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The New Mobility Reading List
We are three weeks away from our first virtual workshop, "Electric & Shared Mobility," and you are invited! It is not a typical Webinar; it is a participatory virtual workshop to craft together the future of transportation. Click here to register. As an invitee, you can participate on a digital whiteboard while listening to experts on the topic. Save the date for this September 29th at 12 pm PT.
Urban Movement Labs is hiring! Come join a great team of individuals passionate about transportation, policy, and guiding new mobility options with a safe, sustainable, and equitable approach. Check out the full posting for more details, and please reach out to our team if you have questions about the organization.
Our colleague Clint Harper, C.M., and board member Julia Thayne DeMordaunt joined the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti and the Under Secretary of Economic Affairs Jed Kolko earlier this week to partake in a roundtable meeting about port/airport infrastructure and mobility. The conversation focused on ways to create job opportunities and drive economic development in the Los Angeles region after the pandemic's impact. UML highlighted opportunities that last-mile delivery and curb management can bring to the region.
The Parking and Mobility Magazine published our article! This collaboration with the CurbIQ team summarizes our Digitizing the Curb pilot program in Los Angeles. Check out pages 22-25 of the digital version here.
Electrification
Leading Silicon Valley seed fund Powerhouse Ventures invests in Zeti [Electric Drives] Zeti, a leading provider of financial services technology to manage consumption-based electric vehicle (EV) and infrastructure financing, announced a significant investment by Powerhouse Ventures
Bill targeting Tesla’s ‘self-driving’ claims passes California Legislature [LA Times] Since 2016, Tesla has been marketing an expensive option called Full Self-Driving. A reasonable person might infer from the name that the software package enables a car to drive itself, fully.
California Approves a Wave of Aggressive New Climate Measures [The New York Times] After lobbying by the governor, lawmakers adopted $54 billion in climate spending and voted to keep open the state’s last nuclear plant.
Safety
The Technology That Could Stop Speeders in Their Tracks [Bloomberg City Lab] Speed governor devices could help protect road users from motorists who defy posted limits. Why won’t US regulators demand them as they do for e-bikes or e-scooters?
Your city doesn't care about your kids — and studies show it's putting them at risk for depression and suicide [INSIDER] Why have kids, particularly in cities, been so deprioritized? It has been difficult to come to terms with how low the ordinary needs of families with children have been ranked in the current political hierarchy.
The age of ‘the car is king’ is over. The sooner we accept that, the better [The Guardian] Accidents and pollution are making road vehicles untenable. With public transport and ride-sharing, their demise can’t come soon enough.
Robotics & Autonomy
Waymo opens up driverless robotaxi service in downtown Phoenix to vetted passengers [TechCrunch] Waymo, the autonomous vehicle developer under Alphabet, is opening up its driverless robotaxi service in downtown Phoenix to vetted local residents.
Piloting sidewalk delivery robots in Pittsburgh, Miami-Dade County, Detroit and San Jose: Knight Autonomous Vehicle Initiative [Knight Foundation] The Knight Autonomous Vehicle (AV) Initiative is a multi-year collaborative effort between the Urbanism Next Center at the University of Oregon, Cityfi, the cities of Detroit, Pittsburgh, and San José, and Miami-Dade County (the “cohort”) to pilot and learn about automated mobility technologies today to shape the future of deployment tomorrow. Learn about the lessons learned working with Kiwibot to explore how autonomous delivery robots could interact in cities.
Advanced Air Mobility
Archer Aviation Receives $10 Million Pre-Payment from United Airlines [FLYING] The move validates confidence in the eVTOL sector, says the California aircraft developer.
Intelligent infrastructure
Populus to combat curbside parking chaos with millions in new funding [TechCruch] Populus, the San Francisco-based transportation data startup, got its start as shared scooter mania took hold and cities tried to make sense of how infrastructure was being used by fleets of tiny vehicles.
Can Technology Help Cities Manage Curbs Better? [The New York Times] We’re asking our streets and sidewalks to do more and more. Start-ups are trying to help with curbside management tools — but will cities rise to the challenge?
Integrated mobility
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is getting a more pedestrian-friendly makeover [TimeOut] Construction will begin in the summer of 2023 on so-called “quick-build” streetscape improvements along the most popular expanses of Hollywood Boulevard.
New NACTO Working Paper Recommends Reforming Bicycle Laws that Punish Black and Latine/x Bike Riders Without Improving Safety [NACTO] The working paper encourages policymakers to revise , including eliminating those used to unfairly criminalize people on bikes.
Turned away at Del Taco drive-through, high Ubercosts: Welcome to life in L.A. without a car [LA Times] How good the public transport is says a lot about how much the place cares about its poor. L.A., or America, simply doesn’t.
The next big market opportunity for micromobility is commercial, not consumer [TechCrunch] Drones, sidewalk robots and autonomous vehicles are being touted as some of the next big movers in the last-mile delivery space, but what of the humble bicycle?
Not Just Bikes: Why Many Cities Suck (But Dutch Cities Don't) With Jason Slaughter [Micromobillity] Jason Slaughter, creator of the largest urban planning YouTube Channel, “Not Just Bikes,” was interviewed by Julia Thayne DeMourdant from the Rocky Mountain Institute and Urban Movement Labs Board Member, about why many cities suck, but Dutch cities don’t.
Gig Workers Tire of Waiting for Action From Biden’s White House [The New York Times] The administration’s plans to strengthen their labor protections have been slowed by Congress, the courts, and a lobbying blitz.