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.
Announcements
Early bird rates end on January 3, 2020!
National Shared Mobility Summit
March 17 – 19, 2020 | Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago
What happens after you win the Startup Spotlight?
Read what 2018 Startup Spotlight winner MUVE and 2019 winner Wise Mobility (formerly TIKD) have to say about the National Shared Mobility Summit’s pitch competition, which gives innovators and startups the chance to present their products and ideas in front of top-tier mobility experts.
READ WINNER TESTIMONIALS
Our friends at Streetsblog Chicago need to raise $15K by January 1, 2020 to win a $50K grant from @ChiTrust that will fund publication next year. Please consider chipping in to support their livable streets journalism and advocacy. Make your tax-deductible donation here.
SUMC’s TRB reception is almost sold out
RSVP now to save you spot at everyone’s favorite kickoff for the Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting, held on January 12, 2020, at Baby Wale. Food, drink, and inspiration from your colleagues, friends, SUMC and reception-sponsor VIA are complimentary.
RSVP
Ridehailing/Carsharing/Carpooling
Streetsblog Chicago writer Courtney Cobbs recently moderated a panel with ridehail drivers and transportation-worker advocates about the complications behind working for an algorithm while protecting drivers to create a safer and more sustainable workforce environment.
Daimler and BMW are hoping to double revenue for their ridehailing joint venture FreeNow in the next two years and take on Uber in the European and Latin American markets as Daimler’s MyTaxi acquisition from 2014 is already turning a profit.
Lyft has launched a new car rental service in LA and San Francisco that has no mileage limit and gives users free ridehail credits to get to their rental.
King County Metro has launched a new, ADA-accessible, carpool shuttle program in Kirkland, WA, as part of its Community Connections project that will let riders share their commute with a Transit GO Mobile ticket or an ORCA transit pass.
Partnerships and Programs
According to a new report, California’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities has already awarded $1.1 billion towards integrated TOD developments for disadvantaged and low-income communities, 158 miles of new or upgraded bike lanes, thousands of transit passes, and more to help people switch from driving to riding transit, biking, and/or walking.
IndyGo is getting a boost to the tune of $300,000 for a first/last mile microtransit shuttle pilot to upgrade wheelchair-accessible and pedestrian infrastructurealong the Red Line BRT.
Internet and mobility access are human rights issues so we applaud Pittsburgh’s Port Authority for adding free Wi-Fi to 400 buses. Getting connected to your destination and online amenities are important for thriving communities.
New York’s MTA has deployed the first of 500 extended, electric buses for its car-free 14th Street busway as the agency journey towards “a zero-emissions fleet”.
Bikesharing and Micromobility
Real-estate developers are finding a new friend in mobility company Spin with partnerships to host Spin’s scooter docks at multi-family properties to help residents connect to transit and make clean trips.
Uber expects to double down on its micromobility services in Europe throughout 2020, stating that usage of JUMP bikeshare in the EU has passed US adoption in the last eight months.
San Antonio-based scooter company Blue Duck is working with Luna, a telematics startup in Dublin, to pilot centimeter-level GPS tech to manage dockless fleets and sidewalk clutter.
Lyft has silently ended its cash payments option for Bay Wheels bikeshare, but some city officials want to take the legal route to keep the option open for unbanked and low-income commuters.
Transit
The popular airport shuttle service SuperShuttle will be shutting down all of its operations by the end of this year with speculators believing that the rise of ridehailing startups may have crowded them out of the market.
A new app in New York called Dollaride is betting on bringing unofficial jitneys and dollar vans into the 21st century with up-to-date route information and in-app fares. Can it successfully copy the tech-enabled and informal minibus systems from cities in West Africa and the Caribbean?
The Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority has approved a major $27.4 billion plan to move forward on public transit planning, funding, and development in 13 metro counties across the region, totaling 192 projects. Great work, Atlanta!
VIDEO: Check out this interview between ABC7 and San Francisco MTA’s new director Jeff Tumlin on public transportation safety and costs in the city, and how he’s inspired by Vancouver to get cars off the street while boosting transit use.
Technology
Ottawa is joining the Waze for Cities program to share traffic data that will combine with public data and smart city tech to improve traffic flow.
A startup focused on autonomous technology for mass transit called Bluespace.ai is getting an influx of funding as the race for self-driving vehicles ramps up.
Waymo has just jumped into the UK market with its recent acquisition of local AI company Latent Logic that specializes in driverless vehicle tests.
Upgrading transit infrastructure does wonders for boosting the bus experience. This prototype bus stop in Sweden has rotating “timber nooks” to shield riders from the wind and a “smart roof” that uses sound and light to indicate the destination of an approaching bus.
Urban Sustainability
The University of Pennsylvania released a new website that details the geography and visual data of the “spatial consequences of climate change” to give a better understanding of the ecological issues and focus areas of environmental policy, such as the Green New Deal.
Culdesac is a new real estate developer that wants to build the first car-free neighborhood, from scratch, in Tempe, AZ. We welcome people-centric, not car-centric, planning at the forefront of livable communities.
Check out CNBC’s 10 most bike-friendly cities in the US and see if yours made the cut!
Requests for Proposals, Inquiries, and Information
RFI: Rural Ride Sharing Field Tests
Nova Scotia Department of Energy & Mines
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Deadline: January 31, 2020
RFP: Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Los Angeles County
Deadline: April 1, 2020
Access the RFP here.
RFP: Accelerating Clean Transportation Solutions
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Boston, Massachusetts
Deadline: March 3, 2020
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