RELEASE: Community-First New Mobility Playbook Provides Roadmap for Inclusive Transportation Systems
RELEASE: New Mobility Playbook Provides Roadmap for Cities, Communities & Mobility Operators to Create Inclusive Transportation Systems
‘Starting Off Right’ Promotes ‘Community-First’ Approach Based on Engagement & Participation
Washington, D.C. (December 9, 2020) — A new digital tool has launched to help cities engage communities and new mobility services like electric scooters and ride-hailing to deploy transportation innovations inclusively and intentionally.
Starting Off Right: A Community-First New Mobility Playbook from NUMO (the New Urban Mobility alliance) is built on the premise that the way new mobility innovations enter communities matters. Whether mobility disruptions are just arriving at the door or a city is seeking to redefine its relationship with existing services, a ‘community-first’ approach is necessary to successfully integrate innovations into a city's mobility ecosystem.
“New mobility services continue to arrive in cities every day. The way we manage these arrivals today will dictate how we handle what will come tomorrow — whether that’s drones, autonomous vehicles or anything else,” said Sebastian Castellanos, NUMO research lead. “We have a collective responsibility to ensure these services work for everyone in our communities, not just those who already have many mobility options.”
To develop the playbook, NUMO and CityMart convened a coalition of public agencies, private mobility services, development banks and non-profit organizations to conduct research into community engagement and market entry to arrive at strategies and best practices for community-first deployment. Examining over 100 community participation case studies from around the world, the coalition — which includes the City of Austin, District Department of Transportation, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, Inter-American Development Bank, JUMP, Lyft, New Flyer, New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission, Populus, Portland Bureau of Transportation, Ride Report, World Bank and World Resources Institute — extracted the most relevant knowledge and tools to build an easy-to-use playbook that allows cities to choose one of three paths based on when a new mobility innovation will arrive.
“From micromobility to delivery robots, new mobility innovations are already in cities — with more on the horizon. Cities need tools to ensure these services are actually solving the needs of our communities rather than just shifting trips from public transit or active transportation modes,” said Harriet Tregoning, NUMO director. “‘Starting Off Right’ guides cities to put the community in the driver’s seat, amplifying the voices of those who are potentially most affected by disruption in the deployment of new mobility, as well as helping the private sector better understand the community’s needs.”
Learn more at communityfirst.numo.global. For media inquiries, please contact Madlyn McAuliffe at madlyn@numo.global.
About NUMO
NUMO is a global alliance that channels tech-based disruptions in urban transport to create joyful cities where sustainable and just mobility is the new normal. Founded in 2019 as an outgrowth of the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities, NUMO convenes diverse allies and leverages the momentum of significant revolutions in mobility to target urban issues — including equity, sustainability, accessibility and labor — impacted by the shifting transportation landscape. NUMO is hosted by WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. For more information, visit www.numo.global.
Header image: City of Fort Collins / Flickr
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