16 Highlights from LA CoMotion’s First Edition

The global mobility revolution took over Los Angeles in November for LA CoMotion.

Make no mistake, this is a revolution: a major secular shift in the way people and goods move around. We are moving into a mobility world where vehicles will be increasingly electric, connected, and shared — and mobility itself will be multi-modal and fluid. And tomorrow, vehicles will also be driverless.

Over 1,000 participants, 85 speakers and 50 exhibitors came together on November 15-19 in Los Angeles to kick off the first edition of LA CoMotion. Here is a round-up of some of the top discussions, pictures and videos that took place from Wednesday to Sunday.

 1. Mayor Eric Garcetti Welcomes Global Mobility Leaders to Los Angeles

“To have LA CoMotion here fits into my goal and the goal of this city to be the transportation technology capital of the world,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in a powerful opening speech welcoming global mobility leaders to Los Angeles. “You’re in the right place at the right time,” said Mayor Garcetti. Watch Now >>

 2. Gold Medal-Winning Paralympian Tatyana McFadden Unveils Toyota Mobility Foundation initiative: The Mobility Unlimited Challenge

Paralympian athlete Tatyana McFadden discussed her personal mobility experiences in a highly inspirational talk at the launch of the Mobility Unlimited Challenge — a multi-million dollar challenge run by the Toyota Mobility Foundation and Nesta’s Challenge Prize Center to expand mobility for people with lower-limb paralysis across the globe. Watch Now >>

 3. Spotlight on the City of Los Angeles

Joshua Schank of Los Angeles Metro, Seleta Reynolds of LADOT, and Justin Erbacci of Los Angeles World Airports engaged in a lively conversation about how Los Angeles could very well become a template for the new transport revolution. Watch Now >>

4. Stronger Communities? It’s All About Smart Infrastructure

Streets of the future have the opportunity to become testing grounds of innovation, a new, dynamic, multi purpose space in cities. Mrinalini (Lani) Ingram of Verizon and Maria MacGunigal, CIO of the City of Sacramento engaged in an eye-opening talk about developing smarter, stronger communities with smart infrastructure. Watch Now >>

 5. Ride the Future with Transdev’s Autonomous Shuttle

Participants of the Cities in Motion Leadership Conference got a sneak peek of the future of mobility by hopping on the Autonomous Shuttle run by Transdev, one of the largest operators of multiple modes of public transit in the world.

6. Renovo and Parsons Announce Major New Collaboration

Chris Heiser, Founder and CEO of Renovo and Gibran Hadj-Chikh, Director of Innovation (Transport) of Parsons announced an exciting collaboration to enable deployment and scaling of commercial automated mobility on demand (AMoD) systems at LA CoMotion.

   7. Bringing People’s Safety into the Conversation About Future of Transit

Emily Castor Warren, Senior Director of Transportation Policy of Lyft, gave unique insights into how all mobility options can be reconciled and safely share the roads on the panel “Streets Are For People: Multi-Modality and Safety.” Watch Now >>

 8. Arrivo’s Take on Hyperloop Transportation

Brogan BamBrogan, Founder of Arrivo, explained his company’s fascinating take on Hyperloop transportation on the first day of LA CoMotion. BamBrogan also announced Arrivo’s partnership with the Colorado Department of Transportation to develop the first high speed super urban network.

 9. Los Angeles Metro and Via Join Forces to Offer Shared Rides to Transit Stations

Joshua Schank, Chief Innovation Officer of Los Angeles Metro and Zachary Wasserman, Head of Global Business Development of Via announced a new partnership to offer LA residents shared rides to major bus and train stations. The project is set to launch in summer 2018. Read More

 10. NewCities and Dubai Roads and Transport Authority Announce Collaboration on Future of Mobility

John Rossant, Chairman of NewCities and H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority announced an important agreement to collaborate on new research to better understand how mobility and transportation systems work.

 11. Los Angeles Metro and UITP Host the Urban Mobility Innovation Index Forum

Held on the opening day of LA CoMotion, the Urban Mobility Innovation Index (UMii) Forum allowed representatives of cities to exchange knowledge and learn best practices that facilitate the development of policies fostering innovative mobility solutions.

 12. Changing Mobility Patterns According to Bombardier Transportation’s Gina Trombley

A hot topic at LA CoMotion this year was how technology is integrating new services with traditional public transport options. “Solving mobility problems in cities will require more than one mode. But if you don’t have a backbone for public transport, you’re starting from nothing,” said Gina Trombley, Head of Ecosystem Cluster and Strategic Sales Region Americas, Bombardier Transportation. Watch Now >>

  13. The Secret to Making Transport for People

Molly Fowler and Jeff Maki of Intersection, a New York-based company that connects the digital and physical worlds to enhance people’s journeys through cities, hosted an interactive meeting on the future of responsive mobility and how transit agencies can better understand their customers’ needs.

 14. And the Global Winner for The L.A. New Mobility Challenge Is…

Swiftly! The San Francisco-based startup develops enterprise software to help transit agencies and cities improve urban mobility. As the global winner of The L.A. New Mobility Challenge, a joint initiative by the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) and the NewCities Foundation, Swiftly wins a $15,000 cash prize and the opportunity to collaborate with other innovators and experts in Los Angeles.

 15. The Petersen Museum Honors Divergent 3D CEO Kevin Czinger with “Pete Award”, in conjunction with LA CoMotion

The Petersen Automotive Museum presented Divergent 3D CEO Kevin Czinger with its first ever “Pete Award” at our Cities in Motion Leadership Conference. Czinger was recognized for his revolutionary contributions to automobile manufacturing.

16. Angelenos Observe the Future of Mobility at LA CoMotion Mobility Festival

Capstone event of InnovateLA, the LA CoMotion Mobility Festival gathered Angelenos of all ages on Saturday and Sunday. Participants took part in a series of interactive panels and discovered the latest innovations that will be hitting our streets in the near future.

Missed a session? 
Don’t worry, all videos of our main stage panels are available on our LA CoMotion Facebook page. Watch your favourite moments from the Cities in Motion Leadership Conference or our Mobility Festival!