拉在芬蘭負責協調幾個有關自駕大眾運輸的測試專案，並在赫爾辛基城市應用科技大學主持「智慧移動」計畫，他說：「在公共運輸，我們真的快要讓自駕科技行得通了。」

While U.S. cities – including Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Las Vegas – have tested some of these mass transit driverless vehicles, Europe is a particular hotbed of this activity. That is because of the region’s densely packed urban areas and decades-old and widely used public transit systems, which often include subways, trains and buses.
雖然美國一些城市，如密西根州安娜堡與內華達州拉斯維加斯，已測試過大眾運輸自駕車，但歐洲才是這類活動的熱門地，因為歐洲有人口稠密的都會區，以及存在數十年且使用率高的公共運輸系統，通常包含地鐵、火車和公車。

In total, more than 20 pilot or existing public transport programs have taken place in Europe involving autonomous vehicles, according to a review by The New York Times.
根據紐約時報一篇評論，歐洲總共有超過20個先導或正式的大眾運輸測試計畫與自駕車有關。

原文參照：
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/technology/the-future-of-european-transit-driverless-and-utilitarian.html

Interactive Graphic：
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/14/technology/how-self-driving-cars-work.html

2017-06-25．聯合報．D4．紐約時報賞析 李京倫

說文解字看新聞 李京倫

自駕車（或稱無人駕駛車，自動駕駛車）之發展堪稱當今顯學，英文可用driverless, self-driving, autonomous, automated等字。

辦公園區（office park或business park）是辦公大樓聚集處，通常設在郊區，因為土地和建築成本較低。科學園區（science park）常蓋在大學附近，以便產學合作、研究和開發新技術。

utilitarian是utilitarianism（功利主義）的形容詞。功利主義是一種道德理論，主張行為的對錯標準是「行為是否能增進最大多數人的最大幸福，或為最大多數人減少苦痛」，主要倡導者是18到19世紀英國哲學家邊沁（Jeremy Bentham）。utilitarian另一個意思是「實用的」，但與本文不合。

先導計畫（pilot program）又稱可行性研究（feasibility study），是小規模且短期的實驗，能讓研究者知道大規模進行時的情況會如何。先導計畫通常須列出目標、執行方法、執行時程表與決定計畫成功與否的指標。

Step Into Our Selfie Booth and Help Us Build Our Brand
行銷品牌最新方法：設置「自拍站」吸客
By Joanne Kaufman

First there were selfies. Then there were selfie sticks. Now comes a new phase: selfie booths, which some stores and other businesses are adding as a sort of next-generation photo kiosk.
先是出現自拍，然後有了自拍棒，現在則來到了一個新階段，亦即有些店鋪商家新設的一種新一代照相亭：自拍站。

In the age of ubiquitous social media, these booths and rooms seem to be the latest way to engage customers and build a brand.
在這社交媒體無所不在的時代，設置這些亭棚與房間似乎是與客戶互動與打造品牌的最新方法。

At several branches of the optical company Warby Parker, myopics unsure if those tortoiseshell frames are really “them” can jump into the on-site selfie booth, snap off some images and email them to friends and family for a second (and third, fourth and fifth) opinion.
在光學公司沃比帕克數間分店內，不確定這些玳瑁鏡框是否真的「適合他們」的近視者可跳入現場設置的自拍站，拍些照片並以電子郵件寄給朋友與家人，聽聽第二人（及第三人、第四人及第五人的）意見。

At Paintbox, a nail studio in New York City, clients can get a manicure, then insert their hands into a photo box where their latest coat of metallic teal will be immortalized.
在紐約市美甲工作室Paintbox中，客戶可在做完美甲後，將手插入一個拍照盒內，讓新添上的金屬藍綠色指甲塗層留下永恆紀錄。

And at Doomie’s, a vegan restaurant in Toronto, there is a dedicated selfie room where patrons stand in front of a mirror, snap a photo and post it to social media, often with a caption like “just emerged from my food coma.”
而在多倫多純素餐廳Doomie’s內，有個專用的自拍房間，顧客可站在房內鏡子前拍照且張貼到社交媒體，並時常附上「剛從我的食物昏迷中清醒」之類的圖說文字。

“When we were planning the restaurant, we wanted clever ways to promote it and differentiate it, and the younger demographic always wants something Instagram-able,” said one of Doomie’s owners, Hellenic Vincent De Paul.
Doomie’s的老闆之一海倫尼克．文森．德保羅說：「當我們規劃餐廳時，我們想用巧妙的方式來推廣它並把把它區隔出來，而年輕人總是想要Instagram-able（能放上Instagram去分享或炫耀）的東西。」

The restaurant had an unused basement room, so De Paul painted the floor white and had the walls papered in cartoons by an artist known as Vegan Sidekick. Now, at least half the restaurant’s first-timers under the age of 35 visit the selfie room, De Paul said. On evenings when there is a wait for a table, patrons sometimes while away the time posing and posting.
這家餐廳有個用不到的地下室房間，於是德保羅將地板漆成白色，並將牆壁貼上知名藝術家維根．賽奇克所畫卡通的壁紙。德保羅表示，現在35歲以下的餐廳首次來訪者，至少有一半參觀了該自拍房。在必須等待桌子的夜晚，顧客有時就會到這裡來擺姿勢拍照並傳送出去，以此打發時間。

“The room definitely helps our business,” De Paul said. “When we launched, we were covered by CBC and other news outlets just for the selfie room, and it’s a talking point on social media.
德保羅說：「這個房間對我們的生意肯定有幫助。當我們開張時，加拿大廣播公司和其他新聞媒體都單單因為這個自拍房而做了報導，而且它也成了社交媒體上的話題。

While places like Doomie’s in Toronto are setting aside designated areas for people to take pictures with their own phones, other businesses are installing booths designed to take superior selfies. Devotees know that pictures taken in specially lit booths come out far better than a cellphone snapshot.
多倫多Doomie’s等店家預留供人用手機自拍的指定區域，另有些商家則正在設置用來拍攝優質自拍照片的亭棚，而愛好此道者都知道，在有特別照明的自拍站中拍出來的照片，效果遠遠勝過手機快照。

原文參照：
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/business/selfie-rooms.html

2017-06-25．聯合報．D4．紐約時報賞析 陳韋廷