Happy Holidays!

As we wrap up 2022, here are some of our highlights of the year:

• We were awarded a $2M grant from the Warner Center to pursue cutting-edge first/last mile transportation innovations. ✅

• We began hosting our Humans of New Mobility webinar series, facilitating conversations about transportation innovations in the multimodal city. 🛩️

• We published the Integrating Advanced Air Mobility Primer, a culmination of work by our AAM Fellow that will help public agencies explore policy responses to emerging AAM technologies. 🚄

• We grew our team to six people strong 💪 

Here’s to an exciting year ahead of continuing to deploy transportation innovations that help foster a more interconnected Los Angeles. 🏙️

Electrification

• EV Charging Stations Unveiled in Select Colorado State Parks [GovTech]

• In March, Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife unveiled two charging stations at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Since that time, 14 more charging stations have been introduced at parks across the state.

• $16M West Chester, Pa., Metro Plan Could Use Rechargeable Trains [GovTech] The Metro plan would use one-of-a-kind and much cheaper battery-powered light rail to connect West Chester Borough to downtown Philadelphia. Cutting-edge, fast-charging battery technology with a 60-mile range is envisioned.

• Lyft offers its ride-sharing drivers incentives to switch to EVs [SmartCitiesDive] The program is the latest in a series of moves Lyft has made to fulfill its 2020 pledge to transition entirely to electric vehicles by 2030.

• US reaches 140k public EV charging ports as key federal official says $90B infrastructure investment needed [SmartCitiesDive] The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation is preparing to finalize rules and minimum standards for chargers installed using $7.5 billion in funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year. 

Safety

• Where ‘Vision Zero’ Is Working [Bloomberg CityLab] A dramatic reduction in traffic deaths in US cities is possible, despite huge headwinds. In some places, progress is starting to become visible.

• Tiny Cars, Big Opportunity [Bloomberg CityLab] Electric minicars are taking off globally, driven by advances in battery tech and growing climate concerns. Could they become the next big thing in the US?

• Assessing safety for the most vulnerable road users [Transportation for America] Beginning in November of 2023, Vulnerable Road User (VRU) safety assessments will be required as appendices or addendum to Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSPs).

Robotics & Autonomy

• Uber and Motional launch robotaxi service in Las Vegas [Tech Crunch] Uber and Motional, the Hyundai-Aptiv joint venture focused on commercializing self-driving technology, have launched a robotaxi service in Las Vegas — the first step in the companies’ 10-year plan to co-scale across major North American cities.

• The Long Road to Driverless Trucks [NYT] Self-driving eighteen-wheelers are now on highways in states like California and Texas. But there are still human “safety drivers” behind the wheel. What will it take to get them out?

• Waymo opens Phoenix airport rides to the public, doubles downtown service area [Tech Crunch] Members of the general public will be able to take a Waymo robotaxi, with no human safety operator behind the wheel, between downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport starting Friday. Waymo will also be doubling its service area in downtown Phoenix following an initial launch of driverless rides in the area to the public last month, the company said.

Advanced Air Mobility

• Archer Unveils Its Production Aircraft, Midnight™ [Archer] Archer Aviation Inc., a leader in eVTOL aircraft, publicly unveiled its production aircraft, Midnight, a pilot-plus-four-passenger eVTOL aircraft during its Open House event in Palo Alto, CA. Midnight is the evolution of Archer’s demonstrator eVTOL aircraft, Maker, which has validated its proprietary twelve-tilt-six configuration and key enabling technologies.

• Joby Partners With Aviation High School to Train eVTOL Technicians [Flying] The New York City high school program is part of the company’s plan to prepare services and infrastructure for electric aircraft.

• FAA to lay out air taxi plans by May [SmartCitiesDive] With major airlines already committing to eVTOL aircraft, the nation’s regulators and legislators are acting to support the nascent urban air mobility industry.

• Brazilian Startup FlyBIS Inks Deal for 40 Eve eVTOLs [Flying] The agreement between the air mobility startup and FlyBIS focuses on developing eVTOL transport in South America.

Intelligent Infrastructure

• The THEA CV Pilot Demonstrates the Safety Potential of Connected Vehicles and Smart City Infrastructure as Seven Year Program Ends [Honda] The THEA CV Pilot produced a massive amount of open shared data that can be used to help spur private/public collaborations, eventually resulting in better driving conditions. 

• Flowbird launches Monapass app in Principality of Monaco. A ‘one-app environment’ for multimodal journeys [Sustainable Bus] Flowbird announces it has developed a ‘open ticket’ mobile platform that delivers a ‘one-app, one-account’ environment for integrated multimodal transport, active travel and ID-based subscriptions and passes.  

Integrated Mobility

• NACTO: Micromobility is booming; municipal regulations towards it need to evolve [MassTransit] The association’s analysis finds half a billion bike share and e-scooter trips have been taken in the U.S. during the past 12 years.

• Construction ramps up for LAX/Metro Transit Center station [La Urbanize] After eight months of heavy construction, the progress is becoming apparently at the intersection of Aviation Boulevard and 96th Street in Westchester, where Metro is building a $900-million transit hub which will provide a long-awaited rail link to LAX.

• These Indigenous Tribes in Nevada Are Embracing Bikeshare [Vice] Biking on Indigenous territory can help combat chronic illness and connect youth to the land.