What does it take to build a world-class transportation system - and keep it world-class for 25 years? I am Jinhua Zhao, Welcome to the Mobility Forum - where the leading minds in transportation come together to shape how cities move.

Today, I sit down with Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer of Transport for London - the man who has personally touched every major innovation TfL has delivered over the past two decades. from Oyster Card, contactless payment to Crossrail and congestion charging.

A common myth: “China’s Electric Vehicle industry succeeded only because of top-down governance.”

Wrong.

China succeeded:

NOT through authoritarian mandates

NOT through subsidies alone

But through ecosystem alignment—of markets, policies, and consumers

As tariffs escalate between the U.S. and China, electric vehicles (EVs) are the newest casualty.

But the real threat isn’t foreign competition—it’s domestic inaction.

While the U.S. protects its turf, China is building an electric future.

Trade wars don’t build industries. Ecosystem alignments do.

Five Reasons China Pulled Ahead and What it can Teach the U.S.

In AV for Cities 01, I wrote "AV technology has matured, yet cities are utterly unprepared". If not, how should they?

1. What is the goal?

2. Who holds the power?

3. What are the instruments?

Municipalities have more leverage than often perceived—they need to use it strategically. Cities and the AV industry can work together to enhance mobility for all.

Cities can connect the goal (planning principles), the power (regulatory mechanisms), and the tools (policy instruments). They are not passive recipients of AV innovation; they are essential architects of its future.

Are Cities Prepared for Autonomous Vehicles?

10 years ago, cities had a surge of interest in autonomous vehicles (AVs). But the technology wasn’t ready and cities grew disillusioned.

Today, we see the reverse. AV technology has matured, yet cities are utterly unprepared—and most are not discussing it at all.

In our paper, Are Cities Prepared for Autonomous Vehicles? Planning for Technological Change by U.S. Local Governments, Yonah Freemark, Annie Hudson and I surveyed 120 U.S. cities in 2019 and found that:

“A clear majority of officials disagreed that their cities were prepared for AVs, had a clear sense of who was responsible for them, or had developed plans or policies related to them.” See image in the comment below

Cities need to move beyond 'wait-and-see' and actively engage in planning for AVs.

Six years on, are cities any more prepared or do our findings still hold? I’d love to hear your thought: which cities are laying out concrete AV policies or meaningfully engaging with the AV industry?

Here is a 6:27-minute audiogram summary.

(Warning: AI-generated. For a precise account, please refer to our paper https://tinyurl.com/yrn3vwt4)