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
THIS WEEKEND ONLY- REGISTER AND SAVE 15%
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National Shared Mobility Summit
March 17 – 19, 2020 | Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago
CALIFORNIA’S SHARED + ELECTRIC MOBILITY INITIATIVE IS MOVING INTO PHASE 3
The Shared-Use Mobility Center is wrapping up the second phase of the Initiative, is a multi-year partnership with The Hewlett Foundation to promote clean, shared mobility as a transportation equity solution. In the first phase, SUMC conducted pilots for electrifying carsharing and ridehailing with partners like the City of Los Angeles and fast-charge provider EVgo.
Now we’re releasing results from the second phase, which was focused on communicating lessons learned from early pilots. And we’re moving into a third phase, which is all about scaling—starting with the launch of the California Clean Mobility Options program providing $20 million to deploy shared+electric projects in disadvantaged communities starting this Spring.
Read about the findings in the Learning Center:
- Learning Module – Electrifying Shared Mobility
- Case Study: Electric and Equitable: Learning from the BlueLA Carsharing Pilot
- Case Study: Little Roady Autonomous Shuttle Pilot
- Case Study: The Story of Green Raiteros: A Shared & Electric Lifeline for California Farmworkers
- Case Study: Charged for Growth: Electric Mobility Planning in San Jose
Join us for an EPA Webinar
SUMC staff will present on insights from the Shared+Electric Mobility Initiative on an upcoming EPA webinar, Thursday March 12th at 3:00 Eastern / 12:00 Pacific. Register here:
New Mobility Mindsets: Shared Mobility and Personal Micromobility
Ridehailing/Carsharing/Carpooling
The Massachusetts House has approved a $612M transportation funding bill that includes a gas tax and higher fees on luxury and solo ridehailing trips. The bill still needs to go through the Senate before reaching Governor Baker’s desk.
Free2Move will bring Citroën’s new 2-seater Ami EV to its carsharing service in Paris, giving people more options for smaller shared EV mobility.
A home-grown ridehailing service called Myle looks to break into the New York market, and the founder is using his taxi background to gain a slice of the ridehail pie.
Carpool app Hytch has linked up with South Bend, IN to offer rewards to people with limited transport options who share their rides.
Partnerships and Programs
Tap & go grows on the East coast. New York MTA is expanding its OMNY contactless fare payment system to all local buses in Manhattan this month.
The FTA has released a notice of funding opportunity for an $8.5-million grant program aimed to “improve mobility in underserved communities, including rural areas”.
LA Metro will launch a three-year microtransit pilot with RideCo Inc. that focuses on short trips in six designated zones and historically underserved communities and features an all-in-one MaaS app and TAP card payments.
Bikesharing and Micromobility
The ebb and flow of the shared scooter phenomenon in cities is transitioning into a growth period as officials and mobility companies iron out fleet sizes, local regulations, and parking woes.
Micromobility company Helbiz and crowdsourced traffic/street reporting app OurStreets (one of our 2020 Shared Mobility Summit Startup Spotlight Top Ten) are partnering to help clean up shared bike and scooter parking issues in a month-long pilot in DC.
Aurora, IL wants a new bikeshare system and is currently in talks to use Koloni for a small dockless system for more active transportation and bike trail use in the city.
A new collaborative study on vehicle parking in five cities found that about a quarter of observed motor vehicles were in violation of local parking rules while less than a percent of parked scooters and bikes were impeding street access.
Transit
A council member in DC wants to make all public transit in the region free, and the funding projections behind the idea look promising.
Ultra-fast regional transit is getting closer to reality in the American Southwest as rail developer Texas Central inks a $5.9 billion deal with Spanish firm Renfe to build a high-speed rail route between Dallas and Houston.
VIDEO: Learn about Jersey City’s new on-demand microtransit service with ridehail platform Via that offers subsidized rides and has a wheelchair-accessible option.
The Atlanta Regional Commission Board is pushing on with its $173 billion transportation plan that includes $11 billion set aside for new transit projects and expansions. Now if only the plan had less money earmarked for highway expansions and more for cleaner mobility options…
Technology
Denmark’s first autonomous shuttle that mixes with traffic on public roads is officially here, thanks to work from AV tech company Navya, service operator Holo, and officials from the suburb of Aalborg East.
Taking a page out of Tesla’s book, Porsche has ramped up its EV efforts claiming it has “1,035 AC charging stations in around 20 countries” with hopes to hit 2K chargers by the end of 2020.
A new report out of Beijing shows that 77 autonomous vehicles, in total, from 13 Chinese AV startups have logged in a little over 1 million kilometers on Beijing roads in all of 2019, a 677% jump from the number of miles logged in 2018.
Urban Sustainability
Cities of all sizes have to adapt to climate change in a way unique to their structure, geography, and culture. Although there is no one master plan, certain principles and elements can be a guide for all.
Behold a new vision for Buffalo, with fewer cars, less parking and more modes to get around. This future may not be too far away as the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency and the national Congress for the New Urbanism are completing the mobility plan May 1st.
Ensuring that “physically, economically, or socially disadvantaged people are able to reside in multi-modal, economically successful neighborhoods is called the “Right to the City.” Planners, Planetizen offers, can help make this a reality.
Requests for Proposals, Inquiries, and Information
RFP: Accelerating Clean Transportation Now (ACTNow)
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
Boston, MA
Deadline: March 3, 2020
RFP-Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan
Sunset Empire Transportation District
Astoria, OR
Deadline: March 16, 2020
RFP: Safe Routes to School Plan
City of Salinas
Salinas, CA
Deadline: March 18, 2020
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