EV tax credits are back, but not for e-bikes
EV tax credits are back, but not for e-bikes
The new mobility reading list
Last week, the Urban Movement Labs (UML) board and staff met for a one-day retreat to discuss the organization's goals of facilitating transportation technologies projects and UML's commitment to safe, sustainable, and equitable new mobility. Also, last week, UML published a partnership with South Korea's Institute of Aerospace Industry-Academia Collaboration (IAIAC) to join forces on Advanced Air Mobility research.
Two more weeks, and the new mobility world is moving. Federal EV tax credits are back in the electrifying space, but not for e-bikes. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a non-profit is giving access to e-bikes to residents in the San Fernando Valley. On the east coast, New York City is exploring how to enforce the obstruction of bikeways with cameras and deploy on-street car-shared systems. Then, the organization Smart Growth America published its Dangerous by Design 2022 report; unfortunately, more pedestrians are dying in the streets of the US; meanwhile, the European Union requires all new vehicles to install intelligent speed assistance (ISA).
Catch up with the UML team!
Our Director of Strategy & Development, Francis Pollara, was interviewed by Governing and talked about the future of road infrastructure. Also, he will be presenting this Friday, August 5, at the "Developing Smart Cities with Community and Digital Technology" event. Last but not least, our Interim ED, Justine Johnson, invites you to listen to her podcast #WomenTalkMobility. This third episode includes the voices of the co-host Mariko Davidson and our board members Julia Thayne and Lilly Shoup.
Integrated Mobility
🌴 🚘 California should prioritize housing people, not cars [LA Times]. California treats parking like a birthright. But that obsession with ensuring motorists can always find a parking spot sabotages more critical goals, including building more housing and reducing driving.
🅿️ 🚙 City Sets Down Rules for a Permanent On-Street' Car-Share' Program [Streets Blog NYC]. Following a three-year, 14-neighborhood pilot, the NYC Department of Transportation laid out the ground rules for a permanent program to allow car rental companies to place vehicles in the street for hourly rental.
🚫 🚗 The big idea: should cars be banned from cities? [The Guardian]. Streets have been optimized for one thing: traffic. A kind of 'urban rewilding' could return them to the complex social ecosystems they once were.
🚲 🚸 Chicago Giving Out 5,000 Free Bikes Through 2026 [Block Chicago Club] Some of the first bikes will be given to Chicago public school students who participate in the Greencorps Chicago Youth Program, a city jobs training program.
🎩 🚲 Double-Parked [The New Yorker] The author of this piece recently spoke to R. Kikuo Johnson about his inspiration for this week's cover of The New Yorker and why wiser New Yorkers know that the best way to experience the pleasures of summer in the city is on a bike.
Mobility Safety
⛔ 🚙 Get ahead with ISA: Safer driving with accurate speed limits [Here] From July 2022, Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) will become mandatory in new vehicles in the European Union and some other countries.
🚸 🖤 Dangerous By Design 2022 [Smart Growth America] This report follows up on the pedestrian safety crisis in America. Pedestrian fatalities are up 62 percent since they began steadily rising in 2009, following years of improvement.
☠️ 🛣️ The deadliest road in America [Vox] Being a pedestrian in the U.S. was already dangerous. It’s getting even worse, especially at US-19 in Pasco County, Florida.
🚸⛑️ 4 Proven Steps for Improved Pedestrian Safety [Planetizen] The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) provides a playbook for reducing the unnecessary levels of carnage on U.S. streets and roads.
Digitizing Assets & Operations
📸 🚲 A New Tool in the Battle to Keep the Bike Lane Clear [Bloomberg] Installing cameras that automatically ticket drivers who obstruct bike lanes would make riding safer. In New York City, such enforcement technology could be on its way.
🅿️ 👏 Parking Industry Veteran Roamy Valera to Join Automotus as President [PR.com] The former CEO of PayByPhone North America and past IPMI Chair will leverage 33 years of industry experience to support Automotus’ rapid rise as the leader in curb management.
Urban Air Mobility
🇰🇷 ✈️ Urban Movement Labs Announces Partnership with South Korea’s Institute of Aerospace Industry-Academia to Collaborate on Advanced Air Mobility Research [Urban Movement Labs]. The collaboration will focus on technical aspects of AAM integration that address shared characteristics between the Los Angeles and Incheon regions.
🔮 🤖 How Will Road Infrastructure Change In The Next 30 Years? [Governing] From electrified pavement that can charge vehicles and delivery robots that collect data to flying taxis, transportation experts sound off on what we can expect highways and byways to look like in 2050.
EV Infrastructure
🚲⚡A Free E-Bike Lending Program Just Launched In The San Fernando Valley. Here’s How It Works [LAist]. Dubbed Electro-Bici, the Pacoima-centered program will function as a “bike library,” lending e-bikes long-term to residents there and in neighboring communities. This won’t be the bike-sharing racks stationed on sidewalks that you might see in other parts of L.A. County — residents who join the program can keep the bikes for up to nine months.
⚡🚳EV tax credits are back — and bigger — in new Senate climate bill [The Verge]. The bill would allow car buyers to continue to claim the current $7,500 federal tax credit for the purchase of “clean vehicles” — the new preferred phrase describing plug-in hybrid, battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, replacing the old phrase “new qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle.” It would also remove the current 200,000 vehicle cap. Nevertheless, tax credits for electric bike purchases were left on the cutting room floor.
🔥 🚲 New York’s E-Bikes Keep Catching Fire, and It’s Getting Worse [Vice] Electric mobility devices are exploding at an increasing rate. But without a better understanding of the problem, it will be hard for the city to address it.