Episode 11 | Allie Kelly

The Atlanta Story

The Atlanta Story podcast features meaningful stories of Atlanta’s builders, creators, and entrepreneurs. In this episode Jon Birdsong sits down with Allie Kelly, Executive Director of The Ray.

The Ray is an 18 mile stretch of highway on I-85 in West Georgia. The Ray is a peachtree dish for innovation and experiments to make highways more safe and environmentally sustainable. In our conversation, we discuss topics ranging from the results of clear road striping to paving highways with rubberized asphalt mix. After listening today, you’ll have a new appreciation of what seemingly small changes and advancements on a road can do to safety, sustainability, and energy.

The Atlanta Story is put together by the folks at Atlanta Ventures -- and we can’t wait to share some of the personalities behind the brand. Atlanta Ventures invests in entrepreneurs through community, content, and capital -- most notably through our Studio with companies like Greenzie and Intown Golf Club. We believe the best entrepreneurs learn from other great artists in different fields.

In this episode, we discuss…

1. How Allie Kelly became passionate about The Ray. (1:30)
2. Who is The Ray named after? (4:15)
3. How long is The Ray and a look at the strategic plan. (8:48)
4. How does The Ray work? Is there a team of people in white lab coats working around the clock? (10:15)
5. How do you tackle the problem of tailpipe emissions from the highway POV? (12:56)
6. Do people adjust their trip and or commute around The Ray due to the charging stations? (17:45)
7. What is The Ray’s reputation on the national level and what initiatives outside of energy conservation are y’all prioritizing? (22:21)
8. This seems to be a win-win across the political aisle, are there any organizations that don’t want The Ray to win? (25:48)
9. How does The Ray make driving more safe? (29:45)
10. Do you have any data on crashes around the simple and common sense tactic of making the lines very visible? (35:10)
11. What other experiments are y’all working (37:45)
12. What is the future of The Ray? How does it maintain longevity? (44:10)
13. How has Atlanta influenced and helped you and The Ray and why Atlanta? (51:05)

How you can get involved:

Visit atlantaventures.com/studio if you’re interested in learning more about Atlanta Ventures and the Studio.

Where you can find us:

Website: www.atlstory.com

Twitter: @theatlantastory

Instagram: @theatlantastory

YouTube: Here

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