Fast Forward: Recent Episodes
CoMotion
Fast Forward is a weekly podcast covering the revolution in urban mobility. Hosted by Greg Lindsay and Julia Thayne, each episode features a guest on the front lines of the transformation in transportation, along with fun and incisive commentary on that week’s news — from batteries to bicycles to whether Elon really means it’s “full self-driving” this time. (Spoiler: he doesn’t.) Fast Forward is brought to you by CoMotion.
CoMotion has been in downtown Los Angeles for 10 years - in that time, self-driving cars have filled the roads, delivery robots crawl the sidewalks, and slowly but surely, a subway network is emerging. In this special retrospective conversation, founder and chief curator John Rossant sits down with former Mayor of Los Angeles and Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti for a discussion on what's changed in the last decade in the city, and what lies ahead.
On this episode, CoMotion founder and CEO John Rossant sits down with Michael Mueller of TASARU Mobility Investments, a Saudi Arabian fund looking at the future of mobility in the Gulf and beyond. They discuss current bottlenecks for new mobility deployment, what's specific about the regional context of Saudi Arabia, and how the country and fund are adapting strategies from around the world to innovate.
Imagine 7 super bowls in your city, every day, for sixteen days. That's what LA is poised to deal with when the Olympics arrive in 2028. How is the World Cup helping them prepare? On this special miniseries episode of the Fast Forward podcast, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with experts, advocates, and researchers Alissa Walker, Eli Lipmen, and Juan Matute to discuss everything that's gone right (and wrong) with the transportation planning of the World Cup, and everything to come for the Olympics.
What if our urban planning started not with a metro stop or apartment, but with a neighborhood as the unit of analysis? On this episode, guest host and CoMotion co-founder Tim Gribaudi sits down with Vanessa Velasco, Habitat Chief Secretary of Bogota, to talk about her efforts to address Bogota's affordable housing through acquisition, home improvement, and rental housing programs. The ambitious plan aims to allocate 75,000 affordable housing subsidies and provide financing incentives to address the substantial housing deficit in Bogota.
On this episode of Fast Forward, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Trucks VC co-founder Reilly Brennan, for a conversation about where capital is going in mobility after the frothy days of the SPAC-heavy 2010s.
Take a look back at some of the most interesting conversations at CoMotion MIAMI 2026 on this special episode of Fast Forward, hosted this time by Javier Bettancourt of Mobility Matters!
A sneak peek of what's to come next week at CoMotion Miami 2026, plus a few standout moments from last year's panels.
, a book that showcases how female leaders are transforming cities through people-focused, sustainable, and inclusive urban design, using case studies from cities like Paris, Bogotá, and Manila to highlight their success in creating safer, more livable spaces.
On this episode, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Abhilasha Bhola, Director of the Auto Supply Chain Campaign at Public Citizen, to discuss their newest report, which identifies the leaders (and losers) in the race for transparency and sustainability in the electric vehicle supply chain.
Chinese giants like BYD have surged in the share of previously impenetrable markets like the EU and the Gulf, prompting concern by policymakers and excitement by consumers looking to save on their next car. How did we get here? Where does the industry go from here? To answer that, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Automobility's Bill Russo, former auto executive and expert in the automotive industry, to discuss how China isn't just rethinking auto manufacturing - it's rethinking what a mobility industry even looks like.
In this episode of CoMotion’s Fast Forward podcast, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Laura Krull, Senior Policy Manager at Lyft Urban Solutions, to discuss the rapidly changing world of electrified bikeshare. Bikeshare is suddenly becoming half mobility service, half distributed battery network - how should planners, policymakers, and riders be thinking about the change?
In municipal elections across the country recently, incumbent mayors faced recall challenges. Not so in Boston, where Mayor Michelle Wu ran unopposed in a race that affirmed her positive, proactive approach to governing. In this episode, Nick sits down with Shin-Pei Tsay, the chief research and data officer and executive director at the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM); Shin-pei has led a variety of efforts to reimagine city services to be more efficient, equitable, and fun, and speaks about the challenges and opportunities therein.
In cities across the United States, you can now order a self-driving robotaxi with the push of a button. Not so in Europe, where challenges to scaling and piloting keep the technology in an ever-nascent state. What needs to change for the technology to truly take off there, and what'll be different there than in car-hungry America? Those are the questions our guest today, Pierfrancesco Maran, answers.————————————Join us for the seventh edition of CoMotion MIAMI '26 and interact with the most influential thought-leaders in mobility, hear about the latest market trends and government insights from innovative policy makers and transport agencies. Generate new business leads and share your company’s value in front of founders, disruptors, VC investors, city officials, and other potential clients.Pre-Register: https://airtable.com/appKEFvNjc1L8nxmI/pagIFm2Ln8VyVkRcE/form————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSInstagram: www.instagram.com/comotion_global/YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS
Exhibitions General Authority (SCEGA), is where East meets West in a groundbreaking global forum, bringing together public and private sector leaders from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and the Global South to chart the multimodal mobility future of world cities.The world’s next great leap in urban mobility starts here.Register now and grab a second ticket for half of the price: www.comotionglobal.com/comotionglobal2025————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSInstagram: www.instagram.com/comotion_global/YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS
Exhibitions General Authority (SCEGA), is where East meets West in a groundbreaking global forum, bringing together public and private sector leaders from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and the Global South to chart the multimodal mobility future of world cities.The world’s next great leap in urban mobility starts here.Register now and grab a second ticket for half of the price: https://www.comotionglobal.com/comotionglobal2025————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSInstagram: www.instagram.com/comotion_global/YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS
Exhibitions General Authority (SCEGA), is where East meets West in a groundbreaking global forum, bringing together public and private sector leaders from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and the Global South to chart the multimodal mobility future of world cities.The world’s next great leap in urban mobility starts here.Register now and grab a second ticket for half of the price: https://www.comotionglobal.com/comotionglobal2025————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSInstagram: www.instagram.com/comotion_global/YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Dr. Noel Hacegaba, COO of the Port of Long Beach, and Heather Tomley, Managing Director of Planning and Environmental Affairs for the Port of Long Beach, to discuss how a system as complicated as one of America's largest ports has managed to effectively stop most port-related pollution, and how it plans to go even further.————————————At this inflection point in the American mobility ecosystem, the nation's decision makers are attending CoMotion LA '25, Nov. 12-13. This year’s gathering brings together an unprecedented array of thought-leaders, mayors, innovative policymakers, technology founders, VC investors and international delegations to discuss what’s next. Well also explore the latest mobility-focused data and digital tools as part of a special special OMF Summit Track. Register now and save 30% until Oct 20: https://www.comotionglobal.com/comotionla2025————————————CoMotion GLOBAL, hosted by Saudi Conventions & Exhibitions General Authority (SCEGA), is where East meets West in a groundbreaking global forum, bringing together public and private sector leaders from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and the Global South to chart the multimodal mobility future of world cities.The world’s next great leap in urban mobility starts here.Register now and save 30% until Oct 20: https://www.comotionglobal.com/comotionglobal2025————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSInstagram: www.instagram.com/comotion_global/YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS
In this episode of Fast Forward, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Founder & Chief Curator of CoMotion John Rossant to discuss CoMotion's newest venture - a conference in Riyadh, focused on the intersection of east and west, mobility and technology, and policy and application. Listen for a preview of what the conference is preparing to offer.————————————Saudi Arabia and Riyadh are at the crossroads of a global shift to sustainable, connected and multimodal mobility. CoMotion GLOBAL in Riyadh on Dec 7–9, 2025, will set the urban agenda in the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic cities.Connect with an unprecedented array of public and private sector leaders shaping the future of mobility, including mayors, innovative policymakers, founders & CEOs, and VC investors.Explore the future of mobility and urban transformation — where East meets West in a groundbreaking global forum.The world’s next great leap in mobility starts here.Join the movement: comotionglobal.com————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/comotion_global/YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Steve Adler, former mayor and city councilmember of Austin, TX. They discuss the work required to bridge across interest groups, passing legislation with long time horizons, and how to build consensus for large-scale transit projects.
With the recent signing of Shohei Otani, traffic to Dodger Stadium, LA's premiere sports venue, is up more than 12% - all without fixed transit infrastructure to handle the surge. In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with David Grannis of Zero-Emissions Transit and Michael Manley of Gondola manufacturer Leitner-Poma to discuss their project that solves the stadium's congestion by going in one direction: up.
Why is it often easier to pay for a cup of coffee than it is to pay for a ride on transit? In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Ben Lebedin from US Bank & Elavon to discuss the opportunities presented by open-loop payments, the benefits of the service to both consumers and transit agencies, and the treasure trove of data that it presents.
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles is joined by Matthew Daus, Partner at Windels-Marx and former Commissioner of the New York City TLC. They discuss the political headwinds facing congestion pricing, the challenges and successes of modernizing taxi service in the city, and what insurance markets might yield in policy to come.
More than 70% of CO2 emissions are being generated in cities and these cities often lack access to the financing tools necessary to bring sustainable solutions to life.In this episode, CoMotion’s John Rossant chats with Mauricio Rodas, Former Mayor of Quito, Ecuador, and Lisa Sachs, Director, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment to discuss the rising demand for sustainable mobility and transit solutions, and the new global Taskforce The SUMIT.————————————Join us next week at CoMotion MIAMI '25, Apr 29-30. Get your pass now: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
Across the country, transit agencies face a dilemma: how to provide reliable, safe, and equitable service for individuals who rely on ADA paratransit, while keeping costs low?In this episode, CoMotion's Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Dmitriy Vanchugov, Head of Partnerships at Uber Transit, alongside Spare Labs Co-Founder & CEO Kristoffer Vik Hansen, Stephanie Doughty (MV Transportation), and David Hatch (MBTA) to explore all the different aspects of ‘Riders’ Choice’, an innovative approach to paratransit that allows riders to flexibly choose between conventional paratransit vehicles and ridehail.
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Lewis Lehe, Assistant Professor in the Transportation Systems group of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at UIUC, to discuss congestion pricing's consequences, two months later. Has the toll worked in reducing congestion downtown? How might we measure that? And beyond simply reducing congestion, are there other benefits to this policy? This conversation explores answers to those questions, and probes further about the purpose of ambitious policies like this one.
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Leigh-Ann Buchanan, Founder & CEO of the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority, a 501c(3) non-profit that connects the most innovative startups in Miami's private markets with the most pressing needs in the public sector. They discuss how MDIA is disrupting slow procurements, and how public sector involvement can 'de-risk' innovation. Plus, a sneak peek at CoMotion MIAMI '25.
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Puneeth Meruva, Partner at Trucks VC, a fund which invests in early-stage ideas that make transportation decarbonized, safer and more accessible. With the retrenchment of public dollars in things like electrification and alternatives to private automotives, the private sector is exploring where true creativity and returns are possible, and where policy adaptations can yield scalable change; hear in this conversation where the future dollars of early stage investors might go!
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Alison Cohen, founder, chair, and president of Bicycle Transit Systems, one of the oldest and largest bikesharing networks in the country. They talk about the stubborn economics of bikeshares, the history of the model from coin-operated to electrified, and what's in store as systems recover from the ebbing ridership of the pandemic.
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Henriette Cornet, USF professor and sustainable autonomy expert, and Toby McGraw, Chief Revenue Officer at Beep, an autonomous shared mobility startup, to discuss the past, present, and future of autonomy, with lessons from Europe and beyond on fleet management, integration of autonomous infrastructure into urban cores, and using autonomy to compliment, rather than compete, with public transit.————————————Join us next at CoMotion MIAMI '25, Apr 29-30. Get your pass now and save 50% off: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Ya-Ting Liu, the new Chief Public Realm Officer for New York City. They talk about how urban leaders can thoughtfully deploy pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, tackle entrenched bureaucracies, and expand economic opportunity through vibrant, joyful urban design. ————————————Join us next at CoMotion MIAMI '25, Apr 29-30. Get your pass now and save 50% off: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In this episode, John Rossant talks to Paul Rennie, OBE, the British Consul General in Los Angeles, about the UK's new legal framework around autonomy and how that'll impact the next decade of innovation in the sector. They also talk regional investment, what LA's car-culture can learn from the brits, and how autonomy may reshape not only our cities, but the demographic fabric of our countries.————————————Join us next at CoMotion MIAMI '25, Apr 29-30. Get your pass now and save 50% off: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
2024 saw a significant contraction in venture capital investment in mobility, down more than 50% since its frothy peak in 2021. So what comes next? In this episode, John Rossant, CEO & Founder of CoMotion chats with Prescott Watson, Operating Partner at RedBlue Capital, and investor and board member of Aerolane, a new company focusing on reducing aerial cargo costs. Hear from them about where venture does (and doesn't) make sense in mobility investing, how Aerolane is disrupting shipping, and what the next admin might look like for the clean energy transition.————————————Join us next at CoMotion MIAMI '25, Apr 29-30. Get your pass now and save 50% off: https://www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In this episode of CoMotion’s Fast Forward Podcast, host Nick Perloff-Giles dives into Portland's efforts in advancing sustainable delivery and smart curbs with PBOT's Jacob Sherman and Kristin Hull. They share insights on the challenges and lessons learned from implementing smart curbs, mapping curb usage, and partnering with private companies to “make the curb more productive”. The conversation explores the significant shift in urban delivery landscapes, emphasizing the importance of safety, climate goals, and equity.————————————Join us next at CoMotion MIAMI '25, Apr 29-30. Get your pass now and save 50% off: https://www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In the latest episode of CoMotion’s Fast Forward Podcast, Ray Sosa, Chief Planning Officer for LA Metro, sits down with our own Nick Perloff-Giles to talk about the billions the agency is investing to expand transit in the notoriously car-centric region. Ray, who has been working in LA transit for three decades, says the big shift is not just about the new rail lines and bus routes being built, it’s about a fundamental change in attitude where people are demanding more transit options.————————————Join us next at CoMotion LA '24, Nov 13-14. Get your pass now: www.comotionla.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In this special episode of CoMotion's Podcast, John Rossant sits down with Andrew Glass Hastings, Executive Director of the Open Mobility Foundation, to discuss what's in store for both CoMotion LA and the OMF Summit - and by extension, what's in store for our cities, roads, skies, and waterways. Hear from them about the emerging landscape of curbside data, the challenges of scaling innovative aerial transit, and how autonomy might just disrupt everything.————————————Join us next at CoMotion LA '24, Nov 13-14. Get your pass now: www.comotionla.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In the latest episode of CoMotion’s Fast Forward Podcast supported by the Monaco Hydrogen Alliance, John Rossant sits down with Taras Wankewycz, Founder & CEO, H3 Dynamics to discuss, the right range for a hybrid electric eVTOL, their EU-funded clean aviation project with Pipistrel exploring a new class of aviation-grade fuel cell systems, and solutions to hydrogen supply.————————————Join us next at CoMotion LA '24, Nov 13-14. Get your pass now: www.comotionla.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In this week's episode of CoMotion's Fast Forward Podcast, Nick Perloff-Giles has an exclusive conversation with Marc Nichols, General Counsel at the Federal Aviation Administration, leading the “safest and most efficient airspace system in the world” that just announced $291 million of investments from the Inflation Reduction Act for projects that help achieve the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from aviation by 2050. We look closely at the future of Advanced Air Mobility, regulatory challenges, the “cautious” insurance industry, 'Innovate 28', an inter-agency working group, and why you should engage communities in the planning process.————————————Join us next at CoMotion LA '24, Nov 13-14. Get your pass now: www.comotionla.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
What could Saudi Arabia's futuristic NEOM, the Brooklyn-Queens Tram Project and Toronto's public transit possibly have in common? Meet 'Adam of Arabia' - Adam Giambrone, a senior transportation executive with decades of experience in providing innovative transit solutions who's threading the needle between legacy transit and the most forward-looking systems on the globe. Most recently, he was involved in NEOM as the head of Land Mobility and Roads. Previously, he was the 'streetcar czar' of New York City, heading up an ambitious plan to connect Astoria all the way to Red Hook via streetcar. Hear from Adam on what we can learn from building a system from the ground up, what's in store for NYCMTA following the collapse of congestion pricing, and how digitization is disrupting the century-old farebox.
On this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles is joined by Tiya Gordon, Co-Founder & COO of itselectric, a company focused on redesigning and rethinking Level 2 charging in our cities. Hear from her about the challenges of conventional EV charging installation, opportunities for rethinking, and her thoughts on Tesla's recent news.————————————Join us next at CoMotion LA '24, Nov 13-14. Get your pass now: www.comotionla.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
On this episode, Nick Perloff-Giles is joined by Robin Hutcheson, the former Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at USDOT. In this discussion they explore the unqiue challenges still faced by truckers trying to manage the growing demands on the supply chain, how drayage is becoming more sustainable, and how everyone is getting their standing desks on time.
On this special episode, recorded at CoMotion MIAMI '24, John Rossant is joined by Polly Trottenberg, Deputy Secretary of Transportation at the USDOT. Hear from her about the challenges and opportunities presented by the federal government’s landmark investments in clean transportation infrastructure, vehicle safety, and mobility equity, as well as insights from her own story on how to better integrate women into the transportation workforce.————————————Join us next at CoMotion LA '24, Nov 13-14. Get your pass now: www.comotionla.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
On this episode, John Rossant is joined by Nick Molden, Founder & CEO, Emissions Analytics, the leading independent global testing and data specialist for the scientific measurement of real-world emissions. Tune in to hear about the best route to decarbonization, electrification, particle pollution, tires, emissions data, and more.————————————Join us next month at CoMotion MIAMI '24, May 6-7. Get your pass now: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
On this episode, John is joined by Alex Ivanenko of Hywatts, a company leveraging proprietary reversible fuel cell technology to make electricity from hydrogen abundant, portable, and affordable. Hear about the challenges of producing sustainable fuel, what hydrogen production might mean for the next generation of automotives, and how the grid of tomorrow will be made more resilient and decentralized.————————————Join us next month at CoMotion MIAMI '24, May 6-7. Get your pass now: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
On this episode, John Rossant is joined by Carlo Ratti, a professor and thought leader at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he leads the MIT Senseable City Lab, an innovative research team dedicated to investigating the transformative effects of new technologies on urban environments, from how we comprehend and craft them to how we inhabit our city spaces. Listen for a conversation on the end of the automobile's dominance in cities, what cities-from-scratch will have to contend with, and how existing cities will have to adapt to new modes.————————————Join us next month at CoMotion MIAMI '24, May 6-7. Get your pass now: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
On this episode of the Fast Forward podcast by CoMotion, John Rossant is joined by Michael Schneider, CEO & Founder of Streets For All, the organization behind the recently passed Measure HLA in Los Angeles. Measure HLA requires Los Angeles to add more than 230 miles of bike lanes and 300 miles of bus improvements - but can the car capital of the country really change? Listen for a discussion on the lessons of HLA's success, what the future holds for Los Angeles, and how other cities can adapt the Streets for All playbook.————————————Join us next at CoMotion MIAMI '24, May 6-7. Save 50% off on your pass, discount ends March 13: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————Join a powerful network of startups and get a chance to pitch infront of VCs, key players, sign up to be part of the CoMotion Innovators 2024 Cohort. Learn more: comotionmiami.com/comotion-innovators————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
In this special episode of the Fast Forward Podcast, we celebrate International Women's Day with an all female panel on gender equality in the mobility sector, from CoMotion LA '23. Joining us for the discussion: Laura Rubio-Cornejo, General Manager, City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation; Hilary Norton, California Transportation Commissioner and Executive Director & Founder of FASTLinkDTLA; Katherine Perez, Principal, ARUP; Heather Anderson, Associate Vice President, HNTB. These types of discussions underscore the crucial need to include women in decision-making roles at all levels and illuminates the diverse range of challenges and opportunities that women face within the mobility sector.————————————Join us next at CoMotion MIAMI '24, May 6-7. Save 50% off on your pass, discount ends March 13: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————Join a powerful network of startups and get a chance to pitch infront of VCs, key players, sign up to be part of the CoMotion Innovators 2024 Cohort. Learn more: comotionmiami.com/comotion-innovators————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
On the latest episode of the Fast Forward Podcast, we look at state-of-the-art carbon fiber lightweighting with Evangelos Zympeloudis, Co-Founder & CEO of iCOMAT, a startup based in Bristol, UK, and recent winner of the LA New Mobility Challenge 2023, that is revolutionizing the next generation of cars, trains, planes and spacecraft to be more lighter and sustainable than ever.Tune in to learn about:- The weight problem in mobility, with some EVs and SUVs ballooning up to 3 tonnes.- Game-changing Rapid Tow Shearing process that disrupts the way we design composites leading to lighter, more sustainable and lower cost structures.- The challenges to make an early stage technology and commercialise it.- How Bristol, UK is the biggest hub for carbon fibre and composites in the world.- The impact Brexit has had on businesses to access grants and hiring talented engineers.————————————Learn more about iCOMAT: https://icomat.co.uk/————————————Join key stakeholders and startups like iCOMAT at CoMotion MIAMI '24, May 6-7. Save 50% off on your pass: www.comotionmiami.com/register————————————Join a powerful network of startups and get a chance to pitch infront of VCs, key players, sign up to be part of the CoMotion Innovators 2024 Cohort. Learn more: comotionmiami.com/comotion-innovators————————————LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/CoMotionNEWSTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSYouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCUdylw5XdxHdaXi-1KGwJnQ
2024 looks to be a decisive year for many maturing trends in mobility, from electrification to autonomy to digitized fares; it can be hard, however, to tell the hype from hard facts. To help decipher, John Rossant, CEO at CoMotion, is joined by Seleta Reynolds, Head of Innovation at LA Metro, and Olaf Sakkers, mobility thinker and partner at RedBlue capital, for a discussion on everything the coming year in mobility has to offer.
In this episode of CoMotion's Fast Forward Podcast, John Rossant sits down with Michael Inabinet, the Central Division president of HNTB Infrastructure. Join them as they navigate the complexities of how public agencies can maintain their core missions while leveraging the latest innovations for greater efficiency and impact. From the unique challenges faced by DOTs, transit systems, airports, and toll systems to the growing importance of intermodality, the episode paints a vivid picture of a future where sustainability, technology, and customer experience harmoniously coexist. Get your tickets for CoMotion LA next month and get a chance to network with the HNTB team.
In this episode, CoMotion's John Rossant chats with Andrew Glass Hastings, the Executive Director of the Open Mobility Foundation. They delve into the heart of CoMotion LA '23 happening next month, exploring this year’s theme: 'Rewiring the City: Building Infrastructure, Boosting Innovation'. Andrew provides insights into the Open Mobility Foundation Summit, highlighting transformative tools such as the Mobility Data Specification (MDS) and Curb Data Specification (CDS). Tune in now!
As CoMotion LA draws near, we chat with our Impact Partner, World Auto Steel. Their Steel E-Motive program stands at the forefront of sculpting the future of sustainable Mobility as a Service, propelled by innovative advancements in steel. CoMotion’s CEO John Rossant is joined by World Auto Steel’s Technical Director, George Coates, and Ricardo’s Chief Engineer, Vehicle Systems Integration, Neil McGregor. This episode deep dives into what position steel occupies in an era of fully autonomous ride-sharing and how it can contribute to net zero emission targets. Tune in now!
In this special Fast Forward episode we’re joined by The Economist’s Midwest correspondent Daniel Knowles, author of "Carmageddon," and John Rossant, CEO of CoMotion. Discussing the key themes in Daniel’s polemical new book from Nairobi's polluted streets to Houston's sprawling 26-lane freeway, the average New Yorker’s C02 emissions and excessive parking lots. Don't miss this thought-provoking episode that challenges our relationship with cars, examines the politics surrounding it, and explores new alternative models of transportation.
—————— Find out more about Daniel Knowle's new book Carmageddon: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730724/carmageddon-by-daniel-knowles/ —————— Early bird tickets are now on sale for our upcoming flagship event CoMotion LA, November, 14-16, 2023. Learn more: comotionla.com/register —————— Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners! —————— Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3 —————— Stay connected and join the conversation follow us: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and Facebook Twitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
Amidst banking turbulence and rising interest rates, a crucial question arises: in this challenging scenario, where can mobility visionaries turn to secure financial support? CoMotion’s John Rossant chats with Andrew Lewis, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Mobility Capital, and Hooman Yazhari, Executive Chairman and Founder, to delve into the current state of investment in the field of mobility during these uncertain times. The primary objective of Mobility Capital is to provide financial backing for the advancement of innovative ventures and assets in the realms of mobility, logistics, and transportation. How are they investing now?
—————— Find out more about Mobility Capital: https://www.mobilitycapital.co/ —————— Learn more about our upcoming gathering Motivate in Vancouver next week! June 27-28, 2023. https://motivatevancouver.com/register —————— Early bird tickets are now on sale for our upcoming flagship event CoMotion LA, November, 14-16, 2023. Learn more: https://comotionla.com/register —————— Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners! —————— Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3 —————— Stay connected and join the conversation follow us: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and Facebook Twitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
As the world shifts towards smart infrastructure, roads are evolving to unlock the full potential of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) for increased efficiency. CoMotion’s John Rossant chats with Tyler Duvall, CEO and Co-Founder of Cavnue. The company is developing the first connected corridor in Michigan. The project is designed to reduce congestion, improve mobility and support advanced vehicles being developed by automakers. Listen in to learn more about the future of our roads.——————Find out more about Cavnue: https://www.cavnue.com/——————Learn more about our upcoming CoMotion MIAMI gathering next week! May 10-11, 2023. www.comotionmiami.com/register——————Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners!——————Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3——————Stay connected and join the conversation follow us:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and FacebookTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSFacebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
The pace of electrification is speeding up and bp pulse is one of the key players making EV charging easier for fleets. CoMotion’s John Rossant interviews Vic Shao, president of bp pulse fleet. Recently, the company announced a partnership with Hertz to build a network of charging solutions which will serve the largest rental fleet of EVs in North America. Learn more about how companies like bp pulse are establishing private and public partnerships to boost the adoption of electric fleets.——————Find out more about bp pulse: https://www.bppulse.co.uk/——————Interested in joining our next event CoMotion MIAMI '23 in May? Early-bird passes are available: comotionmiami.com/register——————Sign up for our upcoming CoMotion LIVE 02/22 – The Future of High-Speed Rail in the US: Why the hold up?https://comotionnews.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kzQhhO6pQ-GEreW-gSHTKg——————Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners!——————Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3——————Stay connected and join the conversation follow us:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and FacebookTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSFacebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
Very complicated technology is not always the answer. If you’ve been to Santa Monica, San Diego, Dallas or Miami in the last few years you’ll have seen Circuit’s distinctive electric shuttles ferrying people up and down the main drags in those cities and towns. Circuit provides 100% electric local shuttle services offering a great way to reduce cars on the streets. They’re also mostly a free service... What’s not to like about that? Find out more about Circuit’s story in this week's Fast Forward Podcast where we are joined by their Co-Founder and CEO Alex Esposito. Listen in!——————Find out more about Circuit: https://www.ridecircuit.com/——————Learn more about our upcoming CoMotion MIAMI gathering this Spring: https://www.comotionmiami.com/register——————Interested in finding out about solutions for lower densitity cities to join the bike revolution? Join our upcoming webinar, January 25th. Sign-up here: https://comotionnews.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7U7JgI34Qr23dM112MokWA——————Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners!——————Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3——————Stay connected and join the conversation follow us:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and FacebookTwitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWSFacebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
In this discussion with Eve Air Mobility’s SVP of Business Development, David Rottblatt, we deep delve into eVTOLs and how the public and private sectors are preparing the world for a new and revolutionary mode of transport. CoMotion’s John Rossant, analyzes the latest advances in this space, the need for a new infrastructure, and its deployment.---Show Notes---Prepare yourself for 2032 with the most important insights. Read our Urban Mobility Year in Review. https://comotionnews.com/2022/12/16/2022-urban-mobility-year-in-review/
The massive expansion of LA Metro’s network, the new political leadership in Los Angeles, the LA Olympics in 2028… These are some of the critical elements that CoMotion's John Rossant has the chance to discuss with LA Metro’s CEO, Stephanie Wiggins. Learn more about the challenges LA Metro will have to overcome in the next few years and its recent advancements to connect one of the country’s largest and most populous counties.
This week, CoMotion's John Rossant is joined by Blue Systems CEO Christophe Arnaud to discuss his mission to empower cities to achieve their urban mobility goals for the benefit of residents and visitors. Blue Systems provides smart mobility and smart city software solutions to cities and private companies across the globe. Find out more about Blue Systems' work on this week’s podcast.
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Find out more about Blue Systems: https://www.bluesystems.io/
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Interested in joining our flagship CoMotion LA gathering in November? Early-bird passes are available until October 17: comotionla.com/register
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We invite you to apply to the LA New Mobility Challenge. Our partner, the UK Government, is delighted to announce a new prize for the overall LANMC winner. The UK’s Department for International Trade will host the finalist on a bespoke mobility innovation tour. The tour will include visits to London, the Midlands, and beyond, meeting with key partners, stakeholders, R&D centres and government officials. The hosted tour will be an excellent opportunity to engage with the diverse and engaged UK mobility ecosystem. All hotel accommodations and UK travel are included. Apply now! https://comotionla.com/la-new-mobility-challenge-2022
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Watch the latest CoMotion LIVE webinar E-Mobility with French Savoir-Faire supported by Choose Paris Region, 10.05.22: https://comotionnews.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_H8z1K7IXRGqO7uYxHWVwwQ
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Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners!
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Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3
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Stay connected and join the conversation follow us:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and Facebook Twitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
On this week’s episode of CoMotion’s Fast Forward podcast, our host, John Rossant, sits down with Charles Territo, Chief Growth Officer of Hayden AI. Hayden AI is pioneering smart traffic enforcement with its mobile platform to increase the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of municipal fleet vehicles. Rossant and Territo discuss the latest announcements of the company: their partnership with Conduent, their new contract with the MTA for Automated Bus Lane Enforcement camera systems, and more. Tune in!
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Find out more about Hayden AI: https://www.hayden.ai/
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Interested in joining our flagship CoMotion LA gathering in November? Early-bird passes are available until October 17: comotionla.com/register
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Watch the latest CoMotion LIVE webinar Mobility in Extreme Heat, https://comotionnews.com/2022/08/31/mobility-in-extreme-weather/
Register for our upcoming webinar E-Mobility with French Savoir-Faire supported by Choose Paris Region, 10.05.22: https://comotionnews.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_H8z1K7IXRGqO7uYxHWVwwQ
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Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners!
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Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3
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Stay connected and join the conversation follow us:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and Facebook Twitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
John Rossant interviews Brendan Jones, President of Blink Charging. The company is making it easier for drivers to charge their electric vehicles and is now focused on expanding their services. In this discussion, Rossant and Jones chat about Blink’s business model, their international roll out, and latest acquisitions. “Let’s change the world one charge at a time,” says Brendan Jones. Listen in and learn more about how Blink is helping shape the new perspective of fueling vehicles.
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Find out more about Blink Charging: https://blinkcharging.com/
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Interested in joining our flagship CoMotion LA gathering in November? Early-bird passes are available until October 17: comotionla.com/register
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Watch the latest CoMotion LIVE webinar supported by Transloc, University Transit: Reliable Mobility for Students. https://comotionnews.com/2022/08/17/comotion-live-08-24-university-transit-reliable-mobility-for-students/
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Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners!
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Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe…f52f34fe3
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Stay connected and join the conversation follow us:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and Facebook Twitter: twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
John Rossant is joined by REGENT CEO and Co-Founder, Billy Thalheimer, to discuss the future of coastal travel. Cutting-edge technology is propelling the maritime sector toward being a fast and environmentally responsive way of transportation. Thalheimer talks about REGENT’s sea glider as the world’s first viable commercial solution to all-electric coastal transportation.
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Find out more about REGENT: https://www.regentcraft.com/
Watch Billy Thalheimer’s Keynote from CoMotion MIAMI ’22: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1c9h0ZOcvs
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Interested in joining our flagship CoMotion LA gathering in November? Super early-bird passes are available until August 31: https://comotionla.com/register
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Have any burning questions or topics you want to hear on the podcast? Write to us at fastforward@comotionglobal.com we love hearing from listeners!
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Stay on the cutting edge and get updates delivered to your inbox every week. Sign up for CoMotion NEWS, our must-read newsletter that contains the most critical mobility news, updates about: CoMotion events, the Fast Forward Podcast and more! https://comotionla.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6865bcd9d32be18e25c179584&id=9f52f34fe3
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Stay connected and join the conversation follow us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/11012145/admin/ Twitter and Facebook Twitter: https://twitter.com/CoMotionNEWS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoMotionNEWS/
This live presentation of CoMotion’s signature podcast focuses on Vancouver as an ideal ecosystem to catalyze major breakthroughs in next-gen mobility: a dynamic mix of established and emerging industries in transportation and clean technology, some of the world’s leading research universities, and a diverse and highly-skilled workforce.
Greg and Julia sign off for 2021, but not before discussing President Biden’s most recent executive order on sustainability, where micromobility meets crypto, and “the dark side of 15-minute delivery.” Greg’s joined by Motional’s Holger Caesar to discuss the latest release open source training data, which cities might someday use to design a driving test for AVs. That’s a wrap!
Show Notes:
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President Biden Signs Executive Order Catalyzing America’s Clean Energy Economy Through Federal Sustainability (WhiteHouse.gov) https://www.whitehouse.gov/
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E-Bike Sales Could Get Big Push From Build Back Better Act (Bloomberg) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-04/-900-e-bike-tax-credit-possible-in-build-back-better
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The case for building a micromobility DAO (Josh Squire) https://medium.com/@josh_94206/the-case-for-building-a-micromobility-dao-to-encourage-and-support-the-use-of-micromobility-16407ac4e1
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The Dark Side of 15-Minute Delivery (Bloomberg CityLab) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-07/what-instant-delivery-services-could-do-to-cities
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Motional’s nuPlan Dataset Will Advance AV Planning Research (Motional) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-07/what-instant-delivery-services-could-do-to-cities
Greg & Julia open this season’s penultimate episode with a wide-ranging discussion of energy markets, infrastructure spending, Transport for London in trouble, and the running controversy over cities collecting data from transit and micromobility trips. Greg is then joined by Lacuna CEO Hugh Martin to discuss his open source approach to building software for cities, respond to critics of this public-private approach, and speculate on where cities’ digital twins might collide with the corporate Metaverse. Don’t forget to send Greg & Julia questions for their end-of-season mailbag: fastforward@comotionglobal.com.
Show notes:
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Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Bill Overview of Highway Provisions (US DOT Federal Highway Administration) https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/docs/bil_overview_20211122.pdf
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Tumult in the energy markets (The Gregor Letter — subscription required)https://gregor.substack.com/p/tumult?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo0MTYyMTEsInBvc3RfaWQiOjQzMDE2MzU2LCJfIjoiTEFadi8iLCJpYXQiOjE2Mzg4MDYyOTUsImV4cCI6MTYzODgwOTg5NSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTM2NzIiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.4BY8OPDbRRn3tUtXQHFWlODRSfwzaU0EajrD1Zh4DIc
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Breaking up GM and Ford (Datatrek Research) https://www.datatrekresearch.com/breaking-up-gm-and-ford/
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Boston’s new mayor promise free public transit. Can she make it happen? (Grist)https://grist.org/transportation/michelle-wu-boston-free-public-transit/
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Scooter rides have turned into a data privacy issue for cities (Bloomberg CityLab)https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-10/scooter-rides-have-turned-into-a-data-privacy-fight-with-austin-u-s-cities
Greg and Julia recap the themes and highlights of CoMotion LA 2021, from the implications of the infrastructure bill to the proliferation of “dark stores” to the future of parking. To unpack some of these sessions, Greg interviews CityFI’s Gabe Klein, Metropolis’ Alex Israel, and Duffl’s David Lin while on location in Los Angeles. It’s the next best thing to being there.
With Julia on holiday, Greg is once again joined by CoMotion’s John Rossant for a whirlwind analysis of U.S. elections (free transit in Boston?), COP26 (beyond EVs?), energy prices’ wild ride as the renewables revolution continues apace, and New York City taxi drivers’ successful hunger strike. John is joined by UP Partners managing director Ben Marcus for a wide-ranging conversation about urban- (and regional) air mobility — a major theme of next week’s CoMotion LA! As always, send questions to Greg & Julia at fastforward@comotionglobal.com.
Show Notes:
• They Won: The Hunger-Striking Taxi Drivers Who Claimed Victory (Curbed) https://www.curbed.com/2021/11/what-the-nyc-taxi-drivers-on-a-hunger-strike-won.html
• Transit Advocate Michelle Wu Will Be Boston’s Next Mayor (Streetsblog) https://mass.streetsblog.org/2021/11/02/transit-advocate-michelle-wu-will-be-bostons-next-mayor/
• No Bicycling at COP26 Means Quickest Way to Decarbonize Road Transport Is Inexplicably Missing (Forbes) https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2021/11/02/no-bicycling-at-cop26-means-quickest-way-to-decarbonise-road-transport-is-inexplicably-missing/?sh=3992ca3b740a
• Adam Tooze: The Wild Ride Ahead (New Statesman) https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2021/10/the-wild-ride-to-come
• Jon Hamm Flies With Skyryse (YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJOe7J_Auuk
Greg and Julia discuss Tesla’s entry into the trillion-dollar club, what a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill means for EVs, and how electric vehicles won’t help stem the alarming rise in vehicular deaths this year. They’re joined by the New York City MTA’s chief accessibility officer Quemuel Arroyo to discuss his mission to make the country’s largest transit system accessible for all, and now you can ask Greg and Julia questions via email. Drop them a line! fastforward@comotionglobal.com
Show Notes:
• Rocky Mountain Institute’s SHIFT Calculator. (RMI) (https://shift.rmi.org)
• Electric Car Revolution Crushes Japan’s Struggling Small Towns (Bloomberg) (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-24/electric-car-revolution-crushes-japan-s-struggling-small-towns)
• US traffic fatalities up 18 percent in first half of 2021 (The Hill) (https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/579038-us-traffic-fatalities-up-18-percent-in-first-half-of-2021)
• It started with 5 families. Now hundreds are biking to school together in Barcelona (NPR) (https://www.npr.org/2021/10/22/1047341052/barcelona-bicibus-kids-parents-bike-ride-to-school?TrucksFoT)
Greg & Julia tackle the supply chain crisis roiling both the mobility industry and the ports of Los Angeles, the rise of the North American battery-industrial complex, and how to finally rein in the surge in vehicle-miles-traveled by Uber, Lyft, and privately-owned vehicles. They’re joined by ClearRoad CEO Frederic Charlier to discuss how his startup’s micro-tolling technology can help cities meter public roads.
Host Greg Lindsay is joined by this season’s co-host — the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Julia Thayne Demordaunt — along with Swiftmile CEO Colin Roche, who joins the chorus in arguing that micromobility’s growing pains are now behind it, and that cities must now invest aggressively in mode shift if they hope to meet their climate targets. Greg & Julia also survey the latest EV news and announcements from old-school automakers, which have begun to see electrified models start to outstrip their flagship models in sales.
Host Greg Lindsay is joined on location in Turin by CoMotion managing director Timothy Gribaudi in Paris for a trans-European episode featuring an interview with Choose Paris Region’s mobility and transportation director Romain Erny. Between the three of them, they discussion Paris’ cycling growing pains, Milan’s renewed mandate for micromobility, and Grand Paris’ grand plans for 200km of new automated metro lines and more.
Fast Forward returns with a new fall season of guests…and hosts. Greg Lindsay is joined by CoMotion CEO John Rossant to discuss what attendees can expect at next month’s CoMotion LA, followed by RedBlue Capital’s Olaf Sakkers, who discusses the “trip economy,” his new e-book Mobility Disruption Framework, and why CATS and DOGS are one way to understand the diverging futures of mobility.
With CoMotion Miami behind us, Greg Lindsay and Jonah Bliss recap this spring’s season of Fast Forward — Elon! EVs! SPACs! Stonks! — plus Secretary Pete’s Miami keynote conversation with CityFi’s Gabe Klein. Listen in!
A world of EVs won’t make much difference if we’re unable to charge them all — and do it cleanly. Greg Lindsay chats with Giovanni Bertolino, head of e-mobility at Enel X North America, to discuss the utility’s charging solutions and the future of personal electric mobility.
INVERS doesn’t make the scooter; they make it profitable. Greg Lindsay chats with CEO Alex Kirn about the firm’s nearly 30-year history of building the technology to make shared mobility possible, and about where micromobility may be headed next. Listen in!
The days of docklessness and drop-off-and-pick-up from anywhere are numbered. Greg Lindsay chats with Tranzito’s Gene Oh about “curbside mobility hubs” and a new generation of transit infrastructure offering mobility-as-a-service from the ground-up rather than the top-down.
Every week, geopolitics seems to throw another monkey wrench into the future of mobility — whether it’s chip shortages, lithium mines, or the race to build better batteries before China’s automakers do. Greg Lindsay chats with the Strategic Insight Group’s Scott Malcomson about the ripple effects from superpower rivalries and splintering supply chains.
Scooters and Smoke-Filled Rooms — Greg Lindsay chats with Superpedestrian’s Paul White by CoMotion
EV Incentives and Biden Bucks - Jonah Bliss chats with Chargie CEO Zach Jennings by CoMotion
The EV revolution needs to be for everyone! Jonah Bliss chats with Kameale C. Terry by CoMotion
On Parisians Sharing Scooters and Data - Greg Lindsay chats with Blue Systems' Christophe Arnaud by CoMotion
Dollar vans, Jeepneys, Matatus, oh my! Greg Lindsay talks with Benjamin de le Pena and Su Sanni by CoMotion
Can Gig Work Ever Be Good Work? - Greg Lindsasy chats with Managed by Q Founder Dan Teran by CoMotion
On privacy, disruption, and cities - Greg Lindsay chats with Tusk Strategies’ Bradley Tusk by CoMotion
Stonks, SPACs, and the S&P 500 - Greg Lindsay chats with Ludicrous Author E.W. Niedermeyer by CoMotion
Dreaming of Computer Vision - Jonah Bliss chats with Automotus’ Jordan Justus by CoMotion
Fast Forward comes to you from CoMotion LA LIVE. Keynote Conversation with Wayne Ting, CEO of Lime. by CoMotion
Envisioning Mobility's Future - Jonah Bliss chats with Hoag + Co’s Marc Hoag by CoMotion
Electrifying Public Transport - Greg Lindsay chats with Arrival's Avinash Rugoobur by CoMotion
Accelerating LA Innovation — Greg Lindsay chats with Urban Movement Labs’ Julia Thayne by CoMotion
A New Path Forward for Mobility - Announcing Fast Forward, with Gabriella Gomez-Mont by CoMotion
Episode 77. Greg Lindsay sits down with Matt Newberg, Founder of HNGRY, to discuss the intersection between technology and the way people eat, the food delivery wars, insider insights into Amazon’s soon to be announced revamped grocery store format, dark convenience stores, and much more. Greg and Jonah also discuss GM’s whopping $806 million loss, Boeing's irrational optimism, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 76. Greg Lindsay sits down with Rachel Haot, Executive Director of Transit Innovation Partnership, to discuss her organization's COVID-19 inspired Challenge and the post-coronavirus future of urban mass transit. Greg and Jonah also chat about the public response to The Boring Company's latest tunneling plans, autonomous (or teleoperated) deliverybots hitting the streets across US cities, AutoX’s AV milestone, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 75. Greg Lindsay sits down with Gregor Macdonald, the mobility, climate change and renewable energy expert behind The Gregor Letter, to discuss Tesla's massive market cap and what its future trajectory is as part of the energy stack. Greg Lindsay also chats with Jonah Bliss about Fisker and Karma Automotive's multimillion dollar funding rounds, Uber’s latest ambitions, Revel's West Coast launch, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 74. Greg Lindsay sits down with Oliver Bishop, General Manager, Shell Hydrogen, to discuss hydrogen fuel, how far it's come in recent years, and the EU's epic plans for H2. Greg Lindsay also chats with Jonah Bliss about Uber's tie-up with Postmates and their unending battle against California and the classification of their workers, Tesla's Cybertruck opening up pre-orders in China, the UK's major order for a commercial fleet of EVs, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 73. Greg Lindsay sits down with Adriana Zenteno, who recently stepped down as the CEO of MaaS Latam, to discuss how new mobility modes are faring in Mexico, from ride-hailing to micromobility and each technology's associated triumphs and challenges in the region. Greg Lindsay also chats with Jonah Bliss about Uber's acquisition of Postmates, Indian ride hailing giant Ola's latest feature additions, Lyft's return to on-road AV testing in CA, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 72. Jonah Bliss and Greg Lindsay talk through the latest mobility happenings, with a special emphasis on all the exciting developments coming out of South Florida and Latin America. Plus, listen in for a special walk-through of the top sessions and most exciting elements of this week’s CoMotion MIAMI LIVE.
Episode 71. Greg Lindsay sits down with Albert Garcia, Chairman, Wynwood Business Improvement District, to discuss how Wynwood in Miami went from a rundown neighborhood to a hotspot for art, nightlife, and urban innovation. Greg Lindsay also chats with Jonah Bliss about DoorDash's recent $400M in fresh funding, Hertz's stalled IPO, Ford's upcoming ADAS, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 70. Greg Lindsay sits down with Dr. Destiny Thomas, Founder and CEO of Thrivance Group, to discuss and challenge conventional (white) narratives about transportation planning. Greg Lindsay also chats with Jonah Bliss about a California agency fighting back against Uber and Lyft re AB5, the ACLU joining in on an Uber lawsuit against LA's MDS, Tesla's skyrocketing stock, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 69. Greg Lindsay sits down with Scott Kubly, Founder and CEO of Cabana, to discuss how his company combines vanlife, car-sharing and a boutique hotel all into one unique service. Greg Lindsay also chats with Jonah Bliss about the fight for open streets and the protests sweeping cities across America (as well as the world) and other happenings of the week.
Episode 68. John Rossant sits down with Alvaro Ramis, Vice President of BD and Strategic Alliances at Bestmile, to discuss how the COVID-19 crisis will reshape the future of urban mobility. Greg Lindsay and Jonah Bliss also chat about car rental stalwart Hertz going under, Uber trashing thousands of JUMP bikes, Amazon moving into autonomous delivery, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 67. Greg Lindsay sits down with Henrik Holland, COO of Greenlots, to discuss the burgeoning future of electric charging as EV adoption drives forward. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss about cities creating open streets, the new face of food delivery (and how some restaurants are rebranding on delivery apps so as not to dissuade more discerning customers — we're looking at you Chuck E. Cheese), and other happenings of the week.
Episode 66. Greg Lindsay sits down with Bronwen Thornton, CEO at Walk21 Foundation, to discuss the ways that the UK is investing in revamping its transportation across the country, focusing on walking and cycling, and reducing the demand on public transport during the pandemic. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss about Elon Musk's embattled attempt to reopen his California Tesla plant, GM's canceled e-bike, Uber's desire to buy Grubhub, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 65. Greg Lindsay sits down with Mike Lydon, Principal at Street Plans, to discuss how he helps guide cities as they move to open street space for pedestrians and cyclists. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss about cities' open streets initiatives, recent micromobility tie-ups, and other happenings of the week.
Episode 64. Continuing our examination of EVs, Greg Lindsay sits down with John Voelcker, a provider of global auto industry analysis, and Loren McDonald, content marketer and EV analyst, to discuss the rapidly approaching future of electric vehicles across the world. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss about how the EV ecosystem will fare during and after the coronavirus crisis.
Episode 63. Greg Lindsay sits down with Dheeraj Bhardwaj, CEO of Arnab Mobility, to discuss how his company is bringing micromobility to the United Arab Emirates. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss about the plummeting prices of oil, airlines, and used cars, as well as how cities are continuing to react to the ongoing lockdowns.
Episode 62. Greg Lindsay sits down with Ivo Cré, Director Policy and Projects at Polis, to talk about how the pandemic is changing the face of mobility in cities, and how those areas are adapting to this new way of life. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss to discuss how the world is already thinking about reopening global economies, and how the auto industry is having, and will continue to have, serious financial woes.
Episode 61. Greg Lindsay sits down with Tiffany Chu, CEO and Co-Founder at Remix, to learn what sorts of trends she's seeing in cities regarding all facets of mobility. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss to discuss the coronavirus' continued effect on the world of mobility.
Episode 60. Greg Lindsay sits down with Harry Campbell, Founder & CEO of The Rideshare Guy, to get some real insight into how coronavirus is affecting gig economy workers like rideshare drivers and delivery people. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss again, to discuss the pandemic's continued effect on the world of mobility.
Episode 59. Greg Lindsay sits down with Paul Comfort, Vice President of Business Development at Trapeze, to discuss how transit agencies are pivoting to stay solvent during these troubled coronavirus times. Greg also chats with Jonah Bliss to fill you in on the latest happenings in mobility as the world goes into quarantine.
Episode 58. John Rossant sits down with international relations guru and best-selling author Parag Khanna in Singapore about where our world is heading: Khanna believes this century will be an Asian century -- though not necessarily a Chinese one. And the coronavirus pandemic will only be a setback to that future, not its death knell. John also chats with Greg Lindsay about the pandemic and its effect on the world of mobility.
Episode 57. Greg Lindsay chats with Hugh Martin about how Lacuna helps cities and transportation agencies to better manage the public right-of-way. Lacuna supports an open source software community focused on enabling modern urban mobility, helping cities make use of open source programs so cities and citizens both benefit.
Episode 56. Greg Lindsay chats with Amanda Roraff, PlanetM's Managing Director, on how Michigan is reshaping itself to be a seedbed for mobility innovation. Once known only for autos, the Wolverine State is hoping to usher in a more equitable, transit-friendly future.
Episode 55. Greg Lindsay chats with Israel-based Moovit's Chief Growth & Marketing Officer, Yovav Meydad, about Moovit’s MaaS app and the aggregation of transportation options. Built from volunteer-based mapping, Moovit is one of the hottest, new mobility companies anywhere. By making mobility information more real-time and accessible, it's aiming to democratize transportation data so the public’s needs can be better served.
Episode 54. Greg Lindsay chats with Travis Allan, FLO's Vice-President of Public Affairs and General Counsel, about EV charging infrastructure. FLO is one of the largest charging networks in North America, with over 22,000 charging stations in operation. Building out charging infrastructure is key to fostering confidence in EV owners, and combatting range anxiety.
Episode 53. Greg Lindsay chats with Dror Poleg, author of Rethinking Real Estate, about the intersection of mobility and real estate. As autonomous vehicles, drones, and delivery bots become better integrated into our daily lives, the face of real estate will begin to change. As technology advances, the value of real estate assets will fluctuate in new and interesting ways.
Greg Lindsay chats with Aayushi Jain, Director of Policy and Government Partnerships at Bounce. Bounce is a Bangalore-based startup that operates an electric scooter sharing enterprise. These aren't your Birds and Limes — these are full mopeds that can cover the first mile/last mile of your multimodal transit trip, or be your main mode of transport to/from work or school. Bounce aims to seriously improve India's devastating traffic congestion.
Episode 51. Greg Lindsay chats with Nexar Co-Founder and CEO Eran Shir and RTC Senior Director of Engineering John Peñuelas about how Nexar’s pilot in Las Vegas is a successful example of how the public and private sector can collaborate to increase road safety. Thanks to Nexar's City Stream, a connected network of smart dash cameras which can identify road hazards, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is able to better understand and manage the city's traffic, especially around construction zones. Greg, John and Eran chat about the pilot's expansion and issues surrounding privacy and the advent of autonomous vehicles.
Episode 50. Greg Lindsay chats with Roni Floman, the VP of Marketing at Optibus, an Israel-based startup that is using A.I. to build optimized scheduling software for creating the most efficient paths for fixed-route bus services. Greg and Roni dive into how Optibus is working to revolutionize public transit by using advanced computer technology to create better bus schedules to help cities, commuters, and bus drivers to better do their jobs, and get where they're going. Optibus hopes to use optimization algorithms and A.I. to create new solutions for current scheduling inefficiencies.
Episode 48. Greg Lindsay chats with Andrei Greenawalt, Head of Public Policy at Via, about how shared, on-demand micro-transit can get people out of the private vehicle. Andrei explains how Via is working with nearly 100 cities and transit agencies to provide optimized and equitable first/last mile mobility solutions. Greg and Andrei discuss Via's numerous deployments, from its recently launched shared autonomous on-demand service in Irvine, CA to its partnership with New York City's yellow school bus fleet.
Episode 49. Greg Lindsay chats with Richard Bruce, Director of Energy, Technology and Innovation at the UK's Department for Transport, about how all the simultaneous changes happening in the mobility ecosystem can be leveraged to deliver basic environmental improvements. Richard Bruce outlines the UK’s key strategies for the future of urban mobility and highlights the necessity of modernizing the regulatory framework in order to better embrace new modes of transportation.
Episode 47. Greg Lindsay chats with Vanderbilt University's Executive Director for Mobility, Erin Hafkenschiel and NRDC Transportation Technical Advisor Zak Accuardi, about the Athens of the South's "Let's Move Nashville" mass transit plan failure. Erin, Greg and Zak look into the political issues that led voters to reject the local referendum and draw valuable lessons for public officials wishing to overcome anti-transit forces.
Episode 46. Greg Lindsay chats with Natalia Quintero, Transit Tech Lab's Program Director, about bringing in the most innovative and cutting-edge technology startups to remake New York's public transit. The Transit Tech Lab is a public-private initiative between the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Partnership for New York City. Natalia Quintero believes in finding innovative software solutions from all over the world, that can be responsive to the public transit needs of all New Yorkers.
Episode 45. Greg Lindsay chats with Yuan Shi, Global Solution Leader for New Mobility at Arcadis, about working with cities to bring about equitable micromobility first/last mile solutions. From Minneapolis to Paris, Yuan Shi believes local governments should learn from past successes and failures to implement micromobility regulations.
Episode 44. Greg Lindsay chats with Tony Pino, Bestmile's head of sales for North America, about ways to optimize fleet management. Tony Pino explains why Bestmile's modular-based fleet orchestration platform can adapt to any driving mode or vehicle brand. Greg and Tony chat about the future of autonomy and how city regulation will come into play.
Episode 43. Greg Lindsay chats with technologist Bianca Wylie, co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, about Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs project in Toronto and the many ethical questions surrounding urban data collection. Bianca Wylie believes we can't rely on data and technology to solve hard mobility infrastructure problems and that there are many trade-offs to data collection. Bianca argues cities should not be putting private companies in charge of local governance issues without consulting the public first.
Episode 42. Greg Lindsay chats with Rachel Weinberger, Senior Fellow for Transportation at the Regional Plan Association in New York, about congestion pricing in the Big Apple. New York is the first city in the US to adopt the policy and Dr. Rachel Weinberger walks us through the plan's implementation, revisiting best practices gathered from urban environments like Singapore, London and Stockholm, and explaining why congestion pricing in New York is a progressive tax which can help both alleviate congestion and fund public transit.
Episode 41. John Rossant chats with David Hartmann, Senior Vice President of Growth Ventures at Covestro, about how plastic is powering mobility innovation. Covestro is developing a whole portfolio of materials, including thermoplastic composites, that are stronger and lighter than metal, to help new and existing players in the transportation industry manufacture the best possible products. John and David chat about revolutionizing battery pack design, fueling the micromobility revolution, sustainability and plastic recycling.
Episode 40. Greg Lindsay chats with Benjamin de la Peña, Chief of Strategy and Innovation at Seattle's Department of Transportation, about how the agency is developing safe and equitable ways to oversee mobility innovation in Seattle. Benjie and his SDOT team are convinced information is the new infrastructure and are finalizing the Transportation Information Infrastructure Plan, an ambitious project to manage the city's transportation network data. Benjie explains how Seattle was able to improve its bus service and better manage mobility data flow to grow public transit ridership.
Episode 39. Greg Lindsay and Tortoise co-founder and president Dmitry Shevelenko, discuss the hows and whys of micro autonomy. Dmitry is convinced that allowing a scooter to park itself is an efficient way to satisfy the consumer preference for convenience and instant access to transportation on short distance trips. Tortoise's remote teleoperations and low-speed autonomy model doesn't require big, polluting vans to pick up the scooters for charging and uses the same tech components you can find in a $100 smartphone; its unique model makes it cheap and energy-efficient. Tortoise's position with regards to cities has been to ask for permission, rather than forgiveness, and have them decide where the service should be operated.
Episode 38. Greg Lindsay chats with Sam Baker, co-founder and COO of Wunder Mobility, about managing shared mobility through B2B software technology. Sam Baker believes it is essential to create the right incentive structures for different markets across the world to use innovative transportation services. Greg and Sam talk about the importance of having multiple technology actors come together to deploy an end service that actually works and can efficiently improve the quality of urban life.
Episode 38. Greg Lindsay chats with Optimus Ride Co-Founders Ryan Chin, CEO and Jenny Larios Berlin, COO. Optimus Ride delivers autonomous shuttle rides in geo-fenced environments and recently launched a new service in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. Ryan and Jenny want Optimus Ride to be a "neighbourhood autonomous mobility system", which provides a smooth, almost boring driving experience that is convenient for the community the service operates in.
Episode 37. Greg Lindsay chats with Josh Cohen, National Director of Policy at TransLoc, about co-creating ways to fill the gaps where fixed route transit is not available. TransLoc works directly with transit agencies and cities to solve mobility challenges in suburban, rural and smaller urban communities. Josh hosts a mobility podcast of his own, The Movement, where he seeks to understand how to engage with communities to bring about a green, equitable and accessible mobility future.
Episode 36. Recorded live from the Motor City. Greg Lindsay and Jessica Robinson, cofounder of the Detroit Mobility Lab and Executive Director at the Michigan Mobility Institute, chat about how electrification and automation will impact the mobility workforce. Jessica and her business partner Chris Thomas's research focuses on the people that will fuel the mobility revolution and seeks to understand how to attract and leverage new talents, software developers especially, through new forms of education.
Episode 35. Greg Lindsay chats with New York State Senator Jessica Ramos about the transportation challenges faced by her District 13 constituents. Greg and Senator Ramos chat about transportation equity, ways to increase micromobility use, living up to Vision Zero and MTA governance. Senator Ramos believes funds should be used to fix the city's ageing subway system rather than to build casinos and wants to put the MTA’s budget in open data form to better understand how the agency is spending its money.
Episode 34. Greg Lindsay sat down with Kent Larson, Director of City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, at the Moscow Urban Forum 2019. Kent and his City Science team are working on developing lightweight autonomous micro-vehicle working prototypes that combine the best attributes of dockless bikes and autonomous ridesharing, without any of the negatives. Kent and his team use interactive tools to build consensus in communities and find bottom-up solutions to urban problems. Kent and Greg chat about the intersection between housing and transportation. Kent's upcoming masterclass, "A World Without Slums", will look into how informal transportation, micro-vehicles and drones can provide transit and delivery to slums.
Episode 33. This conversation between Greg Lindsay and Assaf Biderman, founder and CEO of Superpedestrian and Associate Director of the MIT SENSEable City Lab, was recorded on location at the Moscow Urban Forum 2019. Assaf taught at the Strelka Institute and feels the city of Moscow has become a much more walkable than it was 8 years ago. Assaf and Greg chat about ride sharing in the context of multimodality, how the e-scooter business model can become sustainable and the importance of data infrastructure and for cities to provide their imput.
Episode 32. Greg Lindsay chats with Bits and Atoms Principal Consultant Anthony Townsend about his upcoming book, "The Ghost Road," where he deconstructs the myths surrounding autonomous vehicles and analyzes their long-term effects. Anthony Townsend believes it is essential to regulate the business side of automation and that congestion pricing is the "beginning of a slippery slope towards financializing all movement." Greg and Anthony discuss how multiple forms of automation will impact our culture and the built environment.
Episode 31. Greg Lindsay chats with Don Burnette, co-founder and CEO at Kodiak Robotics. Don Burnette believes trucking will be the first commercially viable application of autonomous vehicle technology and that autonomous trucks can drive much more safety and efficiency to the system. Kodiak Robotics seeks to revolutionize freight transportation with a single network, connected autonomous trucking fleet.
Episode 30. Greg Lindsay chats with Dr. Henrik Haenecke, member of the Management Board for Berlin's public transport operator, BVG. Dr. Haenecke tells us all about how Jelbi, Berlin's groundbreaking all-in-one app Mobility as a Service platform came about and how it works. BVG took an incremental approach to implementing this ambitious experiment. The public transportation operator needed to convince private sector mobility providers to join forces and integrate by offering to share customer data, and reconcile with transit weary Berliners through an audacious marketing campaign.
Episode 29. Greg Lindsay chats with MetaProp Venture Advisor Elie Finegold about the intersection of multi-modal transportation and real-estate development. Elie is a New Yorker living car-free in Dallas, and has seen the e-scooter boom dramatically increase the number of Dallasites walking in the street. From delivery services to the advent of autonomy, Greg and Elie examine how the mobility revolution will impact the value of real-estate in the near future.
Episode 28. Greg Lindsay chats with Curbed's Urbanism Editor Alissa Walker about changing behavior and moving beyond cars. Greg and Alissa take a deep dive into the Los Angeles mobility scene, from walkable urbanism, micromobility options and dedicated bus lanes to congestion pricing and SB 50.
Episode 27. This conversation between Greg Lindsay and futurist Scott Smith was recorded on location in Masdar City, UAE. Scott and Greg chat about the famous closed-loop zero-carbon city, which Scott refers to as "a fragment of the Gulf future's 1.0 dream", and about building the next vision of the future. Scott, Founder and Managing Director of Amsterdam-based consulting group Changeist, talks about how mobility cultures differ from city to city, and highlights the need to think about sustainable transportation as part of a much more complex system.
Episdode 26. Greg Lindsay chats with David Zipper, fellow in the Urban and Regional Policy Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, about integrating public and private modes of transportation into Mobility-as-a-Service platforms, without letting companies create mobility "walled gardens", or having privacy advocates turn against city-run multi-modal networks.
Episode 25. Greg Lindsay chats with Devin de Vries, co-founder & CEO of WhereIsMyTransport, about improving visibility and accessibility for informally run transportation networks, which cities have traditionally had very little insight into. WhereIsMyTransport is a startup which provides an integrative mobility platform for governments to centralize information from both formal and informal transportation networks. Rather than disrupting informal transport services, WhereIsMyTransport wants to incrementally improve their businesses, making them easier for everyone to use.
Episode 24. Greg Lindsay chats with Martin McMullan, Director of the Connected Journey program at the New Zealand Transportation Agency, about the the nuts-and-bolts of Mobility-as-a-Service and public sector innovation. Martin explains how he and his team implemented their own MaaS app in Auckland, NZ, by building a business case off of user feedback, and providing the underpinning digital infrastructure for an integrated service open to both public and private operators, which allows for an unbiased, fair and egalitarian transit system.
Episode 23. John Rossant sits down with Nixon Peabody real estate attorneys Justin Thompson and Garth Bostic to discuss ways in which the fast-changing urban mobility landscape will affect real-estate development in the three decades to come. John, Justin and Garth chat about parking requirements and the need for flexible, “future-proof” design, how regulatory environments and geographic considerations will affect the advent of autonomous vehicles, the impact congestion pricing and urban air mobility will have on land use, and the importance of acting as an intermediary between private actors and city officials to make sure everyone is on the same page.
Episode 22. Greg Lindsay chats with Paul Comfort, Vice President of Buisness Development and Chief Transit Evangelist at Trapeze Group, which provides the enterprise software that runs public transportation systems all over the world, among other products. The former transit head also hosts a mobility podcast of his own, “Transit Unplugged” where he interviews transportation leaders. Greg and Paul talk about redesigning routes for high frequency service, providing ease of use and ease of access, and gamification and loyalty reward programs, as key ways of increasing public transport ridership. Paul shares his experience as a public transit leader, and talks about his new book, 'Full Throttle', which he describes as a self-help book for transportation professionals.
Episode 21. Greg Lindsay chats with Swoop's CEO, Amir Ghorbani, and Ruben Schultz, Co-Founder, about mobility as an experience. Swoop is a shared mobility startup focused on large sized vehicles for groups. Greg, Amir and Ruben discuss the evolution of the shared vehicle market.
Episode 20. CoMotion Founder and Chief Curator John Rossant sits down with Paul Glenney, CEO of Hubject Inc. Hubject is an interoperability platform focused on simplifying EV charging. Hubject works with Charge Port Operators (CPOs) and e-mobility service providers in 26 countries, and has more than 300 business-to-business partners. Hubject operates as a hub, enabling partners to communicate with each other and do business together. John and Paul chat about public charging and ways to accelerate EV adoption in the US and across the world.
Episode 19. Greg Lindsay chats with Eduardo Javier Muñoz, CEO of EVShare, about ways to reinvent our mobility ecosystem. EVShare operates a combination of home solar renewables, feeding into electric vehicles and using blockchain as a way of awarding credits and paying out people’s use of mobility. The foundation creates fleets that enable people to move around using less vehicles, in a cheaper and more energy-efficient way. Eduardo views blockchain technology as a “digitalized democratization” of mobility, which allows for a transparent government structure, where people can decide how their money is invested.
Episode 18. John Rossant chats with Alexandra Dublanche, Vice President of the Paris Region, to discuss how the region is strengthening its public transportation network beyond the dense core of the city. The Paris Region is experimenting with innovative and sustainable new modes of transportation, such as flying water cars on the Seine or shared autonomous vehicles. John and Alexandra compare different cultural mindsets regarding public transportation, and how those can evolve.
Episode 16. Stephen Baker and RJ Scaringe, CEO of Rivian, an electric car startup, sat down at LA CoMotion to discuss how the consumption model for cars will evolve over the next decades. RJ calls Rivian the “Patagonia” of electric cars - a comfortable vehicle encouraging customers to go out and explore the world. The car’s smart battery can learn from its user and adjust to his preferred charging mode in real-time. RJ Scaringe believes that as we move away from an exclusive consumption ownership model for cars, we will adopt more use-case specific modes of consumption.
Episode 16. Greg Lindsay and Nat Parker, CEO of moovel North America, address the dire after effects “competing empires” of MaaS platforms could have on congestion and discuss moovel’s long term vision for building an open, avant-garde mobility operating system for cities. moovel and BMW are combining their transportation offerings in an effort to build a mobility powerhouse that works as an open network, where competing service providers can offer their solutions as well. Nat Parker makes a case for compensating companies like moovel on measured outcomes of reducing congestion.
Episode 15. John Rossant sits down with Joshua Schank, Chief Innovation Officer for LA Metro, to talk about LA county’s collective decision to retrofit a car-centric region for public transit. John and Josh discuss how LA’s infrastructure shift compares to older cities in the rest of the world, and why this tremendous undertaking will allow LA to emerge as one of the key global hubs in the mobility revolution. LA Metro’s Office of Extraordinary Innovation collaborates with the private sector and is testing out microtransit projects in selected parts of the city to see which ones work the best. For Joshua Schank, fixing mobility in LA does not solely rely on acquiring new technologies - he believes regulatory policy, such as implementing dedicated bus lanes or charging people who drive in their cars, is what will truly drive the mobility revolution.
Episode 14. John Rossant and Nik Karalis, CEO of Woods Bagot, chat about the implications of the mobility revolution on the built environment. At LA CoMotion, Woods Bagot, the global architectural and design consultancy, will present their fascinating research on the repurposing of parking places in the city of Los Angeles, exploring how a shift in planning could provide dwellings for more than 3 million people. Woods Bagot’s 3D data visualization tool will adjust itself live to different density scenarios for the districts of Inglewood, Downtown and East LA. Angelinos will be invited to share their impressions on the level of change in the built environment that feels comfortable to them, and to own the development process of their city.
Episode 12. John Rossant and Thierry Mallet, Chairman and CEO of Transdev, chat about emerging new mobility options for the cities of tomorrow. These cities will be polycentric and need to be redesigned for humans, not cars - all our basic needs will be fulfilled through micromobilty. John and Thierry discuss the need for local governments to regulate mobility, while remaining open to innovation. Thierry Mallet expands upon some of the integration lessons Transdev has learned in developing their global mobility app in the French city of Mulhouse, or on applying autonomous systems to public transit, such as with thei autonomous lab in Rouen.
Episode 13. How can we frame the conversation around urban mobility in the Southern California region and encourage people to opt for safer, more enjoyable streets at a human scale? Greg Lindsay chats with SCAG Planning & Programs Director Kome Ajise and Meghan Sahli-Wells, Vice Mayor of Culver City. The Southern California Association of Governments is a regional planning agency whose role is to make sure there is alignment in planning across jurisdictions, and that the region’s ambitious sustainability goals get implemented. SCAG’s Go Human program demonstrates how protected bike lanes or safer crosswalks can bring people back to basic forms of human mobility. Greg, Meghan and Kome discuss Culver city’s recent agreements with Bird and Lime and how these first and last mile solutions can encourage people to use public transit.
Episode 11. John Rossant sits down with KT Neumann, In Charge of Mobility for Evelozcity, to discuss the future of cars. The Evelozcity project is all about bringing electric cars to the masses and disrupting car ownership. Evelozcity cars are developed for city use and ride-sharing, with a radical new design and a whole new business model. KT Neumann believes the car of the future will just be a device in a larger ecosystem of mobility, and Evelozcity cars are connected to a blockchain powered marketplace.
Episode 10. LA CoMotion’s Director of Strategy Greg Lindsay and Yann Leriche, CEO of Transdev North America, chat about how shared autonomous transportation will transform cities. Transdev has a hands-on, experimental approach to inventing the future of mobility. Yann Leriche explains the need to work with cities and develop shared solutions in order to balance out the appeal for autonomous vehicles and the increase in traffic and congestion. Yann and Greg discuss the difference between Europe and the United States in public transit ridership. Transdev is sharing data with transit agencies and developing a global set of alternatives to the private car thanks to Mobility as a Service products.
Episode 9. Greg Lindsay and Jill Anderson, Vice President of Customer Programs & Services for SoCal Edison, chat about ways to reach California's ambitious greenhouse gas emission targets in practical terms. SoCal Edison’s clean power and electrification pathway strategy will help the state of California reduce gas emissions by 80% by 2050. This will be done by simultaneously working toward a carbon-free grid, electrifying transportation and buildings and through solar panels. Jill Anderson shares her vision for the future of transportation and what this will mean for chargers and charging infrastructure.
Episode 8. John Rossant, LA CoMotion’s Founder and Chief Curator, and Michael Dunne, CEO of ZoZo Go (A Dunne Automotive Company), discuss the industries of ride hailing, electric and autonomous vehicles in China, and how those will play out on a global scale. The Chinese Government has set high ambitions to become leaders in future mobility technologies. John Rossant and Michael Dunne explore political trade tensions between China and the US in the mobility revolution market.
Episode 7. Greg Lindsay and Aric Ohana, Co-Founder of Envoy There, chat about the impact the urban mobility revolution will have on the built environment. Aric Ohana believes providing easily accessible vehicles is the means to disrupting car ownership. This equitable solution will become a new standard of living for the future. Envoy is developing vehicles which can be integrated within the energy management of buildings. What started off as a mobility solution will evolve into an energy management one.
Episode 6. In this week’s CoMotion Podcast, Lilly Shoup, Lyft’s Senior Director of Transportation Policy, and our Director of Strategy Greg Lindsay chat about Lyft’s key role in providing mobility solutions for everyone. The scale of the city of Los Angeles lends itself to testing different kinds of dockless mobility, figuring out what works and drawing lessons which can be applied to other cities. Lilly Shoup is a strong supporter of public transportation. She believes Lyft shares cities' goal of reducing single-occupancy vehicles and stresses the importance of working with public agencies to provide new, sustainable ways for people to get around. Mobility hubs can make seamless mobility available to everyone, including underserved neighborhoods. Lilly and Greg chat about ways of managing the street of the future in real time. Lilly shares her enthusiasm for finding creative ways of organizing streets and puts forward an idea for redesigning streets based on speed, rather than on transportation mode.
Episode 5. Seleta Reynolds, General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and Greg Lindsay, LA CoMotion's Director of Strategy, chat about what the latest comprehensive regulation of dockless vehicles means for the city of Los Angeles. This new policy encourages companies to innovate, as long as they are willing to comply with LADOT’s mobility data specifications and that they express the city’s core values through their technology. It also lays the groundwork for how the city will manage what’s coming next. Seleta Reynolds is a strong advocate for public/private cooperation, and believes the city should start acting and thinking more like product companies, and vice versa. She discusses the need to raise the political will to build the right infrastructure in order to create complete streets that benefit everyone, no matter how they travel. LA CoMotion is a great place for companies and messengers to work together on solving real problems though the improvement of public transit.