The Transportation Revolution Needs Local Involvement
By John Kwant, Vice President, Ford City Solutions
Today, half of all people live in cities. By 2030, that number is expected to rise to 60 percent. As the number of people packing into these urban centers continues to grow, so will challenges like traffic congestion. That not only affects the movement of people and resources, but also the environment, economic growth and quality of life.
Luckily, these challenges can be mitigated. Cities need tools and solutions that are more in tune with the flow of urban dwellers. These solutions will result in cities that are not only less congested, but healthier, safer and more productive.
Sparking the transportation revolution
At Ford, we have a vision to help this become reality. In September, our company established its City Solutions team, which will address global transportation challenges.
We’re starting with San Francisco, where last year we acquired Chariot, a crowd-sourced shuttle service that will help us expand Ford’s shuttle service to cities around the world. Shuttles and ride-sharing services, providing point-to-point rides on-demand, are a convenient and affordable way to fill the gap between taxis and public transit. This year, Chariot will grow to eight major cities, including one outside the U.S.
In San Francisco, we’re also making good progress with GoBike, a bicycle-sharing program we announced last September. Working with Motivate, we’re upping the number of bicycles in the Bay Area tenfold, to 7,000 by the end of next year. Real-time data collected from the bicycles will help the city gain insights about the flow of transportation, which, in turn, will help them optimize commutes.
Other transportation solutions could include things like Transit plug-in hybrid vans, which we will launch this fall in London as part of a trial program to help improve the city’s air quality. With official city support, the pilot program will put 20 Transit plug-in hybrid vans running only on electric power for most city trips, like deliveries and maintenance work, on the streets of London.
Looking further into the future, Ford believes self-driving cars will play a role in mitigating mobility challenges, as well. We intend to put autonomous vehicles into ride-sharing or ride-hailing services by 2021.
Working together
Before we can offer new transportation solutions, we need to identify specific mobility challenges. Using data, we’ll work with cities to define these challenges and align potential solutions for them. As an example, we’re working to collaborate with existing public transit providers to discuss how we can complement existing mass transit services.
Crafting the future mobility landscape requires collaboration among multiple stakeholders. In addition to working with transportation officials and planning departments in cities, we’re also working with universities, businesses and foundations in these communities. We are excited about the work we will be doing with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Aspen Institute. A few weeks ago, we even sponsored the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., where our team heard directly about the mobility issues cities are facing.
Having all of these members on board will help us address mobility challenges, both now and in the future.
To fulfill that goal, we hosted a conversation moderated by Janette Sadik-Khan, principal at Bloomberg Associates featuring Ford President and CEO Mark Fields; Tom Wright, president, Regional Planning Association for New York City’s Sustainability Advisory Board, and Meera Joshi, Chair and CEO, New York Taxi and Limousine Commission, to advance our vision for the City of Tomorrow and outline how we want to work together with local cities, governments and partners to address mobility challenges and identify solutions for communities.
Yes, there are many obstacles to overcome, but with local insight, collaboration and Ford’s intent to develop a broad range of mobility solutions, there’s no telling how far the future will take us.
