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
Virtual Workshop Recording & Resources:
Human Services Transportation
Last month, the Shared-Use Mobility Center hosted representatives from AARP Public Policy Institute, the National Center for Mobility Management, DemandTrans Solutions, ITNAmerica, Atlanta Regional Commission, and the Federal Transit Administration to discuss human services transportation and opportunities for data integration with larger Mobility Management and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) initiatives. Watch the webinar recording below and learn more about the topics covered (with links) on our Learning Center here:
Check out other recorded sessions, presentations, and discussions on our YouTube channel
This week’s Mobility Hub is loaded with podcast episodes, video segments, and visual stories about mobility. Dive in and see what’s new!
Mobility Justice
Hear about the history of the 1960’s Black-operated jobs training program from Pittsburgh called Freedom House that, along with the help of Dr. Peter Safar, revolutionized emergency medical transportation and the paramedic industry in the city’s mostly Black neighborhoods and beyond.
Dr. Richard Ezike of the Urban Institute explains how keeping equity at the core of community and organizational responses to COVID-19 can mitigate unequal access to transportation services in underserved areas—all in this episode of the Mobility Podcast.
The War on Cars chats with StreetridersNYC co-founder Orlando Hamilton about the movement to use bikes as tools for protesting racial inequality and how cycling promotes independent mobility to support the Black Lives Matter movement.
How can we bring recreational space to underserved areas where funds or resources for parks is limited? Making them mobile and flexible would help fill many needs quickly and at a lower cost, according to National Recreation and Park Association’s drilldown of three cases of mobile recreation programs in the US.
Ridehailing/Carsharing/Carpooling
The Micromobility podcast hosts Loeb Fellow and Uber’s former Head of Transportation Policy Andrew Salzberg to discuss strategies to decarbonize transportation in the US and how plans to kickstart a zero-emissions future can materialize over time.
GeekWire shares a local perspective on their experience with Gig Car Share, AAA’s free-floating carsharing service that just expanded to Seattle. The verdict: clean rides due to (thankfully) strict sanitation guidelines and solid app/feature functionality.
The fast-growing Austin suburb of Kyle, TX will offer subsidized Uber trips (up to eight a month) to local residents within city limits, expanding mobility options to those without cars or reliable transportation.
Bikesharing and Micromobility
Replace the car with an e-bike! Scotland builds cycling by increasing funding for its E-Bike Grant program, which offers residents interest-free loans to purchase pedal-assist, adaptive, and cargo e-bikes or e-trikes. More countries should follow Scotland’s lead.
Check out San Francisco Chronicle’s 13 steps the Bay Area can take to create a safe and vibrant (and car-free) environment for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation users.
In the latest Active Towns podcast, host John Simmerman looks at the phenomenon of induced parking demand alongside Parkade co-founder Curtis Rogers. They also discuss how innovative parking management solutions can open more space for active mobility, like bike lanes.
Philip Ellis, co-founder of bikeshare operator Beryl, shares thoughts, challenges, and operational strategies for running bikeshare in markets with fast-growing user bases, while keeping safety and access at the fore.
Transit
What does it look like to take transit during the pandemic? WBEZ takes a trip on Chicago’s Red Line and documents how public transportation has changed as the US continues to grapple with COVID-19. Reporters interview everyday riders and document oddly quiet stations and the Chicago Transit Authority’s sanitation efforts.
“If you are blind, you don’t drive. We are committed transit users.” In this 60 Minutes episode, Chris Downey shares his story about going blind at 45, the impacts it had on working with public space as an architect (including the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco), and how subtle designs in transit infrastructure can make make a world of difference for transportation accessibility.
Watch TriMet’s latest video with stories from the essential transit crews that are keeping Portland’s buses, trains, and stations clean for riders, including their friends and family who also rely on mass transportation.
In the latest edition of the Transit Unplugged podcast, CEO of C-Tran Shawn Donaghy talks transit ridership with Trapeze VP Paul Comfort, including shifted goals for pandemic response and future plans on improving bus rapid transit in the region.
Technology
Bloomberg interviews Meng Xing , COO of ridehailing company Didi Chuxing’s autonomous driving unit, about the recent launch of Didi’s self-driving vehicle pilot in Shanghai and how they aim to hit their ambitious goal of 1 million driverless cars by 2030.
Self-driving vehicle startup Nuro is at the forefront of mobility tech and taking big steps to lead the charge with food,and goods delivery using small autonomous vehicles designed with no passenger in mind.
CALSTART’s newest Clean Commercial Transportation Update covers the agency’s Transit Bus Technology Roadmap from Project Manager Bryan Lee, including a discussion on transit procedures in response to COVID-19 and a chat with SunLine Transit Agency’s CEO Lauren Skiver about their fuel cell EV bus project.
“Can AI and robotics bring the operating costs of micro-mobility ride-sharing fleets down?” VP of Global Business Development for Segway Tony Ho says yes, and explains why in The Last Mile podcast. Listen here.
Sustainability
The New York Times delivers a visual step-by-step representation (designed by architecture and planning studio Practice for Architecture Urbanism) of New York’s potential to be a car-free metro and the multitude of positive effects that would flow from a complete walking- and rolling-centered restructuring.
Shopping malls into affordable housing? Strong Towns’ latest Upzoned podcast episode considers the feasibility of recent proposed plans to turn America’s flailing retail monolith, the shopping mall, into apartments, which might require a top-down approach which could hamper community efforts for affordable living.
Charles Brown, transportation researcher and expert from Rutgers University, hops on Transloc’s The Movement podcast for a session on street-level neighborhood planning and why planners should see community residents as the true experts in addressing transportation, public space, and equity.
On San Francisco Public Press’s Civic podcast, experts from the Bay Area Regional Health Inequities Initiative discuss the disparities that Black communities face in public health, development, and transportation due to the pandemic and other injustices.
Requests for Proposals, Inquiries, and Information
RFP: Twin Cities Electric Vehicle Mobility Network
The City of Saint Paul
St. Paul, MN
Deadline: August 07, 2020
RFI: Technologies to Assess Real Time Transit Vehicle Occupancy
Cal-ITP
California
Deadline: August 7, 2020
RFI: Creative Uses for Utilizing Existing Curbside Electric, Telecommunications, and Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
IndyGO
Indianapolis, IN
Deadline: August 14, 2020
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