Texas’ Sky Highway

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Thursday is here, FutureParty people. If you caught Game 4 of the World Series, you’ll remember that two Yankees fans interfered with Dodgers player Mookie Betts catching a ball that was just about to go over the wall. While the fans may have been caught up in the passion of the moment, it turns out that they may catch some jail time for a harassment violation. Talk about an unforced error.

Sugar Land, Texas is taking to the skies for some future-minded transportation projects, including a city-funded rideshare service, air taxis, and a gondola-like option.

Blue Sky Take: America is car country through and through, but some cities no longer have the space to accommodate the number of vehicles on the road. Herding some residents away from highways could reduce traffic, cut down on emissions, and save people money.

Between The Skyscrapers: Sugar Land, located southwest of Houston, only has 4% of land left to build on. So, instead of just expanding streets, the sixth-fastest growing city in the US is building new thoroughfares above them.

The Future: Sugar Land knows it needs to think outside the box to keep up with population growth — traffic in the area is estimated to increase by 40 to 60% by 2045. The city put together a Mobility Master Plan that concluded the city needed to explore novel transportation options while also making the city easier for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate. If the new modes of transportation convince some residents to leave their cars in the garage on most days, expect plenty of cities to look to Sugar Land as a mobility blueprint.

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Consulting company Owl & Co. has created a new way to gauge the popularity of shows and movies on streaming platforms — taking into account the share of subscribers that watch a show or movie on any given platform.

The Big Picture: The traditional TV measurement system hasn’t fully evolved with siloed user bases of streaming. A unified, public chart of what titles are popular with the users on their platforms could finally determine what qualifies as a hit… at least, relatively speaking.

Behind The Scenes: Owl & Co.’s “in-universe ratings” could shake up the streaming industry.

Closing Credits: The in-universe rating should give people a fairer picture of just how popular a show is for a streamer… and, luckily, rely less on obscure headlines of a title being a streamer’s most popular launch over St. Patricks Day weekend or whatever spin they come up with. It’ll also likely become a key metric for determining the new streaming residual (a title needing to be watched by 20% or more of a service’s audience in the first 90 days of release), so expect creatives to follow these ratings very closely.

55.7% of you voted Yes in yesterday’s poll: Are you into Harry Potter?

“Read the books more times than I can count. However, I can’t say I’m into HP anymore. JKR is making it very easy to not want to do anything that gives her more income.”

“I grew up with Harry Potter and was a fan for many years. But JK’s transphobic awakening has soured the series for me.”

“Awesome actors. Horrific author.”

“Love the books and the movies. Losing myself and becoming absorbed by the wizarding world is a comforting pastime.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🤖 Heretic, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ new horror film for A24, is the first to feature a disclaimer in its credits that no generative AI was used.

👔 Shari Redstone will officially be leaving Paramount’s board after Skydance’s acquisition of National Amusement closes.

👀 Prime Video is launching AI-generated “spoiler-free” recaps of seasons/episodes of its originals so that people can get a refresher up to where they left off.

🎯 Antitrust crusader and FTC chairperson Lina Khan is now in the crosshairs of the incoming administration.

💻 Google accidentally leaked its in-the-works AI agent called “Jarvis,” which can take over users’ computers.

🌐 Mozilla Foundation, the parent company of Firefox-owner Mozilla, eliminated its entire division that advocated for a free and open internet.

🪧 Uber and Lyft drivers can now unionize in Massachusetts after a state ballot measure passed.

🚗 Lyft struck partnerships with autonomous-vehicle startup May Mobility and Mobileye to bring AV ridesharing to the service.

🔋 AT&T and EV-charging startup Voltpost are set to install internet-connected chargers in street lights across Michigan.