Sustainable Mobility: How can we re-imagine and re-design how we move people and things around our cities post-COVID?
A League of Intrapreneurs Pathfinding Conversation
While no one would have wished for the COVID pandemic, this nightmare event has also unlocked behavior shifts of the scale and scope of an intrapreneur’s dreams. Flights grounded, virtual working, streets turned bicycle lanes and parking repurposed as al fresco dining. Our cities have been transformed practically overnight and intrapreneurs and systems shifters are keen to harness these shifts to accelerate positive change.
The League of Intrapreneurs community explored this important topic during our Pathfinding Conversations series. League Catalyst, Shayna Rector Bleeker, hosted a conversation with Rodrigo Bautista, Forum for the Future and Julian Weber, BMW Group, to explore fundamental questions about the future of urban mobility. Here are a few takeaways from our conversation.
Don’t evangelize, just do it.
Intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs and systems change agents are often in search of big, bold North Stars. But, as an intrapreneur, if you come across as an evangelist, you may alienate the key stakeholders you need to get things moving. Julian shared, “Initiating change is not always appreciated by everyone. Not everyone welcomes your new ideas. If you are pushing for electric cars, most people who were successful with internal combustion engines for decades will do everything they can to prove you are wrong. So, fulfill your dreams and vision — not as an evangelist, but as a do-er.” And take time to understand the pushback from opponents. Understanding will help you to optimize your goals and strengthen your arguments and approach.
Ask: Why do we move at all?
For decades, people designing transport systems have asked, “How do we maximize the car throughput” More recently, city planners have started asking less about designing for cars and more about designing for people. The question then becomes: how do we move people and goods from A to B? Rodrigo pointed out that our current framing may be insufficient, “Sustainable mobility may be falling short in terms of where we need to go. What is the next edge? We need to start asking, ‘Why do we move?’ and ‘What would it mean for people living in your city to thrive?’” These are the questions we need to start asking if we are to design truly regenerative — every flow of value creates a positive impact and resilient systems.
Shame less, celebrate more.
“If you want to convince people not to take their cars downtown, you have to offer them something. I don’t think we should ban it or shame people. How can we create acceptable alternatives or incentives?” offered Julian. In some places, like Switzerland, multi-modal transport can be easier than taking your car (see e.g. G. A. Travelcard). League Member Tatiana Montero offered an example of her project designed to stimulate cycling in Brazil. They gave away free ice cream and beer as incentives and saw nearly 7,000 people participate in their pilot. They’re now looking to scale up.
Understand the real shifts.
We are seeing many shifts at the moment and the key to sustained change is to work out what’s temporary, what’s a long-term trend and what’s underpinning the change. Our panel all agreed that teleworking is a shift that is here to stay. “There will be no more flying in for 30 minutes meetings,” as Shayna succinctly put it. So, what does that mean for mobility? And will this boost a larger trend of 15-minute-cities — cities that don’t have one downtown central corridor, but multiple centers with economic, social and cultural activity all within easy reach.
Another shift is the rise in cycling. While cities are creating car free zones and celebrating cyclists, will this shift sustain over the long-term, especially in places with cold, wet winter weather? Cities like Bogata, London and Milan are making big bets that it will. And, of course, countries like the Netherlands and Denmark have long standing cycling cultures despite their dismal winter climates.
Relatedly, many people have stopped using public transport for safety reasons, but will this drop persist over the long term? Since March, when the pandemic ground urban life to a standstill and ridership plummeted over 90 percent in NYC, the transit system has lost $700 million to $800 million in revenue every month. The MTA now faces a $10 billion budget shortfall through 2022. The panel largely agreed this would be a short-term trend and use of public transport would resume once people feel more confident.
The group also pointed to the inequities around public transit that have surfaced as a result of COVID. In the US, 60 percent of public transit riders are people of color, communities which have experienced disproportionate numbers of deaths from COVID. Front-line workers in these communities do not often have the option of home-working nor necessarily the choice of driving to work by car. Public transit drivers have literally put their lives on the line to keep our systems moving: New York City has had over 120 transit worker deaths from COVID. And many low-income communities still lack sufficient access to transit — exacerbated by budget shortfalls — creating additional barriers to economic opportunities. Fortunately, there is visible discussion on the importance of public transportation in ensuring an equity-centered and regenerative COVID recovery, as for example via the IISD here.
The panel agreed that public transit will be a key component to creating thriving communities post-COVID and this will require making it more convenient and safer than private vehicles.
Connect sustainable mobility to economic recovery.
Certainly this last point is something every intrapreneur is thinking about in this moment. The major priority after community health of institutional leaders everywhere — government and private sector — is economic. So, as we look ahead to COVID-recovery, how can sustainable mobility help to foster economic recovery? Rodrigo pointed to an initiative in New York which has offered free micro-mobility options to all front line healthcare workers during the pandemic. Might we see this as the beginning of something like “universal access”, where sustainable transport is seen as an essential component of the economic health of a community?
Unlikely collaborations will be key to ensuring that sustainable mobility is part of our economic recovery. Shayna shared about a collaboration in Vancouver, BC between public transport, a car share cooperative and bike share program. This alliance is lowering the barriers to using different modes of transport. It may even prove to play a role in recovering public transportation ridership after the COVID pandemic-related drop in use.
As Rodrigo said, “A dollar invested in public transportation benefits many more than that same dollar getting rolled up into a bailout package for American airlines.” These are choices that Intrapreneurs and policy leaders will be navigating in the coming months.
Now is the time to think big.
We closed our conversation with a bold question from Rodrigo, “Is the next 18 months going to define the next decade?” As we watch money pouring into stimulus efforts, how can we ensure that money flows to projects that create sustainable (regenerative) economies in our cities? How do we make this a priority for leaders when they are so focused on economic recovery? And how do we boldly fund new radical collaborations and lower carbon transportation options? Feels like a job for #intrapreneurs!
Pathfinding Conversations is an ongoing series of unplugged dialogues with our League of Intrapreneurs Community. If you’re an innovator with a bold North Star, navigating new terrain without a map, join us. We’d love to meet you! www.leagueofintrapreneurs.com
About our Speakers:
Shayna Rector Bleeker is a communicator with deep experience in climate, energy and partnerships. Starting her career in advertising, and then spending a decade as an intrapreneur with Royal Dutch Shell, she then became an independent consultant focussed on network weaving, capacity building and systems change. Now she mobilizes investment in low carbon transitions as Co-Founder of 7 Generation Capital Corp. She lives in Vancouver, Canada with sons (aged ) and 9) and husband (who is from the Netherlands — a car Centered country which has become a beacon of urban cycling in just 2 generations). She’s a Catalyst for the League of Intrapreneurs.
Rodrigo Bautista is an award-winning designer from ICSID and AIGA and founder of 21st Century Design and Engage by Design. He is Principal at Forum for the Future and advice for the sustainability startup Made of Air.
His work has covered different sectors, including urban and mobility issues, technology for impact, sustainable materials, education and entrepreneurial ecosystems, Rodrigo has worked with and for Dell, Sony, Urban X, BMW, Ecover, Rockefeller Foundation, Mayor Office of NYC, Nesta, NYCEDC, Novelis, Plan C, Fab Lab Network, America Movil, Leo Burnett, Pearson, Royal College of Arts and MIT. His interests led him to become a mentor for the NUMA NYC accelerator and AIGA NYC young promises. He uses people-centred design, systems design and futures tools to develop strategic change interventions.
Julian Weber looks back to 23 years of experience at BMW Group. During that time, his most formative missions were deploying BMW’s innovation strategy, most notably the product strategy for electric vehicles, and then becoming a first line member of project i (BMW’s former mobility think tank) as head of Innovation Projects E-Mobility. Here, he oversaw e.g. the international MINI E and BMW ActiveE pilot fleets as well as projects for EV and battery grid integration and holistic vehicle sustainability. Today, he is responsible for the utilization of vehicle generated data.
Julian has a Master and PhD in Mechanical Engineering, is an adjunct professor for Automotive Engineering at Clemson University International Campus for Automotive Research, author of the Books “Automotive Development Processes” and “Bewegende Zeiten — Mobilität der Zukunft” (“moving times — mobility of the future”, published in German Oct. 2020), and a consultant for mobility and automotive development. Since 2017, he is a Mentor within the League of Intrapreneurs. He lives in Munich, Germany, with his wife and two teen kids.
