Since early 2017, the Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) has entered into cooperative agreements with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to provide research and technical assistance to 40 transit agencies from around the country. For these mobility innovation grantees, SUMC facilitates discussions around emerging challenges and the development of successful business plans for innovative and tech-enabled mobility projects. Using one-on-one interactions, online tools, peer-to-peer learning, in-person workshops, and hands-on demonstrations to both guide individual projects and share knowledge outwardly to the transit and shared mobility industry, we help turn mobility ideas into implementable pilot projects.
Through our partnership with the FTA, we also created the Mobility on Demand (MOD) Learning Center, a continuously updated knowledge base for mobility practitioners to search for and learn about shared mobility policies and projects across the country.
Current and past initiatives include:
AIM-NNet: National Program Propels Mobility Innovation in Public Transportation
In the fall of 2020, SUMC was chosen to establish and operate the Accelerating Innovative Mobility National Network through a cooperative agreement with the FTA. We are providing technical assistance to projects across America that include new service delivery models, creative financing, novel partnerships, integrated payment, and more as well as to the 25 recipients of the Accelerating Innovate Mobility (AIM) Challenge Grants.
FTA Integrated Mobility Innovation Program: New Technology to Support Shared Mobility
SUMC is providing technical assistance toward the successful implementation of 25 transit projects selected by the FTA for the Integrated Mobility Innovation (IMI) program. The IMI grantees, which will be awarded approximately $20.3 million, will execute innovative mobility solutions in urban, suburban, and rural areas that focus on on-demand transportation, transit automation, and multimodal payment integration.
FTA MOD On-Ramp: Innovative Business Plans for Pilot Projects
In a partnership with FTA, SUMC has been providing technical assistance to six transit agencies to convert innovative mobility pilot project ideas into implementable business plans. SUMC supported the selected agencies through stakeholder workshops in their communities, shared learning among peer practitioners and experts, and research and analysis. By facilitating clearer thinking about project goals, challenges, and resources, SUMC helped make the diverse set of MOD projects feasible and ready for implementation.
FTA MOD Innovation & Knowledge Accelerator: Creating a Collective Knowledge Base
SUMC led the MOD Innovation and Knowledge Accelerator, which provided a structured community for transit agencies in the FTA MOD Sandbox program to exchange ideas, discuss challenges that emerged while implementing mobility pilot projects, and share solutions. Through hands-on workshops, peer-to-peer facilitation, research, and web-based learning resources, SUMC helped the pilots be successful and created a knowledge-sharing environment for the broader transit and shared mobility community around mobility innovation.
