Giving Compass' Take:

• Emily Bramhall and Martha Fedorowicz share three ways that cities are making equity a priority in mobility: flexible permitting, engaging with residents, and planing with equity as a goal.

• How can these approaches benefit efforts in your city? What communities have been underrepresented in mobility plans? 

• Learn why not all efforts to redesign streets are equitable. 

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and cities and states’ issuance of stay-at-home orders, public transportation use has fallen drastically leaving city officials with tough decisions on how to best manage future transit operations.

Some cities have partnered with new mobility companies offering ridesharing, car sharing, ride hailing, and micromobility services—shared docked and dockless bicycles and electric scooters—to provide transportation to essential workers. Some have also created more space in streets for pedestrians, bicyclists, and scooter riders to use micromobility options. As businesses and facilities reopen across the country, new mobility technologies could grow as an alternative or a supplement to public transit.

Even before the pandemic, many city leaders were working to integrate on-demand forms of transportation into their transportation systems. Through their responsive nature, new mobility technologies could increase transportation access for riders who lack reliable public transit options and reduce existing transportation inequities. But without proper planning, new mobility could have the opposite effect.

To better understand how cities are assessing the potential of new mobility technologies, we talked to transportation planners and new mobility companies in medium-size cities about how they work together to promote equitable access    to transportation. We learned how these partnerships function in potentially low-demand markets and use proactive procurement strategies to ensure equitable transportation outcomes for city residents. Three key themes emerged.

  1. Transportation officials use flexible permitting and proposal processes to embed equity considerations into new technologies
  2. Cities and companies need to engage with residents during each step
  3. Planning organizations should craft transportation plans with equity as a goal

To ensure that new mobility technologies are supporting transportation equity goals rather than exacerbating inequities, cities must build the capacity to be flexible, establish open lines of communication with companies, and engage the public throughout the decisionmaking process. Though the viability of current new mobility companies is uncertain, these emerging practices can inform systems and approaches to ensure cities are ready to proactively respond to future mobility technologies.

Read the full article about how cities are making equity a priority by Emily Bramhall and Martha Fedorowicz at Urban Institute.