Changing Leaf Colors, Changing Times

Written By Cityfi

By Ryan Parzick

It’s Fall y’all! The cooling temperatures and the leaves on the ground brings about a sense of change or transition. The world is always changing and, whether we like the change or not, we work to understand it and adapt to it. This month’s newsletter touches on change because, frankly, this is what we do at Cityfi. We foster change with innovative ideation and problem-solving acumen. We collaborate with those who want to create or initiate change in their communities or partnerships to drive critical climate and equity outcomes.

In this edition of the Cityfi newsletter, we highlight a transformative project funded by the USDOT’s ATTAIN program, applaud a new Climate Officer position created by the Seattle Department of Transportation, share our thoughts on an effective mode of transportation in Mexico City, and recap a month of innovation sharing and learning in Europe.

But wait … that’s not all! Since we are in the business of evolution, it is only natural that we have some change here at Cityfi, as well. That’s right, we have a new team member! See below for our brief introduction of Principal Marla Westervelt.

We leave you with a challenge. If you see a need for change, be the one who initiates it. Let us know how we can help!

Welcome, Marla!

 
 

By Team Cityfi

This week, Team Cityfi grew to include our newest Principal! We are super excited to welcome Marla Westervelt to the team!

Based in Chicago, Marla brings robust experience working across think-tanks and advocacy organizations, private sector start-ups, and transit agencies. Marla has built her career around a passion for aligning the public and private sectors to yield outcomes in the public interest.

Marla’s previous experience includes serving as a founding member and Head of Research at LA Metro’s former Office of Extraordinary Innovation, leading policy research and policy development as VP of Policy at SAFE’s Coalition for Reimagined Mobility, and as an early-stage employee at Bird Rides leading data sharing with cities. She has also worked with the Eno Center for Transportation, MobilityData, Populus, and Exodigo.

Through these experiences, Marla has developed unique expertise in driving innovation within large bureaucracies, developing and implementing public-private partnerships introducing and deploying new technologies, and leveraging data to improve outcomes in the movement of goods and people.

Marla holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science and a Bachelor’s in English from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She was honored in the Association for Commuter Transportation 40 under 40 in 2019 and Mass Transit 40 under 40 in 2018. 

Marla’s favorite activities include walking her dog Winnie on the beach (of Lake Michigan), traveling and far stretches of the globe, and triathlons. In her time off between jobs, Marla hiked to Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal.

Lane Transit District Secures $5.2 Million ATTAIN Grant to Build Regional Mobility Platform

Photo Credit:  Lane Transit District

By Monique Ho

Lane Transit District (LTD) recently secured a $5.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Advanced Transportation Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) program. With support from Cityfi, LTD developed a competitive application for this grant, aiming to bring innovative transit solutions to Lane County. This funding presents an exciting opportunity to design and pilot a proof-of-concept that embeds LTD’s ongoing mobility management work, including the development of the agency’s Mobility Management Framework led by Monique Ho and Karina Ricks.

The ATTAIN program supports advanced technologies to improve safety, mobility, and efficiency in transportation systems, prioritizing projects that promote better connectivity, streamline operations, and make efficient use of existing infrastructure. LTD’s project, aptly named the Regional Mobility-Enabled Service Hub (Regional MESH), will tackle several issues limiting mobility in Lane County’s rural communities. Like many rural places across the country, public transportation options in Lane County are limited and difficult for riders (and would-be riders) to navigate. While multiple public agencies operate services in the area, regional transit planning is siloed. This lack of cohesion and unique platforms leads to missed efficiencies, unseen equity gaps, and limits on innovative solutions.

To address these challenges, LTD is collaborating with the Lane Council of Governments (LCOG), University of Oregon’s Urbanism Next, a private tech provider, a school district, and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Together, they will design and deploy a first-of-its-kind planning platform, consolidating transit data across providers to improve service visibility, efficiency, and access to real-time transit information for residents. The project will also introduce on-demand transit services within a low-income school district, optimize fixed-route options in rural areas, and collect data from a linked trip-planning app to guide future transit planning.

The ATTAIN-funded Regional MESH initiative will be transformative, using cloud-based software to enable local mobility managers to manage and model all transit types—from buses to school and on-demand services. This groundbreaking platform will offer a comprehensive view of regional mobility options, support policy decisions with robust data, and serve as a scalable model for other regions nationwide. By creating a flexible, white-label solution, the project will enable transit agencies in diverse regions—both urban and rural—to replicate and adapt the solution to their unique needs.

We are proud to have contributed to helping LTD secure funding for this innovative planning platform. At Cityfi, we take pride in making the “never been done before” a reality. Our team of creative problem-solvers is ready to push the envelope and innovate with you. Reach out to learn how we can help.

Seattle Department of Transportation’s Response to Climate Change

 
 

By Story Bellows

In a week/month when good news feels needed, particularly good climate news, it feels appropriate to highlight Greg Spotts and Radcliffe Dacanay from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). Cityfi had the privilege of working with Greg and Radcliffe (and a host of other incredible leaders) in developing SDOT’s Climate Change Response Framework, which was formally launched last summer. One of the key recommendations was the SDOT create its own climate office to ensure coordination and leadership across all of the department’s programs and projects. Last week Greg announced Radcliffe as the first ever Climate Officer for SDOT, and we can’t think of anybody better suited to take on this challenge!

Cities are going to need to demonstrate significant leadership over the next four years (and beyond) in order to advance toward long standing climate goals. It’s great to see Seattle taking the lead, and we look forward to seeing others follow suit (I’m too superstitious to fully shout out congestion charging in NYC, but fingers are crossed).

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s … Cablebús!

Photos Credit: Story Bellows

By Story Bellows

There’s an old saying that you can’t have good, fast, and cheap. You can have two of three, but it always comes at the expense of the third.

Last month, I had the privilege of attending Citylab in Mexico City, thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute. As always, they brought together an incredible and inspiring group of mayors and city leaders from across the globe. They also provided the opportunity for attendees to go on a field trip to explore one of the many transformative projects and sites in Mexico City, like the Utopias of Itzapalapa, a series of community centers delivered by Mayor Clara Brugada; the renewal of Chapultepec Park; or Frida Kahlo’s house and neighborhood. On the waitlist for both the floating gardens of Xochimilco and the Longest Cable Car Line in the world, I opted to lean professional and chose the latter.

The traffic in Mexico City lived up to its reputation, so an hour and a half later, we arrived by bus to explore another mode of urban transit, the gondola. For the second time in a month, I found myself on a work trip, in another country, getting on a gondola. Note that this is not my usual mode of transport, and usually when I do take a gondola, it’s typically a one-way journey up.

The gondola in Mexico City is not this - at all. It is an example of what urban transport bloggers have been talking about for the last decade or so - cost effective, neighborhood-serving transit that doesn’t take decades to build. CDMX is not the first or only city to use gondolas, and they’re currently being explored in multiple cities in the United States.

Back to the field trip - before we entered the station, we stood at the beginning of the line, a multi-modal transit center to hear about the development and operations of Cablebus Line 2, aka the Longest Cable Car line in the world. As I started listening to the team who delivered and operate this project, I began furiously typing stats:

  • 305 cabins

  • 59 stands

  • 7 stations (each with a market or serving as a broader mobility hub)

  • 800 rooftop murals funded

  • 85% cost covered by fare box

  • $.35 per ride

  • 18 months to construct

  • All electric

  • 75K people per day (50% above plan)

  • $3.2B pesos

It all felt a little too good to be true. $3.2 Billion pesos is somewhere around $160M USD. As I did the currency conversion and thought about the timeline, I was ready to get on the Cablebús and see if the quality could possibly live up to expectations.

Clean bathrooms, seamless payment, an easy cabin entry - this felt like the type of experience that defines transportation happiness. The four cabins I was in were nearly spotless (as were all of the cabins we saw), everybody had a seat, and the views were truly spectacular. The rooftop mural program has created hundreds of incredible works of art, and the topography allows for an experience of the city that you don’t get walking at street level. The two stations I went in were a little sterile, but that feels like it could evolve. Serving the mobility needs of 75k people a day feels like a massive win, and this was just one line. New lines are in the works (the mayor announced five more at Citylab), meaning more people in CDMX will have better commutes - not in decades, but in a few years.

Impressed as I am, a few questions were left unanswered that likely have major implications for what we need to do to implement this in the United States.

Legal: How would we manage air rights? Or at least avoid dozens of years of legal battles because of issues related to air rights? From what I could understand, this was not an issue with Cablebús Line 2, but feels completely fundamental to deploying gondolas in many cities in the United States.

Safety: Supposedly there have not been major incidents, but I could imagine some unpleasant scenarios. I know one of the other new Cablebús lines has cameras in all of the cabins, but the one I rode just had a help button.

Equity / Economic Development: Part of me felt deep guilt flying above these neighborhoods, not walking around or experiencing life on the street. Granted this mode of transit is accessible to all, but I still felt a little bit like a flaneur, not daring to get myself dirty with some real street level human interaction. Had I not been part of a tour, maybe I’d have wandered around and avoided that, or maybe I’d have listened to friends who said these might not be neighborhoods I should walk around by myself. At any rate, it did give me pause.

I entered the tour expecting to be underwhelmed. I was not. I still question whether this is the ultimate transit investment we could or should make, but this might be a case of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Would excellent subway lines and accessible stations be preferable long term? Probably. Are there other alternatives to explore? Definitely. Did this feel like a high quality, viable, cost effective, enjoyable mode of transit that should be explored? Absolutely. Good, fast, and cheap - it doesn’t usually work out, but this may be the exception to the rule.

Oh, Xochimilco, Frida Kahlo, all of the neighborhoods I didn’t get a chance to explore on my feet, I’m coming back for you, but CDMX, your transit was the highlight of my trip.

Cityfi’s Whirlwind Month in Europe

By Evan Costagliola

In the past few weeks, I was lucky to participate in some of Europe’s leading urban mobility and smart cities convenings–both as a speaker and an observer.

I was fortunate enough to attend the International Cargo Bike Festival (ICBF), which was held in Utrecht, NL. The ICBF showcased the latest and greatest hardware, software, and supportive services fueling the explosive growth in e-cargo bikes across the globe. There were many robust discussions about the e-cargo bike integration into urban logistics as well as new innovations on display, ranging from new ways to accommodate different loads (humans, dogs, beer kegs, and more) to features for municipal and industrial operations. My favorite innovation was from the Tarran T1 Pro’s Dynamic Dual Drive “landing gear” which serves as a kickstand as well as a stabilization mechanism to limit the risk of tipping during the first pedal strokes. The Festival was open to the public and very child-friendly, so I took advantage of the opportunity to indulge my son’s obsession with bakfiets.

Next up, I attended the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, starting with a jam-packed day at the DMI Ecosystem-led Smart City Business Days. This was a day full of insightful conversations about zero emissions zone policy, logistics hub implementation, and startup pitches. I was honored to moderate a panel at the Nordic + Baltic Pavilion on the Baltic Mobility Collaborative’s managed innovation and cross-border replication model. During this engaging panel, Edgars Starkis from ITS Latvia, Asta Kazlauskiene from the Transport Innovation Association of Lithuania, and Arnis Gulbis and Linda Alksne from the cities of Riga and Liepāja, respectively, discussed the promise and opportunities presented by the Baltic Mobility Collaborative, an initiative co-architected by Cityfi.

I also had the pleasure of organizing and moderating an engaging panel at the Tomorrow.Mobility Agora. "Ironing Out Mobility’s Kinks: People-Centered Mobility through Service Design" dove into service design and how it is used to develop mobility services and products that are more responsive to the needs of cities and their travelers. My fellow panelists were brilliant and included Liene Leikuma - Rimicāne from Latvian IT Cluster / DIH, Petr Suska from Prague OICT, Klara Svejdova from SKIDATA, and Boen Groothoff from the City of Amsterdam.

A few key takeaways from the panel that are a reflection of how Cityfi works across the public and private sectors to focus on city and end customer outcomes:

  • Service design, design thinking, and agile processes are standard operating procedures for technology companies, but they are relatively new to cities. De-siloing service design ensures that collaboration amongst cities and companies will reduce friction in our transportation systems.

  • Service design in mobility is largely focused on product, service, and pilot design. Cities have an opportunity to apply service design processes upstream, better aligning mobility policy and regulations with user experience and needs.

  • Cities should be intentional about incorporating service design into mobility policy, project/pilots, and even data-driven storytelling. It starts with strong leadership to institutionalize these methods. The City of Amsterdam is a leader in this area.

  • Engage with real people. Cities have the best beta testers in the world. Their residents! Use and reward them.

  • Companies like SKIDATA are hungry to partner and experiment with cities. Cities should build more formal and informal opportunities for service design collaboration.

Phew! So many conversations were had and relationships built. Stay tuned for the next installment of the Cityfi Europe dispatch. I will cover insights, takeaways, and opportunities stemming from an incredible Open Mobility Foundation study tour on Zero Emission Delivery and Smart Urban Logistics, led by Cityfi affiliate Gemma Schepers and me.

Stay Tuned … Our Second Climate-Related Displacement Webinar Coming in December!

By Chrissy Anecito, Nicole Davessar, and Story Bellows

In October, we hosted the first webinar of our Preparing Cities and Communities for Climate-Related Displacement series. We were extremely grateful to have Dr. Galen Treuer and Dave Reid join us to talk about how their communities have been thinking about, and preparing for, climate migration. If you weren’t able to join us or if you want to relive it again, you can now watch the recording!

UP NEXT:  Be on the lookout in December for our second webinar in the series - Ensuring Equitable Services in the Face of Climate Displacement. As residents may struggle to access essential services, find safe housing, and maintain their livelihoods in the face of climate displacement, this discussion will focus on the challenge of providing critical services and equitable support to disadvantaged communities. We will share more details on our panelists and how you can register soon!

Be sure to check LinkedIn for more details of this upcoming webinar. You can also read more about climate migration in our April 21st, 2023, February 16th, 2024, and June 7th, 2024 newsletters!

Coming Soon to the Cityfi Blog, the Second Installment of the Lessons from Latin America in Transportation Three-Part Series

By Karla Peralta and Carolina de Urquijo

Earlier this month, Carolina and Karla had the privilege of speaking with two inspiring members of Mujeres en Movimiento to explore their impactful work in advancing gender equity in transportation.

Their conversation delved into the factors driving the inclusion of gender perspectives in transportation systems in their countries, the steps needed to continue advancing this work, and the benefits and lessons learned from being part of movements like Mujeres en Movimiento.

The interview highlights their professional journeys, the motivations behind founding Mujeres en Movimiento, key projects they’ve worked on, challenges they’ve faced, and their vision for the future of mobility through a gender lens.

Stay tuned - our full interview will be published soon in the Cityfi blog! If you’re curious or have questions, feel free to reach out to us in the meantime.

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.

POLIS Conference - Karlsruhe, Germany - November 27 - 28

AI or BS? The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Mobility Management  - Thursday, November 28th (9:00 - 11:15 AM CET)

Come see Senior Principal Evan Costagliola speak on this panel alongside Alex Pazuchanics, Director of Mobility Innovation at Vianova I/O. Evan and Alex will dive into the speculative and, oftentimes, fraught world of artificial intelligence, how it is being applied to manage mobility and public spaces, as well as giving a stark warning to cities that are passive spectators. This is real talk, people. And the main point? If you aren’t at the table, you are on the menu.

What We’re Reading

Curated by Ryan Parzick

🎉 After just over a year of calling Utrecht our European home, we could not be happier with our decision to base our European operations here! The spirit of innovation, leading sustainability practices, and most importantly, great people have us looking forward to growing our relationship for many years to come. Read Senior Principal Evan Costagliola’s interview with ROM Utrecht Region about our move to Europe.

Articles handpicked by the Cityfi team we have found interesting:

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