In Bloom

Mar 15

Written By Cityfi

1,865 words in this newsletter - about 8 minutes to read.

By Vicki Fanibi

With DC’s famed cherry blossoms officially entering their final stages towards peak bloom, this week feels like an exciting page turn towards cyclical renewal. This seasonality perhaps parallels the recent shift in public perception of shared micromobility which Sarah Saltz and Evan Costagliola dig into below, examining its history and lending analysis to the policymaking and regulatory decisions that have led us to this moment.

The energy of early springtime is akin to that of young, inventive minds seeking to create tangible, long-lasting change with their lived-experience, demands for equity, and a budding knowledge of planning and transportation. Recognizing the role we play in building up new professionals, I (Vicki Fanibi) spoke to a graduate student in Louisiana who, in response to their family’s stolen acreage in the 1940s, is determined to create sustainable and self-contained communities across the country.

Cityfi has built a reputation ushering in novel solutions through our Policy + Civic Innovation practice which helps clients transform existing systems of management. Camron Bridgford’s piece on our work with the District Department of Transportation illustrates how we guide clients toward regenerative outcomes that positively impact the populace.

As spring blooms in all our offices from Los Angeles to Utrecht, Miami to Austin, we are eager to launch a 1,000 mile e-bike challenge (using our employee bike benefit bikes!). You are likely to run into our staff biking around the cities of upcoming conferences - CoMotion, NACTO, the ULI Spring Meeting, and ITS America. And speaking of running, if you are in Los Angeles on March 17, please cheer on our very own Monique Ho as she runs (and crushes!!) the LA Marathon! Please send her some good luck!

Looking Back to Move Forward: Part One of Cityfi's Take on the State of Shared Mobility

By Evan Costagliola and Sarah Saltz

Welcome to Part One of our three-part series on the future of shared micromobility. Read it here! With this first installment, we unpack recent news about shared micromobility and the historical context that got us to where we are. While there is no shortage of pontificating on the events of the past few months, in our humble opinion, this is different. Without reacting to one city or company event, now that the dust has settled from some of this turmoil, what’s top of mind for us in shared micromobility now? We bring a unique perspective looking at the past, present, and future of the industry and want to share it.

In this segment, we explore five lessons from history:

Missing ingredients for micromobility’s success. Whether it’s funding, safe infrastructure, policy, or incentives, government at all levels has insufficiently invested in shared micromobility. Yet, the private sector shares the blame (we’re looking at you micromobility companies and venture capital).
Regulatory missteps. Having previously dealt with state preemption from regulating ride-hailing companies, cities tended to over-regulate the emerging shared micromobility services. While granting cities more control and leading to useful policy innovation, this stymied industry growth.
Product-market (mis)fit. One size or flavor of shared micromobility didn’t (and will never) fit all needs. Clearly, there is no one winning solution, which, historically, has led to bizarre in-fighting and reductive thinking. The rootedness – and the money – in shared micromobility is in the diversity of models and programs.
Siloes and governance. Shared micromobility and bike share programs have historically been managed in isolation from the rest of the mobility ecosystem. At the same time, governance models have not been calibrated to achieve positive outcomes or financially sustainable partnerships with the industry.
Micromobility’s booster pack. The transition from human-powered to electric micromobility transformed the importance of micromobility in the broader mobility ecosystem, and also brought new challenges like battery management and infrastructure adaptation.

District Department of Transportation Pilot Framework: Aligning Process to Meet Outcomes

By Camron Bridgford

As part of Cityfi’s Civic Innovation practice area, we are often focused on the “how” and “through what means” our clients - whether government agencies, non-profit organizations, or private companies - are able to meet their community-facing outcomes, policy goals, and financial targets. For instance, if a city wants to pilot a resilience hub to improve access to community resources and emergency response, Cityfi will ask in tandem: what resources and staff capacity will this pilot need? What partnerships will enable financing and better risk management? How are the community’s desired outcomes and the city’s values embedded into the program design? And perhaps most importantly, is the agency conducting the pilot equipped-- through their processes, structure, workflows, and culture--to test, evaluate, iterate, and scale the hub pilot if it is successful?

With this in mind, Cityfi guided its client, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), to develop their Pilot Framework. The Framework’s key objectives are to standardize and streamline the review process for potential pilot projects within DDOT, so as to create a unified entry point for companies (as well as internally-pitched pilots) interested in exploring new projects. In short, this Framework will help DDOT more effectively oversee and promote innovative solutions for the city, its residents, and DDOT’s internal staff.

As part of this project’s process, Cityfi and Compass Consulting engaged DDOT staff in workshops to understand the vision for a pilot framework, as well as conducted a market scan of peer cities’ pilot processes across the United States. This allowed the Framework to incorporate best practices as well as specifically address the on-the-ground challenges DDOT staff experience in the piloting process, ensuring that the final deliverable was strategic and values-driven, but also streamlined and geared toward tactical action. Overall, the Framework is intended to serve as a cornerstone and supplement to DDOT’s ongoing pilot review process, with an aim of reducing staff time and effort while simultaneously fostering engagement with innovators. The Framework also provides legislative and permitting strategies to help facilitate pilot project implementation.

This Pilot Framework is a great example of why cities and their partners need to think about how they can improve their organizational design, management, and processes to most effectively manage change and spur innovation to better meet community needs. At its heart, our Civic Innovation practice area is about how cities can approach seemingly intractable or difficult challenges in new ways so as to produce different outcomes. More often than not, part (if not all!) of the solution lies within internal improvements that embrace new ways of thinking and doing.

Future City Leader Profile: Jaloni B. Fry

Interviewed by Vicki Fanibi

It is our responsibility as planning and transportation professionals to create a welcoming environment for the next generation of practitioners. Much of our professional success is credited to the patience of mentors offering wisdom and guidance when needed. In encountering a young person who feels so sure and purpose-driven in their professional path, we must create opportunities and space for them to vocalize their ideas.

In speaking with Jaloni Fry, a student pursuing her Masters in Urban Planning at the University of New Orleans, there’s so much value in hearing her reflect on her lived experience as a Black woman in the South and her role as a community builder. As you read and listen to the interview with Jaloni, it may be a nice moment to sit back and count the small (and not-so-small) ways that you have been propelled in this industry. Our full conversation is on the Cityfi blog.

How did you find yourself pursuing an urban planning degree? What events led you here?
Jaloni: There’s a lot of different family lore that contributes. A long time ago in the 1940s, I had a great uncle in Amite County, Mississippi who was threatened out of land. He was stolen from. I was thinking, “Oh, so that’s why we don’t have that land anymore?” So then it was about trying to figure out real estate because I wanted to be a real estate lawyer. But law school did not work out, and the experience was not for me. I started wondering where else I could go. I was talking to my dad about it, and he said, “You always bring up different neighborhoods and what’s included and why certain neighborhoods have certain characteristics…maybe look up the name of that profession that you keep talking to me about?” I then started doing research and went to this TikTok from this woman named Britt (@signedbritt). She showed a “Day in the Life of an Urban Planner” explaining the job, and it was everything I wanted to know and was interested in…it just went off from there.

Where in the World is Cityfi?

Check out where Cityfi will be in the upcoming weeks. We may be speaking at conferences, leading workshops, hosting events, and/or actively engaging in collaborative learning within the community. We would love to see you.

Smart Growth America Equity Summit - Washington, DC - March 27 - 28

Sahar Shirazi will be running a workshop on Day 1 at 4:00 PM centered around addressing challenges in equitable planning and implementation with actionable solutions. Reach out to her to meet up! Don’t forget to be on the lookout for Vicki Fanibi and Carolina de Urquijo, as well.

Curbivore 2024 - Los Angeles, CA - March 28 - 29

Alex Kapur, Chelsea Lawson, Chrissy Anecito, and Monique Ho will be hosting a workshop centered on restaurant and food service workers' voices in curb planning. Outside of the workshop, they will be happy to talk shop or about the great L.A. weather, so don’t be shy. Say hello!

ULI Spring Meeting - New York, NY - April 9 - 12

Story Bellows will be a guest at the Responsible Property Investment Council’s meeting, engaging with the ULI America’s NEXT Leadership through her steering committee role, and participating in the Resiliency Summit. Please let her know if you’ll be there.

As partners, Cityfi also encourages you to join us at upcoming conferences:

CoMotion MIAMI - Miami, FL - May 6 - 7 - register here.

What We’re Reading

Curated by Vicki Fanibi

Articles handpicked by the Cityfi team for your enjoyment:

Accessibility: An App That Helps Riders With Vision Loss Navigate Complex Transit Systems
Mobility: Follow Along on Five Work Commutes Around the World
Reimagined Streets: Bike lanes are good for business
Reimagined Streets: MapLab: How Much Space Does Your City Dedicate to Parking
Civic Innovation: Cities Face Cutbacks as Commercial Real Estate Prices Tumble

Job Openings

Are you exploring opportunities for your next role? Check out these positions, and contact us at info@cityfi.co to learn more!

DC Mobility Innovation District