ECF & WCA at Transforming Transportation 2019

The World Bank and EMBARQ, the sustainable mobility initiative of WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, hosted this year’s Transforming Transportation at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC on January 17-18^th. This year’s conference explored how new technologies, data platforms and business models are integrating with current transport modes to solve old problems, from efficiency and equity to safety, and how new mobility can help address climate change. Special focus was given to the current and future challenges faced by countries across the world in providing sustainable mobility for everyone.

The two-day conference saw key stakeholders, high level speakers and delegates come together from the public, private, industry, research, civil society sectors etc. for the most successful edition yet; 1,100 participants, 21,000 online livestream viewers, 3,400 #TTDC19 mentions -- 50% from outside of the U.S.  & 53M Twitter impressions. ECF & WCA were once again present, to advocate for cycling and its role in the transformation of transportation.

The ECF and WCA delegation consisted of ECF President & Deputy Mayor of Paris, Mr. Christophe Najdovski, ECF Vice-President & WCA President Ms. Raluca Fiser, WCA Vice-President & Treasurer Mr. DV Manohar, ECF Velo-city Series & Global Policies Director Mr. Marcio Deslandes, and ECF Project Officer Ms. Froso Christofides.

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Highlights

Framing New Mobility

Inevitably, new developments raise questions, especially since there is no definition of New Mobility. The term implies autonomous, shared and electric, but these derivations are not applicable in all contexts. Daniel Sperling, [Founding Director & Professor, Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis] set the tone for the first plenary, by highlighting the fact that in most places, transport is not working very well; we are becoming too dependent on cars as the vehicle use per capita and the saturation of infrastructure is increasing, while transit ridership and car occupancy are decreasing, at least in the case of the United States.

On how do these trends affect the role of public and private actors, Christophe Najdovski [Deputy Mayor of Paris & ECF President] explains that there have been continuous waves of innovation in the last half decade that have shaken the mobility system, particularly in the case of Paris. There are now seven operators of e-scooters alone in Paris. “We have to move towards a multimodal system … there is still a risk of congestion as shared cars are still cars! ... is New Mobility really sustainable and is it really for all?” Mr. Najdovski remarked.

Robin Chase [Co-founder Zipcar] added that new mobility is technology applied to mobility. The key is pricing and street allocation; companies like UBER, i.e. providing services of single-occupancy, are not paying their share which makes it hard for bikes and scooters to have sustainable business models. When asked whether there is a trade-off between share & pooled, electric & autonomous, Ms. Chase explained that shared is a continuum, with BRT on the one end and the car on the other. If street space is reallocated for example between active modes and shared modes, and the pricing reflects real cost then there would be no trade-offs she concluded.

Benefits of New Mobility for Developing Countries

During a very stimulating second plenary, experts from Senegal, Ethiopia, South Korea, shared their views on the current mobility challenges and the ones to come for developing countries. According to Alioune Badiane [President, The Urban Think Thank Africa-TUTTA, Senegal] “The biggest revolution in mobility in Africa is the mobile phone, it helps Africa leapfrog everything when infrastructure does not exist.” On a similar tone Nestor Roa [Chief, Transport Division, Inter-American Development Bank] pointed out that new challenges are not that new; urbanization, financing public transport, increase in car ownership and many more are old challenges that persist particularly for developing countries.

Solomon Kidane Zegeye, [Deputy Mayor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia] sited the frequent change of government officials as one of the main challenges for Ethiopia. As transport investments are long-term, politicians tend to focus on low-hanging fruit, and thus there is no continued investment in capacity building of institutions, which is essential for the better integration of para-transit, new mobility, first and last mile informal arrangements.

The panelists agreed that the integration of urban centres and suburbs/rural areas is essential in this context. Mr. Badiane recommended that the informal economy has to be given a chance to integrate with big systems of BRT and rail, along with walking and cycling. Maruxa Cardama, [Secretary General, SLoCaT Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport] added that new mobility needs to be included in big infrastructure projects to reap the benefits of both improved and avoided modal shifts.

Sum4All and New Mobility: Safety, Access, Efficiency and Green

This topic was split over two fascinating plenaries featuring high caliber speakers. Matthew Baldwin, [Deputy General Director for Transport and Mobility, European Commission] shared some key statistics from Europe on road safety; 25,000 people die in the EU every year which costs approximately 1 trillion EUR/year when broader external costs are accounted for. “There is a risk that the cost of mobility exceeds the benefit”. On an EU level, he emphasized that mobility is right up the political agenda.

Mary Crass, [Head of Institutional Relations and Summit, International Transport Forum (ITF)-OECD] pointed out that more than 10-20% of users have a disability. When the older population and the temporarily impaired are included, then it becomes very clear that we have to fully integrate access into long-term policy making. “By providing access you prolong the autonomy of the older population”, Ms. Crass remarked, to which Guillermo Dietrich, [Minister of Transport, Argentina] added “the dignity of access is essential”, and Anna Wellenstein, [Director, Urban, Rural & Social Development Global Practice, World Bank] concluded that “when you design for people with disabilities you design for everyone”.

On the topic of efficiency Peter Calthorpe, [CEO, Calthorpe Associates] stated that “Autonomous Vehicles are a lease on time for the middle class and the wealthy… the answer is transit”. Heather Thompson, [CEO, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP)] agreed and added that the prospect of zero-occupancy autonomous vehicles is a scary one. Bringing in the reality of Costa Rica, and the contract of green and urban Costa Rica, Claudia Dobles Camargo, [First Lady of the Republic of Costa Rica] asked “How can we provide a sense of equality in access to technology?”. As social dynamics move faster than regulatory systems, the government is face with constant challenges to answer social questions along with the structural ones brought about by innovations such as new mobility.

Sophie Punte, [Executive Director, Smart Freight Centre] emphasized that there cannot be sustainable transport without sustainable freight, giving examples of existing leasing models for long-term sustainability – within which the responsibility lies with suppliers to keep the bus going for 30 years for example. She concluded that all solutions exist, it is now about scaling, standardizing, not over-regulating and mobilizing action with transparency. “The key is collaboration” she said, which echoed two days of stimulating discussions.