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#077: Laura Chace, President & CEO, ITS America Last month Greg Rogers and Pete Gould sat down with Laura Chace, the new CEO of ITS America, at the ITS America Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC. We discuss the need to focus on the opportunity to center new technologies around human outcomes, the importance of convening the public and private sector to work together on deploying new innovations, and implementation of the infrastructure bill (IIJA, or BIF) that President Biden signed into law in 2021. You can learn more about ITS America’s work at: https://itsa.org/ And follow ITSA on Twitter: @ITS_ America As always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @Pete_Gould, @SmarterTranspo.

After taking a summer break, we returned to celebrate our fourth anniversary of The Mobility Podcast and discuss the hottest topic in Washington today – the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (or whatever you'd like to call it). Please note: this episode was recorded in early September before Congress returned and conducted markups, but covers key issues around electrification, transit, and transportation funding that remain relevant. As always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @Pete_Gould, @SmarterTranspo.

We're honored to welcome U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth to the podcast to discuss a bipartisan bill she recently introduced, the All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Act of 2021. The ASAP Act would establish a federal grant program to support legacy transit and commuter rail authorities to upgrade existing stations to meet or exceed accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Learn more about the ASAP Act here: https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-brown-and-casey-introduce-legislation-to-make-public-transit-more-accessible You can follow Sen. Duckworth's work on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SenDuckworth As always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @Pete_Gould, @SmarterTranspo.

Pete Buttigieg appeared before Congress today for an overwhelmingly positive nomination hearing, where he garnered wide bipartisan support. In this episode, Greg Rogers, Greg Rodriguez, and Pete Gould provide a rapid recap and analysis of the hearing, and a discussion of the political appointees who have been announced so far. And for newcomers to the transportation policy world and the podcast, we also provide some quick explanations of federal transportation programs, policies, and financing issues that came up during the hearing. As always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @Pete_Gould, @SmarterTranspo.

Buckle up! We kicked off this year with an engaging hour-long discussion of transportation policy with Beth Osborne, Director of Transportation for America. We discuss a huge range of topics, including: -How Secretary Pete Buttigieg's USDOT could improve transportation decision-making; -Beth's recommendations for writing an impactful surface transportation reauthorization this year that actually helps put people to work; -How to pay for the next reauthorization; -Why we need to combine electrification with good land use and better planning to achieve our sustainability goals. You can access T4A's recent reports, including Driving Down Emissions, on their website: https://t4america.org/ Follow Beth and T4A on Twitter: @BethOsborneT4A and @T4America And, as always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @CatapultPolicy, @SmarterTranspo.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvania DOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian has worked to ensure that the state's transportation infrastructure keeps frontline workers moving while connecting people with essentials. Greg, Greg, and Pete caught up with Secretary Gramian at the end of 2020 to discuss how to carry forward all of the year's lessons for equity, the value of active transportation, and the importance of public transit for essential workers and vulnerable communities.

President-elect Biden ran on a platform that promised bold action on climate change, including major investments in sustainable transportation. In this episode, Pete and the Gregs Rodriguez and Rogers discuss how the Biden-Harris Administration could take to reduce transportation emissions and explore ideas for improving transportation decision-making. We also discuss the prospects for the FAST Act reauthorization in 2021, USDOT's progress in preparing for emerging technologies over the past 4 years, and how to implement all of the lessons learned in 2020. As always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @CatapultPolicy, @SmarterTranspo.

Henry Greenidge joins Pete Gould and Greg Rogers for an enlightening discussion about how to advance equity in not only transportation policy and planning, but also the technologies and services that will define the future of mobility. We discuss whether transportation network companies (TNCs) have been a net benefit for equity, the intersection between mobility and Black Lives Matter, food access and mobility, and the potential for AVs could advance opportunity and equity in the future. Henry is a Fellow in Residence at NYU McSilver Institute, where he’s focused on the intersection between transportation, race, and poverty. Previously, Henry worked in the public sector, at New York City DOT and USDOT, and the private sector, at Cruise Automation.  Follow Henry on Twitter at @HenryLGreenidge And, as always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @CatapultPolicy, @SmarterTranspo.

#069: Kyle Rowe, Spin A few years ago, Kyle Rowe helped to write the the first dockless bikeshare framework in the U.S. when he was at the Seattle Department of Transportation. As the Global Head of Government Partnerships at Spin, today Kyle works with the public sector on continuing to bring micromobility services to the public. In this episode - originally recorded in May 2020 - Kyle joined Greg Rogers, Greg Rodriguez, and Pete Gould to discuss the origins of city-level micromobility regulations, the value of micromobility services, and how to build our mobility system back better after the COVID-19 pandemic. Keep up with Spin here: https://blog.spin.pm/ And, as always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @CatapultPolicy, @SmarterTranspo.

Dr. Richard Ezike of the Urban Institute joined us for a deep-dive into transportation equity, the impacts of COVID-19 on personal mobility, and how social distancing measures have contributed to greater public participation in local decision-making for some communities. Resources mentioned in this episode: Four Ways to Equitably Manage Public Transit Options in a Crisis https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/four-ways-equitably-manage-public-transit-options-crisis UCS Report: Where Are Self-Driving Cars Taking Us? https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/where-are-self-driving-cars-taking-us Follow Richard on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrRCEzike And, as always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

After a short hiatus, we return the first episode with just our co-hosts - Greg Rogers, Greg Rodriguez, and Pete Gould - in over a year. We caught up to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on the transportation sector and why the question is not what will happen after the pandemic is overcome - but what *must* happen to get people back to work safely and reduce the negative externalities of our mobility networks. As always, you can keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

How can big data change the way we plan? Can that data be collected and used without violating privacy and consumer trust? And what is the Bradley Cooper problem? Laura Schewel, Founder and CEO of Streetlight Data, joined SAFE Greg, Stantec Greg, and Shared Mobility Pete to dig into these questions and more at the 2020 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting. Learn more at StreetlightData.com Check out Laura’s Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/C8hF8y-XpVY Follow Streetlight Data on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StreetLightData And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

This month, NHTSA approved the first-ever exemption of a fully autonomous vehicle from three specific federal motor vehicle safety standards that were clearly unnecessary for a driverless vehicle carrying goods (windshields, mirrors, and rear-facing cameras). David Estrada, Chief Legal and Policy Officer at Nuro, to talk about how the company navigated the exemption process, the future of driverless deliveries, and a discussion of how to modernize the regulatory framework to enable newer and safer vehicle form factors. Learn more about Nuro here: https://nuro.ai/ And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @ MobilityPodcast, @ AVGregR, @ SharedMobilityS, @ SmarterTranspo.

Jason Hanlin and Nathaniel Horadam from The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) joined SAFE Greg and Pete at the 2020 TRB Annual Meeting for a wide-ranging discussion around buses and technology. In this episode we explored: -The rapid growth of bus electrification across the country -Why electric school buses are having their moment -Vehicle-to-grid applications for electric buses -The challenges for bus automation -The use case for bus teleoperation -And much, much more! Learn more about CTE here: https://cte.tv/ Find Nathaniel Horadam on Twitter: @ NW_Horadam And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @ MobilityPodcast, @ AVGregR, @ SharedMobilityS, @ SmarterTranspo.

In our first recording with a live (and sometimes lively) studio audience, Sabrina Sussman from Zipcar at Transportation Camp DC 2020. Sabrina joined us for a discussion of how Zipcar, which is now celebrating its 20th anniversary, is bridging specific gaps in transportation and giving people an option beyond owning a car. Afterwards, we jumped into a great discussion with the audience about USDOT’s latest AV policy document (AV 4.0), land use, and the importance of community-focused transportation policies. A special thanks to David Jerrido and Michal Naka (@michalnaka) for their audience questions! Learn more about Zipcar at https://www.zipcar.com/ or follow @ZipCar and @SSussman on Twitter! And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

What is a bomb cyclone? What is it like to track extreme weather? And how does this all play into transportation infrastructure and resilience? Matthew Cappucci from Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang joined Stantec Greg (Rodriguez) and SAFE Greg (Rogers) in October 2019 to answer these questions and more, Follow Matthew Cappucci on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewCappucci And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

The explosive growth of micromobility platforms has largely been enabled by Segway-Ninebot, which produce many of the shared electric scooters seen in cities today. At SAE’s Innovation in Mobility conference, Greg Rogers (SAFE Greg) sat down with Tony Ho, Vice President of Global Business Development for Segway-Ninebot, for a discussion of all things micromobility. In the years following the false-start of its namesake mobility device in the early 2000s, Segway expanded its offerings to include electric scooters – which primed the company to take advantage of the micromobility revolution in the past couple of years. SAFE Greg and Tony discussed efforts to make micromobility devices safer and more comfortable, future form factors that might emerge, and the federal/state/local policy implications for micromobility. Learn more about Segway-Ninebot here: https://store.segway.com/ Follow Tony on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danthonyho And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

Jan Hellåker is the Chairman of Drive Sweden, an organization established by the Swedish government to advance technological solutions that will enable sustainable mobility. Through working with industry and the Swedish government, Drive Sweden hopes to accelerate the movement towards vehicle autonomy, connectivity, and sharing – as well as mobility-as-a-service (MaaS). In this episode, recorded at SAE’s Innovations in Mobility Conference, Greg Rogers (SAFE Greg) and Jan discuss Drive Sweden’s initiatives, the international landscape for AVs, and the importance of policy and consumer trust in advancing autonomy. Learn more about Drive Sweden here: https://www.drivesweden.net/en And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

Suburbia is not doomed, suggests Ellen Dunham-Jones – it’s just waiting to be redesigned, reimagined, and regreened to address the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century. Ellen is a Professor at Georgia Tech in the School of Architecture and Director of the MS in Urban Design, where she researches suburban redesigns and interacts with localities seeking to revitalize suburban developments. In this fascinating episode, recorded at the SAE Innovations in Mobility Conference, we discuss case studies across the country where redesigning suburbia led to greater economic and social opportunities for residents. Learn more about Ellen’s work here: https://arch.gatech.edu/people/ellen-dunham-jones And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on our website - www.MobilityPodcast.com And follow us on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has played a vital role in setting standards in the automotive and aerospace sectors. Now, in light of the rapid growth of the micromobility sector, SAE is working to develop standards for micromobility – and it all starts by creating a baseline of understanding by defining the different micromobility devices. Annie Chang, Head of New Mobility at SAE International, joined Greg Rogers at SAE’s Innovation in Mobility conference to discuss SAE’s upcoming J3163 document, which will help to define each type of device on the road today. Annie and Greg also discuss the Mobility Data Collaborative, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), and how to maximize the “delight factor” in transportation. Learn more about SAE’s micromobility work here: https://www.sae.org/micromobility And, as always, you can also keep up with the Mobility Podcast on Twitter: @MobilityPodcast, @AVGregR, @SharedMobilityS, @SmarterTranspo.