This month, The Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) launched Ready! a new curb-to-curb microtransit service serving three low-income, minority communities in Memphis, TN. Ready! was developed with SUMC’s technical assistance through the MOD On-Ramp program and funded with an FTA Integrated Mobility Innovation (IMI) grant.

“Smart City” technology is touted as a way to help with traffic control and air quality monitoring, but the surveillance cameras, location trackers, and sensors diminish the freedoms within public spaces that make democracy possible—and they can be used to target and discriminate against marginalized groups.

With the call for reparations ringing loud and clear, it’s time for reparative planning to get its much-needed spotlight to address the US history of racial persecution including enslavement, discriminatory housing and lending policies, destructive highway and infrastructure projects, and more.

Prop 22 in California is “unconstitutional” and “unenforceable”—a big win for street safety and driver advocates as Judge Roesch states the law does not “protect work flexibility, nor does it provide minimum workplace safety and pay standards for those workers.” The bill is still in effect until the appeals process is exhausted, but it may be on its way to the Supreme Court.

We have the potential to reduce GHG emissions by up to 43% if we kick electric carsharing into gear (and boost our EV charging infrastructure), according to a new report from the International Council on Clean Transportation. Notice we said “carsharing” not everyone driving their own EVs.

When it comes to biker protection, painted lines just don’t cut it. But installing lanes that would, with physical barriers and/or parking protection, means doing the unthinkable—prioritizing human safety over convenience for cars.

Bike repair stations are the charging stations of the cycling world, so why aren’t we talking about them as much? Stand-alone units in public spaces that house the tools needed to fix, tune, and repair the most common mechanical problems can keep bikers moving and motivate others to join.

Now let’s step back from the bicycle…all the back to 1418 in Italy with 4 wheels and a loop of rope. Yes, the history of the bicycle includes centuries of evolutions and revolutions and it has a 5G future that looks pretty bright.

German nonprofit ‘Bikeygees’ teaches refugee women how to bike, learn the rules of the road, and do repairs, and it outfits them with a bike, helmet, bike lock, and bike tools. “It is possible to change the life of a woman in two hours”, says founder Annette Krüger, “It is really magical”.

People-first and climate-friendly transportation is getting a big boost in Nashville with the launch of the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT). While NDOT is in the design phase, staff are working to speed up the process and create “more sidewalks, bikeways, and greenways; and less congestion on safer, well-maintained roads”.

Egyptian tech startup Swvl has gained a foothold in Europe after acquiring Shotl, a European mass transit platform that serves local governments and corporations. For Shotl, Swvl’s technology can improve routes and maximize vehicle occupancy to fill transit gaps in underserved areas.

One way to ensure that people of all income levels can access essential services is free public transportation. Los Angeles is testing this out with a pilot program that allows participating K-12 students to ride public transit at no charge, and it’s looking to add community college students and possibly low-income riders if successful.

Mobility-focused VC firm Fontinalis has secured $104 million in capital commitments for its third and newest fund. Recent investments include Gatik, a startup developing an autonomous vehicle stack for B2B short-haul logistics; Helm.ai, a maker of driverless car AI; and Highland Electric, a company that helps school systems adopt electric buses.

EV taxis have arrived in the UK with 9 wireless charging electric taxis on Nottingham roads in a pilot program running until March 2022. Wireless charging electric taxis are more convenient, time and cost efficient, and cut down carbon emissions (plus the blue and green design is fun to look at), what more could you want?

While we’ve known about climate change for years, the IPCC’s latest global climate assessment report was staggering both in what will occur and who is at fault—humans. So how did they determine this? Climate Modeling. FiveThirtyEight breaks down how the process works in this podcast episode.

It’s not enough to just get people to drive EVs, we must change the fact that Americans have to travel so far to reach everyday destinations. As RMI explains, locating residential areas by popular destinations and executing a comprehensive transportation demand management plan can reduce carbon emissions and give the community better access to their needs.

Feeling overwhelmed and powerless about global warming? We can come together to find new solutions (like the Borgs microbes that can help control greenhouse gasses), listen to Indigenous leaders who have protected, conserved and revitalized ecosystems for years, and push for transportation reform to minimize the greenhouse gasses our transportation emits.