Welcome to the Shared-Use Mobility Center’s weekly guide to the most impactful news, thought-provoking articles and innovative technologies that are shaping our transportation future. We believe in sharing information, just like sharing cars, bikes, and scooters, so if there’s anything additional you’d like to see, just drop us a line.
SUMC News and Announcements
New on the SUMC Learning Center: Transit Food Delivery Programs
A crisis often shows the ingenuity of humanity at the same time it brings us together for the common good.
Empty buses have been well-documented during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but less so vans and wheelchair accessible vehicles filled with emergency food and supplies for people with mobility difficulties. This series of Learning Center Case Studies documents examples of public transit delivery programs that arose in response to COVID-19 to meet the needs of persons with disabilities, the elderly, and those with health complications.
Learn how these food delivery programs operate, who they serve, and how the differing needs of customers and geographic areas influence program design.
In addition to the overview of delivery services, the researchers took a closer look at the design and operations for the Denver Regional Transportation District and the rural Charlevoix County Transit programs.
Join Sharon, city leaders, and experts for a virtual discussion: The Role of Urban Planning, Architecture, and Transportation in Chicago’s Future
August 17, 2020 | 10:00–11:00am CT
This virtual forum will focus on how the physical features of the city may adapt to the pandemic and how the city’s infrastructure and built environment can support inclusive economic growth. Experts will discuss the citywide impact of dense downtown development as well as challenges and opportunities for getting Chicago residents’ connected to jobs and other means for spurring productivity.
This panel, as other Project Hometown events, brings together civic leaders, expert researchers, and Chicago Fed staff to address civic issues from diverse perspectives and examine how places can recover from the pandemic, overcome longstanding inequities and grow stronger.
REGISTER NOW or CLICK HERE for more information.
Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) 2020 Annual Event: #BuildBackBetter
September 15, 2020, Noon – 12:45 p.m. CDT
MPC is honoring one of Chicago’s foremost corporate citizens, John W. Rogers, Jr., co-CEO of Ariel Investments, with the 2020 MPC Champion Fighter Award. John’s extraordinary contributions to racial equity and business diversity have had a transformative impact on countless institutions.
Attendance is open to everyone, but you must register by September 13, 2020.
REGISTER
Mobility Justice
Streetsblog Chicago checks in with Equiticity Founder and CEO Olatunji Oboi Reed about his return to advocacy work, his history with community-centered programs around cycling equity, and the difficulties that POC face when tackling issues like mental health.
Kamala Harris is set to run as Joe Biden’s Vice President nominee for the 2020 Election and sustainability is a key focus for the upcoming political landscape that will determine the US’ future goals for fighting climate change. MarketWatch takes at look at Harris’ recent climate-directed initiatives, such as her recently released Climate Equity Act, and what that may mean for environmental justice.
Read how Levar Stoney, the 39-year-old Black Mayor of Richmond, VA is dismantling the monuments to white supremacy that have long perched on pedestals throughout the former capital of the Confederacy, and, in doing so, is bringing to light the contrasting cultures in a city attempting to redefine itself as the most famous statue of all, that of Robert E. Lee, looks on.
Over the next five years, Lyft will be providing over 1.5 million rides to Black Americans, distributed through 10+ racial justice organizations, to help fill gaps in transit deserts and communities with limited mobility options as part of the company’s Lyft Up Access Alliance program.
Ridehailing/Carsharing/Carpooling
In a landmark ruling. A California Superior Court Judge has mandated that Lyft and Uber classify their drivers as employees instead of independent contractors, which would grant them the basic protections and benefits as employees under labor law.
Toyota Sweden will be using mobility platform Ridecell to run its KINTO Share carshare operations in Stockholm (which has been in service since June), expanding Ridecell’s growth as a B2B mobility solutions leader.
Surging ahead in electrified mobility, Singapore’s BlueSG EV carsharing service has hit a one-million-rentals milestone since launching in the city-state nearly three years ago. Congrats!
Uber’s latest second-quarter earnings report shows a growing trend in its delivery business that, in some but not all revenue and bookings aspects, has overtaken its core ridehailing service in gross bookings, which can be attributed to the stark decrease in rides brought on by the pandemic.
Bikesharing and Micromobility
Listen to NPR’s guide on getting started with biking featuring tips from expert cyclists who want to help you get rolling on good-for-you, two-wheeled transportation for your next errand or a simple breezy ride.
Learn about one cyclist’s experiences from carrying her 6-week old newborn to shuttling her excited one-year old, all on a cargo bike in the Cambridge, MA area, on Streetsblog MASS.
In Madrid, a new approach to dedicated bike infrastructure uses “slow lanes” with speed limits of 30 km/h (about 19 mph) for bikes, e-bikes, mopeds, and other two-wheeled vehicles, dubbed the “Madrid Model”, that forgoes physical barriers altogether.
Aspen and Basalt, CO get a taste of the e-bike frenzy with new pedal-assist options added to the WE-cycle bikeshare program.
Transit
Check out the New York Times’ interactive feature showing how a subway car’s ventilation and air circulation system work to reduce exposure to viral air particles from non-mask and mask-wearing riders.
Catch the latest updates about COVID-19 in the Bay Area and how public transit can adapt and thrive despite a pandemic-strained system from SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin on KALW.
Agencies, cities, policymakers, and planners will need to come together to #SaveTransit as millions of people depend on it as their lifeline to essential services, amenities, and jobs. TransitCenter highlights three stories from transit-dependent riders that stress the importance of affordable and reliable mobility.
New York’s plan to turn the state into a clean transportation powerhouse has a large focus on electrification for personal automobiles and commercial trucks and buses. Is this merely a pigeonholed response to much more robust strategies like massive public transit investment and better ped-and-bike planning?
Technology
Renamed and revving up for its full-autonomous offerings that will take place next year, Hyundai and self-driving tech startup Aptiv have a new name for their ridehailing robotaxi project: Motional.
The New Urban Mobility alliance (NUMO) has launched a new resource guide and toolkit for micromobility data that aims to connect best practices in shared mobility with policy goals that incorporate infrastructure, equity, environmental challenges, safety, health, and other key metrics.
There’s a new update for the General Bikeshare Feed Specification (GBFS for short) that shares data about vehicle type and information about how it was powered—be it from regular human power to pedal-assist tech—as well as geofenced virtual station parameters for dockless offerings.
Yandex, the Moscow-based tech conglomerate, has started testing 4th-gen autonomous Hyundai Sonatas in Ann Arbor, MI in partnership with Hyundai’s Mobis brand.
Sustainability
The inequities that lower-income communities of color face with the entrenchment of suburban sprawl, which was brought on by racist zoning laws that intrinsically enforced segregation in cities, is only exacerbated by the effects of transportation emissions and climate change. To fight against sprawl is to fight for a more environmentally-sound future for everyone.
What happens when you replace 10% of a city’s roads with greenery? Cities in the Netherlands like Arnhem are fighting urban heat caused by large swaths of pavement while offsetting extreme flooding and fighting the effects of climate change.
Congratulations to Portland for passing a historic measure that lifts the ban on affordable duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and six-home lots throughout the metro area while removing “all parking mandates from three quarters of the city’s residential land”.
What can cities do when transit is constrained and there’s an impending “carpocalypse” that will see car-congested streets take over because of a ongoing pandemic? Upzone it. Upzone it all. Build housing near jobs so people can cut their commute to a simple 10-minute stroll.
Requests for Proposals, Inquiries, and Information
RFP: Transportation Network Company
IndyGo
Indianapolis, IN
Deadline: August 31, 2020
RFI: Mobility Services Partnerships
LA Metro
Los Angeles, CA
Deadline: September 4, 2020
RFP: Specialized ADA Transportation Services – Southern Region
Los Angeles County Access Services
Los Angeles, CA
Deadline: September 17, 2020
(Registration required)
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