Communication and sharing of knowledge is key for sound decision-making. The Resources section brings you the latest developments, materials for continuing the conversation with others, and an in-depth bank of research on emerging technologies and their impacts.
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Our curated collection of helpful articles, reports and other resources—each including summaries, key takeaways, and searchable tags.
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The Urbanism Next Framework
The Urbanism Next Framework organizes the potential impacts of emerging technologies into five categories and five types of broader implications.
Fact sheets, slides, and reports
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) convened the Autonomous Vehicle Inclusive Planning Cohort (AVIPC) to directly engage with the community on the integration of autonomous vehicles (AVs) into Seattle’s transportation system. This cohort, representing diverse community voices, aimed to ensure that AV deployment aligns with SDOT’s goals of equity, safety, mobility, sustainability, livability, and excellence. This report documents Seattle’s approach to AV integration under the guidance of their inclusive planning toolkit and through the engagement of the AVIPC. Developed in partnership between SDOT and the Urbanism Next Center and facilitated with Uncommon Bridges, it captures a collaborative, community-led process that ensures AV deployment is shaped by equity and transparency.
Report – Academic
As cities experiment with AV technologies, understanding public concerns, addressing equity, and aligning with local goals are essential for successful full-scale deployment. The report synthesizes insights from AV pilots in Detroit, Pittsburgh, San José, and Miami-Dade County, providing concrete lessons for cities, policymakers, and AV developers. It underscores the importance of iterative learning, inclusive engagement, and strategic planning to ensure AV technologies support—not hinder—urban mobility and equity.
Report – Academic
UAM is promoted as a service that could address a wide-range of city goals from reducing traffic congestion and emissions to improving access to destinations. At the forecast scale, however, trips will remain both too few and too expensive to meet broad city goals. While UAM may offer an exciting and futuristic technological vision, it can also distract attention and resources from proven policies and investments that could realize concrete improvements. For cities planning to pursue scaled UAM services, they should consider scenario planning and implement flexible regulations and plans that can be adapted and updated as understanding of UAM services’ costs, risks, and benefits evolve.
Report – Academic
How much shared scooter parking is needed to meet demand and reduce noncompliant parking? Drawing on Lime data from a dozen cities in the US and Europe, this report provides three key planning and policy recommendations for cities to consider as they work to integrate scooters into the overall transportation system:
Pilots
Report – Academic
While autonomous vehicles are still experimental and nascent in many corners of the U.S., the same kind of unguided tectonic shift seen with the introduction of the automobile nearly a century ago is possible. Autonomous Vehicles: A Guidebook for Cities was created in response to cities seeking to manage and influence autonomous vehicle (AV) pilots and deployments happening on their streets, as well as cities trying to prepare for these pilots. The Guidebook offers considerations, tools, and examples of various ways to manage effectively autonomous vehicle deployments.
Website
In 2020, the microtransit company. “Via” partnered with Jersey City to provide on-demand car rides to underserved communities whose mass public transit routes had been canceled due to low ridership during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. The company aims to complement existing transit which operates comprehensively and frequently in the central areas of Jersey City. Via offers rides outside of this well-served district but not within to minimize competition with public transit. The same company launched in Arlington, Texas in 2017. Arlington, which was the largest city in America without a public transit system, opted to contract Via to provide an alternative transportation mode to driving in a personal vehicle. The on-demand service offers point-to-point rides within Arlington and connections to intercity train stations to Dallas-Fort Worth.
News Article
Whim is an app service that consolidates transportation services into a monthly subscription. The app includes access to taxis, public transportation, and rental cars. The app's goal is to reduce vehicle ownership by offering convenient access to multiple alternatives.
Tools have been organized in collaboration with
Tools
Tools
COVID Mobility Works is an independent platform dedicated to collecting, synthesizing and sharing mobility initiatives that are keeping the world moving during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this platform is to help policymakers, innovators, researchers and advocates rise to the challenge of creating more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable transportation systems for all.
Tools
Urbano has been developed by Cornell University and other organizations. This software has some special features like download geospatial data, import and aggregate data, lookup and modify metadata, routing in different modes, analyze amenities and streets, integrated cad workflow, etc. Also, is useful to quantify urban parameters like amenity demand, streetscore, amenityscore and walkscore. It has a friendly interface to visualize different urban planning parameters.
Tools
Make pedestrian ways, particularly sidewalks, first class members of an open data transportation network. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) project has made available extensive, user-contributed open data on transportation networks, providing the basis for many use cases and downstream activities, including rich analytics, travel route optimization, city planning, and disaster relief. Sidewalks in the built environment have generally been treated an addendum to streets, failing to serve people with limited mobility.
Featured
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) convened the Autonomous Vehicle Inclusive Planning Cohort (AVIPC) to directly engage with the community on the integration of autonomous vehicles (AVs) into Seattle’s transportation system. This cohort, representing diverse community voices, aimed to ensure that AV deployment aligns with SDOT’s goals of equity, safety, mobility, sustainability, livability, and excellence. This report documents Seattle’s approach to AV integration under the guidance of their inclusive planning toolkit and through the engagement of the AVIPC. Developed in partnership between SDOT and the Urbanism Next Center and facilitated with Uncommon Bridges, it captures a collaborative, community-led process that ensures AV deployment is shaped by equity and transparency.
The Dedicated Parking for Micromobility report provides practical guidance for cities looking to implement, expand, or improve micromobility parking. It presents best practices grounded in city experiences, offering recommendations on how to plan, design, maintain, and implement dedicated parking for micromobility to enhance compliance, safety, and efficiency in urban environments.
Report – Academic
As cities experiment with AV technologies, understanding public concerns, addressing equity, and aligning with local goals are essential for successful full-scale deployment. The report synthesizes insights from AV pilots in Detroit, Pittsburgh, San José, and Miami-Dade County, providing concrete lessons for cities, policymakers, and AV developers. It underscores the importance of iterative learning, inclusive engagement, and strategic planning to ensure AV technologies support—not hinder—urban mobility and equity.
Newest additions
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) convened the Autonomous Vehicle Inclusive Planning Cohort (AVIPC) to directly engage with the community on the integration of autonomous vehicles (AVs) into Seattle’s transportation system. This cohort, representing diverse community voices, aimed to ensure that AV deployment aligns with SDOT’s goals of equity, safety, mobility, sustainability, livability, and excellence. This report documents Seattle’s approach to AV integration under the guidance of their inclusive planning toolkit and through the engagement of the AVIPC. Developed in partnership between SDOT and the Urbanism Next Center and facilitated with Uncommon Bridges, it captures a collaborative, community-led process that ensures AV deployment is shaped by equity and transparency.
The Dedicated Parking for Micromobility report provides practical guidance for cities looking to implement, expand, or improve micromobility parking. It presents best practices grounded in city experiences, offering recommendations on how to plan, design, maintain, and implement dedicated parking for micromobility to enhance compliance, safety, and efficiency in urban environments.
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