Pushing the Envelope

Written By Cityfi

2,200 words in this newsletter - about 9 minutes and 15 seconds to read.

By Karina Ricks
 
Cityfi has Johnny Cash stuck in our head, specifically, “I’ve Been Everywhere.” April showers have only just brought May flowers and in the past two weeks Cityfi’ers have been north, south, east, west, and even crossed the Atlantic. We made a CoMotion, talked about digital twinning at ITS America, sat with cities at NACTO, and forged the future at WTS. We biked with the best in NYC and charged down the coast in California. We aren’t done yet as there is still the Smart City Expo and more to go.
 
Still buzzing from the last few weeks of conference season, the Cityfi team is sharing our experiences leading discussions at ITS America, storytelling with Big Data at CoMotion Miami, discussing the pulse of progress at WTS International, and equity and inclusivity in transportation at NACTO. We are also excited to share the latest (and final!) installment in our micromobility series.
 
Also - it's National Bike Month! To celebrate, Associate Carolina de Urquijo shares her journey from a never-biker to a joyful rider and the organizer of Cityfi’s Bike Month Bingo (where we get to flex our amazing employee e-bike reimbursement benefit competing against each other).
 
Finally, we just can’t wait for Mother’s Day…literally, we couldn’t wait. Earlier this week we welcomed our newest Cityfi’er as Partner Alexander Kapur celebrated the arrival of his first child - the SIXTH City”fire” in our brief history (and we couldn’t be more proud - Congratulations Alexander and Mona!).

What’s Next for Shared Micromobility: The Final Installment

 

There’s a lot of talk about shared e-cargo bikes being part of the future of shared micromobility. Evan’s son (pictured) has strong, mostly positive, feelings about this idea. [Photo: Evan Costagliola]

 

By Evan Costagliola and Sarah Saltz
 
We’ve finally made it to the end of Cityfi's take on the state of shared micromobility. The third, and final, installment has been posted on our blog. Read it HERE! While the first two parts focused on history and direction for the present, our third installment highlights different perspectives on what the future could (and should) look like. We look to both the very near and very distant future - not from our voice, but from government, company, and investment leaders in the shared micromobility space. We interviewed Shari Shapiro (Global Head of Policy at Lime), Russ Brooks (City of Minneapolis mobility planner leading shared mobility and mobility hub initiatives), and Cees de Witte (angel investor, board advisor, and mobility insider) to get their take on these potential futures.
 
The conversations focus on their visions for the future of shared micromobility, the role of public-private partnerships, and what generally excites them in this space right now. The takeaways are wide-ranging, but the following really resonated with us:

  • The future of shared micromobility has far greater public sector support to secure more diverse and equitable offerings. Support ranges from capital and operations investment and rider subsidies to expanded safe riding infrastructure and workforce development.

  • Shared micromobility programs will offer a much wider variety of service models and vehicle types, but operate as a cohesive system.

  • ​​Shared micromobility offerings will be treated as commercial, rather than consumer products.

  • There will be a growing trend away from ownership because of the growing affordability crisis, leading to more sharing, leasing, or subscription models.

  • There is potential for a new slate of governance structures and operating models, including running shared micromobility systems as a utility, hybrid systems operated by values-centered non-profits, and even regional systems that manage for regional mobility needs.

 
Read it here. We think this is a fantastic read, which is appropriately summed up by Cees de Witte: “I have no idea what the next label (of shared micromobility) will be, but we will absolutely have more mobility. We're in for a wild ride, and on every level it will be positive.”
 
Preach, Cees. Preach.

ITS America City Roundtable - Advancing Digital Infrastructure

 
 

By Karina Ricks
 
Cityfi was pleased to sponsor a reception for women in transportation technology during the ITS America gathering. This safe space to socialize and collaborate is always a highlight of this and many other conferences. This year was one of the largest and so much fun (thank you Kristin White for catalyzing and Julie Evans for making it happen!)
 
Partner Karina Ricks was invited to facilitate the City Roundtable plenary at the Annual Meeting. Panelists Stephanie Dock (DC DOT), Eulois Cleckly (Miami-Dade DTPW), Abraham Emmanuel (Chicago DOT), Manny Manriquez (Albuquerque International Sunport) joined private sector leaders Kurtis McBride and Brent Rogerson (Miovision) to discuss the obstacles and opportunities of digital twins and digital infrastructure..
 
Key takeaways from the discussion were the tremendous opportunity of digital infrastructure to aid cities - not only in planning, maintaining, and operating their infrastructure but also in engaging the public, elected officials, and executive leadership. Digital twins can allow heretofore unfathomable analytic assistance while, digital infrastructure can enable safety, optimization, and complete street improvements at a network scale (improvements typically only achieved at the intersection, segment, or corridor level).
 
At the same time, cities have yet a lot to learn. Data governance protocols, for example, are much more mature and vertically and horizontally integrated and adopted in private industry than in public operations. Cybersecurity remains a very real concern and threat. Cities lack both expertise and capacity to manage the large datasets, and distrust remains in the ability of cities to reliably maintain currency of digital infrastructure layers.
 
ITS America remains a unique forum to bring together private innovators and public sector leaders from the federal, state, regional, and local levels, as well as transit providers. The City Roundtable reinforced the imperative to engage local municipalities in emerging technology development, aid their capacity-building efforts, and orient toward the real-world challenges cities are striving to address.

Miami Mobility Week and Safe Journeys

 
 

By Karla Peralta
 
What a week in Miami, with CoMotion and NACTO in full swing! Here are my highlights of the week:

  • CoMotion hosted a great session on "Exploring the Power of Storytelling with Big Data," where Andrew Glass Hastings of the Open Mobility Foundation facilitated a discussion with Millicent Williams (Portland Bureau of Transportation), Marcel Porras (LA Metro), Thibault Castagne (Vianova), and Roamy Valera (Automotus). Their discussion underscored the power of data storytelling to drive policy decisions, emphasizing the need to humanize data and bridge public-private divides.

  • At NACTO, I loved Veronica Davis’s presentation on Inclusive Transportation and her three guiding principles to excel in our transportation work — focus on what you can do; accept that you may not be the one to build it; and allow yourself to rest/recharge. For those interested in delving deeper, I recommend reading Cityfi’s interview with Veronica facilitated by Associate Vicki Fanibi.

  • I had the opportunity to moderate the panel discussion on "Safe Journeys: Countering Gender and Queer Violence on Transit" at NACTO. Our conversation with Tamika Butter, Lauramaria Pedraza, and Elba Higueros shed light on the unfortunate reality that safety on transit is not universal. We explored the pervasive nature of gender and queer violence in transit, examined existing initiatives, and discussed practical steps for cities, transit agencies, and communities to mitigate such violence. (A heartfelt thank you to my colleague Sarah Saltz for her collaboration in planning this session!)

 
For those seeking further insights, I recommend exploring resources like the Transport Gender Lab by the IADB, the Gender Action Plan from Metro LA, and Changing Lanes: A Gender Equity Transportation Study.
 
In conclusion, Miami Mobility Week was a fantastic experience, leaving me thoroughly energized by the passion and dedication of individuals committed to shaping the future of mobility. If you'd like to continue the conversation or learn more about any of the topics discussed, please don't hesitate to reach out. 

Daring Disruption at WTS

By Karina Ricks
 
Partner Karina Ricks joined an illustrious and visionary panel at WTS International in New Orleans this week alongside national luminaries Preeti Choudhary (ODOT), Lori Pepper (STV), Kristin White (USDOT), and Kimberly Williams (Houston METRO) (with a huge thanks to Kirsten Van Gilst, without whom the panel would not have occurred!) on the critical topic of  Turbocharging Mobility and Sparking the Electric Revolution. To accommodate the fast pace of the WTS 60-minute format, the panelist posted provocative position statements in advance of the panel. Below is the poke provided by Karina:
 
American travelers are in the midst of disruption. Whether they routinely take bus, bike, or Buick, thanks to an injection of catalytic funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), America is finally moving with swift urgency to decarbonize transportation.
 
This transition necessarily shakes up some old travel habits. Buses are figuring out fuel cells, bikes are getting a boost, and cars are going green.
 
We seem intent, however, on making this transition as least disruptive as possible. We are pulling out all the stops to make it easy and seamless for motorists to pivot from fueling up to charging up without needing to rethink anything else, such as:
 

  • Why are we encouraging, without viable alternatives, the transport of just 1 person 2 miles in a full sized, 3,000 pound resource-consuming behemoth?

  • Who is getting left (further) behind, when they can’t afford a $50,000 vehicle, safely pedal 7 miles, or wait for the one bus an hour to a less-than-livable-wage job?

  • Can we realistically source enough rare earth minerals or produce enough zero-emission power to fuel America’s still-growing driving dependance?

 
It doesn’t have to be this way. We can meet people where they are with vehicle form factors and service models that are more affordable, less consumptive, with fewer roadway dangers, and equivalent convenience. We can take a humble cue from nations like India, Colombia, and Kenya, which are making strides to electrify community mobility options like minivans, tuk-tuks, and motorbikes. We can recognize that low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles are an interstitial form factor that may be better suited for transporting an adult and two school-aged kids, or an older adult and two bags of groceries, or a squad of teens headed to high school, with lower impact, lower cost, and greater resiliency than traditional American modes. We can, and should, take down regulatory barriers to their sale, use, and adoption and make them street legal.
 
We should not waste the opportunity of the zero-emission disruption to introduce new options along with new habits and enable a more sustainable and equitable future.

From Swearing Off Bikes to Initiating the Cityfi Bike Challenge

 
 

By Carolina de Urquijo

As Carlos Vives and Shakira say “A tu manera, descomplicado. En una bici que te lleve a todos lados.” (Your way, uncomplicated. On a bike that takes you everywhere.) That feeling of freedom and simplicity while riding a bike is my favorite, but it wasn't always the case.

Over a decade ago, I swore off riding bikes. Recently, things changed, and now I find myself cycling through the streets of NYC, getting my own e-bike (thanks to Cityfi's e-bike employee benefit), and spearheading Cityfi's Bike Month Bingo initiative. I've always been someone who takes promises seriously. For instance, from a young age, I vowed never to drink milk after my mom banned bottles in our household, a promise I've held for almost 30 years. However, bikes proved to be the exception, shattering my perfect record.

The turning point came during our company retreat last year when I rediscovered the sheer joy and freedom of cycling. Now you'll find me flying down the infamous Harlem Hill (Central Park's steepest hill) and convincing friends to go on rides. Working at Cityfi further opened my eyes to the bicycle's vital role in creating vibrant cities. From issues around equity and advocacy to concerns about safety and infrastructure, our work at the firm has changed my perception of bicycles and their crucial role in fostering connected and joyful cities. Our work ranges from strategic planning that acknowledges micromobility's critical role in equitable and accessible mobility in cities to developing fleet transition plans while asking tough questions such as: “Should this be a car, or could another mode of transportation suffice?” We also assist communities pilot or implement bikeshare programs to incentivize mode shift and reduce reliance on cars for short trips.

To learn more about our subject matter expertise in shared micromobility, I encourage you to read the three-part series by my colleagues Evan and Sarah on the Future of Micromobility (Part 1, Part 2, and the just released Part 3).

We're excited to share our Bike Month Bingo with you and invite you to share your experiences with us. If you last got on a bike a while ago, I invite you to reconsider and rediscover the joy and freedom bikes can bring. 

NY Tech Week Event Promo

By Sarah Saltz
 
Will you be in NYC for NY Tech Week in June? Join Cityfi and our friends at it’s electric and CLIP for coffee, networking, and a relaxed pace bike tour to see some of the coolest mobility tech projects and demonstrations in Brooklyn.  
 
Apply to join us here.

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 Cities Expo - New York, NY - May 22 - 23
 
Welcome To “Spatial Reality” - Wednesday, May 22nd (11:00 - 11:30 AM)
 
When Pokémon Go debuted in 2016, thousands of players stampeded through parks, trespassed en masse, and injured as many as 30,000 people due to distracted driving. What’s the worst that could happen to cities once a new generation of AI-powered wearable devices drops, led by the Apple Vision Pro? And how can public officials and policymakers start preparing now? To answer those questions, more than a dozen current and former public officials have explored the perils and possibilities of AI and spatial reality at urban scale. Using a foresight method known as “threatcasting,” they collectively imagined the future(s) they wanted — and wanted to avoid. In this session, members of the cohort (including Partner Story Bellows) will share what they learned and discuss how threatcasting offers cities a new tool for preparing for disruption. Not only is Cityfi a part of the Expo, but as partners, we would love to see you there learning and supporting topics we care so much about. Register here!

What We’re Reading

Curated by Ryan Parzick

Articles handpicked by the Cityfi team we have found interesting:

Job Openings

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

New York City Department of Transportation

Federation of American Scientists

City of San Jose Department of Transportation

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