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The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread


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8 hours ago, nativetenn said:

Lebanon to Cookeville expansion would be pointless. I have traveled from Knoxville to Nashville & vice versa more times than I can count, and I have never had any problems on that stretch of I-40. I lose the most time getting stuck on 440.

I'm happy to hear you've had better experiences than I have on I-40. I have numerous occasions on I-40 (also I-75) that have resulted in 1+ hour delays or detours (Visit Historic Lancaster!!! haha). And I don't travel often !!!!

However, if there is one road that needs improvement, in TN, it is I-24 going into Chattanooga (I think the people along SR 27 think I'm a local resident now ...). Jellico Mtn is the other

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9 hours ago, LA_TN said:

I'm happy to hear you've had better experiences than I have on I-40. I have numerous occasions on I-40 (also I-75) that have resulted in 1+ hour delays or detours (Visit Historic Lancaster!!! haha). And I don't travel often !!!!

However, if there is one road that needs improvement, in TN, it is I-24 going into Chattanooga (I think the people along SR 27 think I'm a local resident now ...). Jellico Mtn is the other

I would guess I have driven 40 100 or so times in my life and can remember a couple backups and those were related to wrecks. 

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17 hours ago, nativetenn said:

Lebanon to Cookeville expansion would be pointless. I have traveled from Knoxville to Nashville & vice versa more times than I can count, and I have never had any problems on that stretch of I-40. I lose the most time getting stuck on 440.

Agree.   I drive I-40 to Cookeville all the time and aside from the occasional wreck, I rarely encounter any problems beyond Lebanon.      Now, I do encounter volume issues between Hwy 109 and Lebanon.   I-40 goes from 6 lanes to 4 after Hwy 109.    But, frankly, the thought of living through years of TDOT construction to widen that stretch is not worth the few minutes of delay I might have to deal with now.   

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2 minutes ago, CenterHill said:

Now, I do encounter volume issues between Hwy 109 and Lebanon.   I-40 goes from 6 lanes to 4 after Hwy 109.    But, frankly, the thought of living through years of TDOT construction to widen that stretch is not worth the few minutes of delay I might have to deal with now.   

TDOT originally wanted to add the section from State Route 109 to State Route Interstate 840 to the design-build widening from State Route 171 to State Route 109 in 2010.

It was supposed to be constructed immediately after the D/B job wrapped up, but was pushed for budget issues.

However, you'll be happy to know that funding from the IMPROVE Act is allowing it to go to construction in FY 19.

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/documents/GovHighwayProgramFY19-21.pdf

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On ‎6‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 9:28 AM, PaulChinetti said:

It's 2 ads. 

Woof

ads.png

Beyond me, maybe D Mills can figure it out, but it opens and runs fine for me. I am on Windows 10. My Samsung tablet runs fine as well as m iPad.

On the note of finishing 840, Dianne Black's argument is flawed. Why build a northern loop when the truckers do not use the southern route as it is now.  She is just pandering for votes and nothing will happen after she finds out the true cost of all this, even if she gets elected.

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17 hours ago, LA_TN said:

However, if there is one road that needs improvement, in TN, it is I-24 going into Chattanooga

This..... x a thousand.  My most dreaded stretch of road in Tennessee, and I use it a lot. It's diabolical - and with Atlanta's growth + Chattanooga's growth + Nashville's growth, it's only gonna get much, much worse.

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1 hour ago, Flatrock said:

... and with Atlanta's growth + Chattanooga's growth + Nashville's growth...

and the lack of rail connections throughout the US.  Our cities are too far apart for high speed trains!  But not too far to drive...

Edited by Neigeville2
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5 hours ago, smeagolsfree said:

Beyond me, maybe D Mills can figure it out, but it opens and runs fine for me. I am on Windows 10. My Samsung tablet runs fine as well as m iPad.

On the note of finishing 840, Dianne Black's argument is flawed. Why build a northern loop when the truckers do not use the southern route as it is now.  She is just pandering for votes and nothing will happen after she finds out the true cost of all this, even if she gets elected.

What do you mean, the truckers don't use 840?  I drive 840 all the time and it's often packed with trucks and autos.  During drive time, it's really packed.

I definitely don't think the NW portion of 840 should be built (Cheatham County)...but the part from Lebanon past Gallatin would be used A LOT.  Just as with the "options" for Nashville (light rail, buses, etc)...840 is just another option for people to get from A to B quicker.

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For reference, a crappy map (not mine) of the proposed northern route.....you can just faintly see the dotted line representing the proposed route.

41155223270_49620b926e_b.jpg

 

From the Interstate Guide website....

Quote

In 1993, the General Assembly indicated that TDOT may consider the northern component of the beltway. The department of transportation followed with the release of an environmental impact statement in 1995. By 2003, due to the overall anticipated high costs both economically and socially with the corridor, it was recommended that TDOT withdraw plans to begin work on the northern half of SR 840. Instead attention was to be redirected to the expansion of the existing roadway network north of the city and further study of the northern half of the beltway discontinued.2

And from Wikipedia.....

Quote

TDOT was first authorized to begin studies for a northern loop of I-840 north of Nashville and past Dickson, Clarksville, Springfield, and Gallatin by the state legislature in 1993.[1] Environmental studies began in 1994 and a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) was released in 1995.[6] Many residents in the predominantly rural and agricultural areas where the route was to pass were initially opposed.[6] Plans were later abandoned and the General Assembly ordered TDOT to discontinue further studies and planning of that highway because of state budget problems. An entire circular loop would possibly be about 178 miles (286.5 km) long, ranging from 86 to 116 miles. Other important objections against additional extensions of the I-840 highway include the hilly nature of the terrain north of Nashville (the Highland Rim), which would require huge and costly amounts of excavation, soil relocation, and bridge construction. In October 2003, TDOT placed the northern loop plan on indefinite hold, citing a lack of documented transportation needs and lack of participation from local politicians.[1]

 

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7 hours ago, titanhog said:

What do you mean, the truckers don't use 840?  I drive 840 all the time and it's often packed with trucks and autos.  During drive time, it's really packed.

I definitely don't think the NW portion of 840 should be built (Cheatham County)...but the part from Lebanon past Gallatin would be used A LOT.  Just as with the "options" for Nashville (light rail, buses, etc)...840 is just another option for people to get from A to B quicker.

I was refering to thru truckers. Many will take the shortest distance which is thru downtown. As far as I 24 drivers going to KY it would be way out of the way. 

The ones that use it primarily now would be truckers that are planning on going south on 65 to Alabama.

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The Economist article reads like our recent referendum vote was in-line with other cities experiencing  less than enthusiastic relationships with mass-transit.

Public Transport is in Decline in Many Wealthy Cities
 

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

Missing the bus

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities

Blame remote working, Uber, cheap car loans and the internet

Print edition | International Jun 21st 2018

| LOS ANGELES

JUANA, who came to America from Guatemala, used to take the bus to and from cleaning jobs. It wore on her. Walking to the bus stop after a long day at work was exhausting, especially when it rained, as it occasionally does in Los Angeles. Now Juana drives everywhere, even to her local supermarket, a few blocks away. She had two aspirations: to learn English and to get a car. She has accomplished both.

Although Los Angeles has organised itself around the car since the second world

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

war, it has tried harder than many other American cities to change this. Since 1990 voters have approved three tax rises to pay for public transport. A railway and rapid- bus network has been built quickly—by rich-world standards, if not Chinese ones. Public-transport users, however, are dwindling. In the past five years the number of trips taken in metropolitan Los Angeles has dropped by 19%.

 

The City of Angels is leading a broad decline. The American Public Transportation Association’s figures show that the number of journeys in the country as a whole has fallen in each of the past three years. In 2016-17 every kind of mass public transport became less busy: buses, subways, commuter trains and trams. New Yorkers took 2.8% fewer weekday trips on public transport and 4.2% fewer weekend

trips in the 12 months to April 2018, compared with the previous year. In Chicago and Washington, DC, the decline in public-transport trips has been even steeper.

Public transport is holding up better in other rich countries, but not by much. In Toronto, adult trips have fallen every year since 2014 (the city made public transport free for young children, so their numbers are up). In London, bus journeys are down by 5% since the 2014-15 fiscal year. The London Underground has remained more popular, although in the year to March 2018 the number of Tube journeys fell by 19m, or 1.4%. That was despite annual population growth in London of about 1% and a 3.3% rise in employment in the past year. The Paris Metro carried only as many passengers in 2017 as it did in 2012. In Berlin, public transport journeys are growing about half as quickly as employment.

There are exceptions. More people are taking public transport in Sydney and Tokyo. And some transport agencies can point to specific reasons for their emptying buses

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

and trains. London and Paris have suffered terrorist attacks. New York’s subway is creaking—a consequence of prolonged underinvestment in repairs. Elsewhere, bad weather or roadworks are said to deter people from taking buses.

But demand for mass public transport has
weakened in so many rich-world cities at the same
time that one-off explanations seem inadequate.
Not long ago annual passenger growth of more
than 2% was normal, and transport-watchers mused that the private car was on its uppers. The recent decline, which is bad enough on a year-to-year basis, looks even worse when set next to transport agencies’ forecasts. In New York, for example, bus trips in the first four months of this year were 7.6% lower than the transport agency expected. Something seems to be driving people off the trains and buses. But what?

One explanation, which is convincing in some cities, is that public transport has deteriorated. Look at Madrid, says Richard Anderson, a transport analyst at Imperial College London. Public-transport trips fell there beginning in 2008, as you would expect in a recession-hit country where unemployment was rising. In response to the downturn, the city cut services. People noticed, and stayed away. Between 2007 and 2013 the Madrid Metro lost 19% of its customers. Service levels, perceptions and demand have all improved since then, but the Metro remains quieter than it used to be before the financial crisis.

Elsewhere, though, customers are vanishing even though public transport is as good as it was, or better. Perhaps public transport has come to seem relatively dismal because people have acquired better options. Uber, Lyft and other “ride- hailing” car services are probably luring people away from trains and buses, just as they are demolishing the taxi trade. In San Francisco public transport accounts for 16% of all weekday trips, ride-hailing for 9%. People mostly seem to use Uber and

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

Lyft to get to places well-served by mass transport (see map). One study of the city by five Californian academics asked ride-hailing customers how they would have made their most recent trip if the service did not exist. One-third replied that they would have taken public transport. In a study of Boston, 42% said the same thing.

Self-driving taxis are likely to steal even more riders in future, because they will be so cheap. They can threaten public transport even before they appear on the roads. Last month voters in Nashville overwhelmingly rejected a plan to build several tram and rapid-bus lines. Opponents of the plan had argued that autonomous cars and buses would soon be a cheaper and better way of transporting people.

Two wheels good

Meanwhile, other technologies nibble at buses and trains. Many cities have tried to encourage cycling by creating bike lanes and allowing app-based bike-rental outfits (and, in some, scooter-rental outfits) to set up on pavements (see article (https://www.economist.com/news/business/21744866-electric-bikes-and- scooters-are-flummoxing-regulators-while-exciting-consumers-venture) ). In Berlin, the network of cycle paths has grown from 856km to 1,433km since 2002. App-based rental schemes—the largest of which is run by Lidl, a discount supermarket—have grown from 2,000 to 16,000 bikes in two years. Cycling, although still uncommon, is proportionally the fastest-growing commuting mode in America.

The consequences of the rise in two-wheeled travel are not entirely clear. Cycling could boost public transport by helping people get to stations; or it could undermine public transport by providing a cheap alternative to buses and trains. Susan Shaheen, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

both of these can happen at once. In Washington, DC, bicycle-sharing seems to bring more people to public transport in the suburbs but draw them away in the city centre.

Another possibility is that city-dwellers are simply travelling less. Footfall in London’s shops was 1.5% lower in May than a year earlier—a slump that the British Retail Consortium blames on the growth of online shopping and weak consumer confidence. It means fewer travellers, especially to West End stations such as Oxford Circus. “When the retail sector suffers, we suffer as well,” says Shashi Verma, the chief technology officer at Transport for London. In several cities, including Paris and San Francisco, weekday trips have held up better than weekend trips, hinting that people are dropping unnecessary outings.

Working habits are changing, too. Gallup, a pollster, found in 2016 that 43% of American workers spend at least some of their time working remotely, up from 39% in 2012. Remote working also intensified—ie, telecommuters spent more of their time telecommuting. In Britain, the numbers working exclusively at home grew from 2.9m in 1998 to 4.2m in 2014, according to official statistics.

“Most people who I know work at least one day a week at home,” says Sandra Jones, an expert on London property at Dataloft, a consultancy. She points to two other changes that may have kept people off buses and trains. Even when workers do get out of the house, many travel to flexible “co-working” offices, which might be close to home. The second change is a rash of office development around railway stations. The Office Group, a fast-growing outfit, actually rents offices inside stations. The company says these are popular among commuters from outside London, who can take a train to work and no longer have to transfer to a Tube train or a bus.

In almost every city in the rich world, the fiercest competition for public transport comes not from Uber, cycling or the appeal of working from one’s back garden. Rather, it comes from driving. In America 76% of commuters drive to work alone,

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

and the share has risen fractionally in the past decade. The final explanation for the emptying buses and trains is that the lonely car journey has become more appealing.

It is certainly cheaper. The oil price began to fall in the summer of 2014. It has since rebounded, but not to its elevated levels of five years ago. Meanwhile, car engines have become more frugal. Cheaper oil greatly cuts the cost of driving around America, where fuel is only lightly taxed. Even in Britain, data from the RAC Foundation, a research group, suggest that driving-cost inflation (which includes fuel as well as insurance and so forth) has been lower than bus- or train-ticket inflation over the past ten years.

Despite a loudly trumpeted urban revival, America’s suburbs and more distant “exurbs” are growing faster than its central cities. Many of these places have poor public transport and plenty of room for cars, thanks to rules that oblige developers to provide a minimum number of parking spaces. Some European cities are sprawling, too. Berlin, long a cheap city (and an artists’ haven as a result) is turning costly. Knight Frank, an estate agent, says that home prices in the city have risen by 21% in the past year. Those who leave Berlin in search of cheaper housing find an impoverished railway network, with only one train an hour on some lines. So they drive.

Four wheels better

In southern California, public transport is heavily used by poor immigrants, particularly immigrants from Mexico and Central America. But research by Michael Manville and others at the University of California, Los Angeles, finds that this group are rushing onto the roads behind their own steering-wheels. Between 2000 and 2015 the proportion of Mexican immigrant households without a car fell from 16% to 5%. Meanwhile, the immigrant population of Los Angeles and its environs is becoming a little less Hispanic and a little more Asian. “The countries that were most likely to send us transit riders are sending us a smaller proportion of

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

immigrants,” says Mr Manville.

Along with other working-class Americans, Mexican immigrants find it easier to buy their own cars these days because loans have become so much cheaper and easier to obtain. Since 2015 some of them have also benefited from a Californian law that allows illegal immigrants to have driving licences. Perhaps more of them are arriving in America knowing how to drive, too. Car ownership is rising quickly in Mexico, as it is in other countries, such as the Philippines, that send lots of immigrants to America.

However, even in the cities where public transport is faring worst, it seems unlikely to disappear. People will keep using it when it is convenient, when they are feeling pinched, or when it is raining. But the days when commuters and shoppers followed regular tracks around cities, like migrating birds, appear to be over. Tony Travers, an urbanist at the London School of Economics (and a convert from the Tube to cycling) calls it: “a fragmentation of the world as we knew it”.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline "Missing the bus"

 

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That's a lot of short little trips. Birds and their kind are on to something I think. 

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/06/welcome-to-the-tiny-vehicle-age/563342/

"According to the Federal Highway Administration’s National Household Travel Survey, nearly half (45.6 percent) of all vehicle miles traveled by car in 2017 were on trips of less than three miles. Significant portions of those trips were in vehicles with multiple passengers, including children, the elderly, or disabled people. Other motorists were lugging cargo or traveling through difficult terrain or bad weather. But many, many others were taken by a lone, able-bodied person, carrying a purse or backpack sized load of stuff through a flat, urbanized area in ideal weather conditions."

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Yet another massive miscalculation made due to the rush to pass the transit plan. How is it possible no one thought to seek impute and/or permission from the state?

"

By Eric Snyder  – Managing Editor, Nashville Business Journal 
12 minutes ago
 

John Schroer, head of the Tennessee Department of Transportation, offered his thoughts at a town hall last week on why Nashville’s mass-transit plan was defeated at the ballot box in May.

“It had no bearing on regional traffic, and I think that might have been an issue,” said Schroer, according to Brentwood Home Page. “It wasn’t going to help anybody, it was going down through the main corridors in Nashville.”

He added, “Those were all state roads, and they had to get our approval … in order to do what they were going to do, but no one ever asked us about it.”

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/06/25/tdot-chief-nashville-s-failed-transit-plan-wasn-t.html?ana=e_me_set1&s=newsletter&ed=2018-06-25&u=ugSD45LqOYSZg4E6uBl%2BpbdPa%2BA&t=1529931003&j=82331411

Edited by Guest
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15 hours ago, nashville_bound said:

 

Two wheels good

Meanwhile, other technologies nibble at buses and trains. Many cities have tried to encourage cycling by creating bike lanes and allowing app-based bike-rental outfits (and, in some, scooter-rental outfits) to set up on pavements (see article (https://www.economist.com/news/business/21744866-electric-bikes-and- scooters-are-flummoxing-regulators-while-exciting-consumers-venture) ). In Berlin, the network of cycle paths has grown from 856km to 1,433km since 2002. App-based rental schemes—the largest of which is run by Lidl, a discount supermarket—have grown from 2,000 to 16,000 bikes in two years. Cycling, although still uncommon, is proportionally the fastest-growing commuting mode in America.

The consequences of the rise in two-wheeled travel are not entirely clear. Cycling could boost public transport by helping people get to stations; or it could undermine public transport by providing a cheap alternative to buses and trains. Susan Shaheen, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that

Public transport is in decline in many wealthy cities - Missing the bus 6/24/18, 11)44 PM

both of these can happen at once. In Washington, DC, bicycle-sharing seems to bring more people to public transport in the suburbs but draw them away in the city centre.

 

 

Thanks for the read, nashville_bound. Interesting information. My only question remaining is a study on public transportation in mid-size cities similar in population to Nashville. I think it may serve us better to review public ridership in cities like Charlotte, Memphis, Austin, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbus. The real concern is if bus and/or light rail (where applicable) ridership is declining cities similar in size to us.  I know the purpose of your post was to persuade forum  members that  improvements in marketable private transit technology might repel urban commuters from cumbersome public transportation projects, but data from Los Angeles, New York City and London really should not be brought to an argument about Nashville.

 

Also, I highlighted this section of the article because I thought it was interesting. Does Nashville have a bikeshare service? Pace Bikeshare was introduced to Knoxville in February, and it has become hugely popular for people commuting to campus or work from urban neighborhoods. I use it all the time and love it. It only costs $1.00 for a 30-minute ride, and since I didn't want to pay for an overpriced summer parking garage pass for UT, I've been  using this instead. I've also noticed people going for leisurely rides on the greenways. Bikeshare is an excellent example of a private service that can be utilized to get people moving for short distances and is easily the best way to condense commuters. I hope to see bike infrastructure build rapidly over the course of this century. It's cheap to construct, takes little space, is virtually emission-free, and can easily beat the traffic and save you a lot of time.

Edited by nativetenn
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19 minutes ago, nativetenn said:

Also, I highlighted this section of the article because I thought it was interesting. Does Nashville have a bikeshare service? Pace Bikeshare was introduced to Knoxville in February, and it has become hugely popular for people commuting to campus or work from urban neighborhoods. I use it all the time and love it. It only costs $1.00 for a 30-minute ride, and since I didn't want to pay for an overpriced summer parking garage pass for UT, I've been  using this instead. I've also noticed people going for leisurely rides on the greenways. Bikeshare is an excellent example of a private service that can be utilized to get people moving for short distances and is easily the best way to condense commuters. I hope to see bike infrastructure build rapidly over the course of this century. It's cheap to construct, takes little space, is virtually emission-free, and can easily beat the traffic and save you a lot of time.

Nashville B-cycle, but it is managed by the Nashville Downtown Partnership. Not purely private.

https://nashville.bcycle.com/

Ofo is a private bikeshare service, but they are limited to the Vanderbilt area at the moment.

https://www.ofo.com/us/en

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An article updating info on Google's robot taxi technology. The article throws-around so interesting statistics that may be as pie-in-the-sky as mass transit rider estimates. ha

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/robot-taxis-mobility-electric-cars



 

Quote

A silent revolution is arriving on our streets. Before too long, commuters will use their mobiles to summon fully autonomous robot taxis. These will collect them from home and drive them to the closest metro station, from where they can catch a train to work in the city centre. These zero-emission vehicles will be electric, powered by solar or wind generation. We believe this transformation is just around the corner. It promises to change the mobility market, and much more. 

Within the next five years, cities will begin to transform their transit systems, to tackle the twin challenges of congestion and climate change. By using autonomous taxis with significantly higher capacity and usage rates, and integrated with traffic optimization systems, cities could reduce the number of cars on their streets by more than 40%. 

In an optimistic scenario, a city like Berlin could use robot taxis to carry up to 60% of its passengers. Changes like this would bring clean, affordable and secure mobility to city residents.

A more likely scenario sees autonomous vehicles making up 2% of new vehicle sales globally by 2025, rising to 8% by 2030. If the cost of self-driving cars falls faster, and cities introduce new mobility systems more quickly, autonomous vehicles could make up 30% or more of the market by 2030.

Policies and investment

Legislation will be a critical enabler in this transformation, as cities and countries make strong commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Regulations will increase pressure on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, creating incentives for zero-emission cars such as battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs). Some cities will ban ICEs from their most congested districts, and could restrict these areas to shared vehicles. These regulatory changes will pave the way for greater use of electric, autonomous taxis.

At the same time, automotive and technology companies are investing substantially in the software and hardware required for full automation of urban mobility (levels 4 and 5 of the Society of Automotive Engineers’ scale). Some companies are already piloting autonomous vehicles in cooperative cities. 

Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has logged four million self-driven miles. General Motors is also embracing the opportunity. It forecasts a substantial increase of revenue generated for GM over a car’s lifetime. Daimler’s acquisition of mytaxi, an app-based mobility company, underscores the importance of platforms in this new ecosystem.

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Consumer behaviour is also evolving, as younger people show less appetite to own and drive cars. Car ownership has fallen since 2000 in some countries. Urbanization is also an important factor, as commuters seek alternative and integrated means of transportation. This further favours the emergence of robot taxis.

Car manufacturers and electricity providers 

Car manufacturers are preparing for this transformation. They recognize that it will shift some of the profit pool from manufacturing to technologies and services, including batteries, mobility services, and software that drives cars and manages mobility networks. As they expand their businesses to become mobility service providers, car companies will manage and maintain large fleets of robot taxis. 

Electricity suppliers will see fleets of electric vehicles as another decentralized and digitalized energy resource, capable of providing flexible power that can flatten demand peaks and reduce infrastructure investments. These companies will also play an important role in supplying ultrafast charging stations and managing the energy of buildings and microgrids connected to EV fleets. 

Finally, technology companies such as Uber, Lyft and Didi have accepted heavy losses to position themselves at the front of mobility services, as either platform owners or robot taxi fleet operators. They will continue to compete to gain market share.

Public private cooperation for success

Although the direction of change seems clear, the pace is less certain. More players are likely to enter the market as opportunities arise. Winners are likely to be those who move quickly, form essential partnerships and position themselves at the high-margin parts of the value chain. Those that can provide integrated solutions are likely to gain a competitive edge.

Utilities and other companies in the energy sector will also play a central role, supplying the power to this electrified mobility system, leveraging EVs as decentralized energy resources, and integrating EVs and charging stations into smart energy networks. 

Ultimately, cities will control and regulate urban mobility. Working with mobility providers, automotive companies and the energy sector, they will make the policies and decisions that will catalyze this transformation and provide clean, affordable and secure mobility to their urban populations.

 

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11 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

That's a lot of short little trips. Birds and their kind are on to something I think. 

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/06/welcome-to-the-tiny-vehicle-age/563342/

"According to the Federal Highway Administration’s National Household Travel Survey, nearly half (45.6 percent) of all vehicle miles traveled by car in 2017 were on trips of less than three miles. Significant portions of those trips were in vehicles with multiple passengers, including children, the elderly, or disabled people. Other motorists were lugging cargo or traveling through difficult terrain or bad weather. But many, many others were taken by a lone, able-bodied person, carrying a purse or backpack sized load of stuff through a flat, urbanized area in ideal weather conditions."

 

I've re-thought my transportation strategy in the past few months.

 

I've been using the bus a lot more, and when I move back downtown, I'm going to us the bus more and invest in a quality cargo bicycle - likely one with electric assist. The specific one I have my eye on is the Benno Boost. I'll also have a more practical vehicle, likely a hatchback/wagon. I think the days of having a car to "look the part" are behind me.

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