Recap: Learnings, Trends and “Quotables” from Shared Mobility Summit 2019
Zero-degree weather welcomed 750 planners and vendors from 40+ states and 14 countries to the sixth annual Shared Mobility Summit in Chicago. As attendees removed their puffy jackets, conversations heated up on all topics related to shared mobility (ridehailing, carsharing, micromobility, mass transit, autonomous vehicles, e-scooters, etc.). Three major themes arose quickly across the 159 speakers and 30 breakout sessions: data, environment, and sharing. We recapped some of the highlights in this blog post.
Data
Pre-Conference Workshop: New Mobility Data Standards and Tools for Managing Public Space
Data was on everyone’s mind as they sat down to listen to Story Bellows (CityFi), Jascha Franklin-Hodge (Remix), and Kevin Webb (SharedStreets) discuss data standards. Almost immediately the discussion turned to the mobility data specification (MDS); an emerging data standard for mobility data developed by Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Ms. Bellows, principal at CityFi, helped the crowd understand an important distinction:
“MDS is not how you create policy. MDS is a framework on which a city can decide what policy is best for them.” -Story Bellows
Kevin Webb shared the mobility data aggregation tools that SharedStreets is developing for cities, and Jascha addressed privacy concerns around mobility data by breaking down what MDS is, what it is good for, what risks are associated with owning this data, and what responsible MDS handling looks like, concluding:
“Managing the public right of way is a city’s responsibility. Access to the data to do that is a right.” — Jascha Franklin-Hodge
Remix challenged attendees to take their learnings about mobility data and apply that to implementation scenarios. Teams worked together to determine how best to address new mobility disruption scenarios along real Chicago streets with data, policy, and design levers. How do we make sure the sidewalks remain uncluttered while also promoting the adoption of scooters? How can we design streets for fewer conflicts between cyclists, pedestrians and increasing pick-up and drop-off activity? What data, design and policy interventions would you deploy?
Sean Wiedel, Assistant Commissioner at City of Chicago, added to the richness of the discussion by sharing some planned and implemented design interventions along the city’s high-crash corridors.
Environment & Accessibility
New mobility technologies inspire us to think about what is possible. With the right technology we could more easily share rides and thus reduce congestion! We could potentially electrify fleets more quickly! We could depend on mobility as a service provider for trips as-needed and get rid of our cars and open up more land for development! As new mobility technologies hit the streets over the last five years, we’ve moved from discussions of potential impact to discussions of actual Impact, and the findings have been less than extraordinary in two key public policy areas: the environment and accessibility.”
Karen Tamely, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, shared that narratives around increased mobility from new mobility modes are wrong when it comes to those who need expanded mobility access most: people with disabilities. People with disabilities are often left behind in the rollout of new mobility business models, and she advised that the industry keep marginalized communities top of mind when developing rollout plans or programs.
Shelley Poticha from National Resources Defense Council and former senior political appointee in the Obama administration, pointed out that our carbon emissions are on the rise, particularly those from transportation, and called climate change an “existential crisis.” She implored planners to frame their initiatives with a sense of urgency, pushing for all the “moonshots” they can.
We see climate change as an existential crisis. Climate change is here, it’s affecting us today. We need to create a sense of urgency in our own work and make sure we are really thinking about who benefits and who is harmed by our solutions. — Shelley Poticha
Sharing
Whether it’s sharing the roadway or sharing seats in a car, the concept of sharing remains a challenge — with our without additional technology.
Stephanie Pollack gave an energized speech that addressed the challenges she faces as Secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, explaining that Departments of Transportation struggle to shift gears from their historic role of highway building to their new role as mobility agencies. Shifting gears means rejiggering priorities around infrastructure through the lens of getting people out of cars:
“Our job is to move more people in fewer vehicles. And we are bad at it. I call this the kindergarten problem. We are terrible at sharing. …We can sit here and talk about if scooters should ride on bike lanes or on sidewalks but the truth is most streets don’t have sidewalks OR bike lanes.” — Stephanie Pollack, CEO, MassDOT
This same sentiment was echoed by technologists and private providers alike. Tiffany Chu, a co-founder at Remix, spoke about the need to redesign our streets such that the private automobile is no longer the single most prioritized mode — we must consider and prioritize planning the multimodal roadway.
Anthony Foxx, former Transportation Secretary and current Chief Policy Officer at Lyft, stated that the technology and policy development around sharing is the easiest part. Sharing space is actually the greatest challenge.
Last Thoughts
This year’s Shared Mobility Summit was one of level-setting and introspection: can both vendors and public officials do better at encouraging the kinds of outcomes that are truly needed to fight climate change, increase accessibility, and reduce congestion? Each and every one of us in attendance left with a sense of urgency in our work and renewed devotion to push for better outcomes.
