Fast Forward

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:

1. President Biden Signs Executive Order Catalyzing America’s Clean Energy Economy Through Federal Sustainability (WhiteHouse.gov) https://www.whitehouse.gov/

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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: [email protected].

Show notes:

1. 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

2. Tumult in the energy markets (The Gregor Letter — subscription required)https://gregor.substack.com/p/tumult?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo0MTYyMTEsInBvc3RfaWQiOjQzMDE2MzU2LCJfIjoiTEFadi8iLCJpYXQiOjE2Mzg4MDYyOTUsImV4cCI6MTYzODgwOTg5NSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTM2NzIiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.4BY8OPDbRRn3tUtXQHFWlODRSfwzaU0EajrD1Zh4DIc

3. Breaking up GM and Ford (Datatrek Research) https://www.datatrekresearch.com/breaking-up-gm-and-ford/

4. Boston’s new mayor promise free public transit. Can she make it happen? (Grist)https://grist.org/transportation/michelle-wu-boston-free-public-transit/

5. 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 [email protected].

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! [email protected]

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.