Mobility Innovators Podcast (Mobility Innovators)

Transit recovery in North America remains sluggish, with ridership hovering around the 60-70% mark compared to pre-pandemic levels. However, many transit agencies are experiencing that riders are back in the system, but ridership is not back as travel behavior has changed. The riders are not traveling in the same way. At the same time, public transport operators require to plan the transition to zero-emission buses. Thus, it is becoming increasingly important for agencies to follow a data-driven approach to improve transit riders' experience. One notable example is the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), a prominent mass transit operator in Chicago, responsible for a fleet of 1,900 buses and approximately 1,200 rail cars that transport around 800,000 passengers daily. The CTA is actively pursuing various innovative initiatives aimed at attracting riders back into the system.

Maulik Vaishnav is a transportation policy and transit leader with 15 years of experience in government and consulting. He is currently Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)’s Vice President of Innovation and leads the agency’s ‘Meeting the Moment’ action plan, customer experience and marketing strategy, and a PMO team. During his 11-year tenure at CTA, he has worked in or overseen analytics, strategic planning, budget, revenue, business development, and fare policy teams. He also served as a transportation policy advisor at the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office from 2019 to 2022 where he helped advance a strategic plan for transportation, a forward-thinking ground transportation tax surcharge on downtown ride-hail trips, temporary pandemic bus lanes, a climate action plan, and a vision for trails and open spaces.

Mid-size transit agencies play a crucial role in providing accessible and affordable transportation options to communities worldwide, especially in areas with lower population densities and limited resources. In the United States, the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) is one such agency that operates around 350 buses on 42 routes, serving over 20 million riders annually. COTA faces a unique set of challenges, such as securing funding for capital projects and operations, optimizing routes using technology and data analysis, and attracting and retaining ridership. However, the agency has taken innovative measures to address these challenges, such as implementing a creative funding model to support transit services and investing in various capital projects, including bus rapid transit, on-demand mobility, and technology. These initiatives and practices make COTA a reference point for other transit agencies looking to innovate and improve their services.

Joanna Pinkerton is President and CEO of the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). COTA is the public transit agency that serves the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area, providing transportation to nearly 19 million passengers annually. She assumed the role in April 2018, becoming the second woman to lead the organization in its history. Under her leadership, COTA has focused on improving service for customers, including increasing the frequency of buses on high-demand routes and launching new programs like COTA Plus, a micro-transit service that provides on-demand transportation within certain zones in the Columbus, Ohio area. Prior to joining COTA, she served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Transportation Research Center. She also held several leadership positions at The Ohio State University and the Ohio Department of Transportation. She is a strong advocate for public transportation and its role in promoting economic development and social equity.

The automobile industry is going through a big transformation. Mckinsey coined the term ACES to define that how Automation, Connectivity, Energy transition, and shared mobility will redefine the sector. Technology will change the traditional method of how we purchase and use vehicles. New business models are emerging and new entrants especially technology companies are looking to reshare the industry with Software Defined Vehicles (SDV), autonomy, and electric drive. These changes will also create opportunities for new technology startups and build new ecosystems.

Mark Norman is General Partner of FM Capital. FM Capital is a venture capital fund focused on technologies transforming the transportation industry. He is responsible for fund leadership, investment strategy, and portfolio management. Prior to setting up the fund, he was president of Zipcar, where he led the company’s expansion creating the world’s largest carsharing network. He was also the CEO of Flexcar, a vehicle subscription company, CEO and Chairman of Chrysler Canada, and Managing Director of Summit Systems, a European technology startup.

The global momentum towards electrification is accelerating, driven by numerous cities setting ambitious net-zero goals. Leveraging advanced technologies can expedite and streamline this process. Digital Twins emerge as a powerful tool for fleet operators, offering the capability to construct real-world scenarios and simulations that precisely reflect the impact of electrification on operations. This enables operators to gain valuable insights into potential challenges and opportunities. The integration of machine learning and artificial intelligence further enhances the optimization of various scenarios, facilitating a more efficient path towards achieving net-zero goals.

Daniel Hilson is Founder and CEO of Evenergi and BetterFleet. Evenergi is a company that focuses on accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and helping fleets transition to zero-emission technology. The company works with utilities, governments, and businesses, in implementing EV charging infrastructure and optimizing their energy systems. He also launched BetterFleet to plan, optimize and manage the transition to zero-emission fleet. Before co-founding Evenergi, he worked with some key players including Flow Systems, Veolia Environment and Siemens. He is a lifelong learner and has earned degrees in Environmental Management, Strategic Management and Music & Communication.

Public Transport is going through a transformation phase. There is increasing competition from other modes of transport. On the other hand, the ridership has not fully recovered. Public transport operators should provide safe and reliable. The role of transport is much more than just moving people from A to B. There is a need to adopt innovation culture and cooperation and co-innovation with external stakeholders are important to solve some of the challenges faced by the transport authority. Open Innovation can help organizations to define their problem, co-developing solutions by providing subject matter expertise and data, and then trialing some of the solutions

Rikesh Shah is Head of Commercial Innovation at Transport for London (TfL). Rikesh is accountable for TfL’s engagement with market innovators that include start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, academics, R&D institutes, accelerators, venture capitalists, and large corporates. TfL’s Commercial Innovation function is able to set out clear challenges, engage with the most innovative companies from across the world, curate and incubate the best ideas and then scale them to support the delivery of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.

Rikesh was previously responsible for TfL’s open data strategy and set up a digital and data partnerships function. As a result of TfL’s open data, there are nearly 700 apps used by 42% of Londoners with over 14,000 registered users, mainly developers. He truly believes that “Any innovation is about saving real-life problems".

Technology and New mobility are reshaping urban transportation in cities. However, transit agencies should focus on solving real customer problems rather than introducing new innovations such as autonomous mobility, mobility as a service, ride- sharing, electric scooters, etc., Human-centric design is key to the quality of life in cities, putting people at the heart of urban transport planning. The cities must avoid creating digital inequalities in transportation services. All stakeholders, including academia, will play a key role to reshape the future of mobility.

Dr. Niels van Oort, assistant professor of Public Transport at Delft University of Technology and Co-director of Smart Public Transport Lab. He has been involved in public transport projects for over 15 years and has expertise in public transport planning and design, as well as dealing with customer experience, service reliability, and Big Data. He is an academic entrepreneur and believes in more practice-based learning rather than theory.

Entrepreneurship is a journey of failures. The founders need to stay focused on the execution and achieve product-market fit. Most of the founders start their journey with the problem but they very soon forget about it. The same principle applies to all startups, including mobility and logistics. It is very important to understand your users and focus on solving their problems. Most people think of solving mobility challenges from the system perspective, not from the user perspective. Riders are looking at mobility from three parameters – Convenience, Speed and Cost. The founders should ask what is the value that I'm going to create for those users? This podcast will share some of the key ingredients to build a successful startup. Public transport will face challenges from new emerging mobility options. It is important to reimagine mobility from the users’ perspective.

Guest: Uri Levine is a passionate entrepreneur, a 2x 'unicorn' builder (Duocorn), and the author of the book “Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution” – A Handbook for Entrepreneurs. He is co-founder of Waze, the world's largest community-based driving traffic and navigation app, which Google acquired for $1.1 billion in 2013, and former investor and board member in Moovit, 'Waze of public transportation, which Intel acquired for $1 Billion in 2020. Levine's vision is building startups that are doing good and doing well, focusing on solving problems and hence changing the world for the better. He has been in the high-tech business for the last 40 years, more than half of them in the startup scene, and has seen everything ranging from failure, to moderate success, and big success. The startups Levine is Co-Founder, Chairman or Board Member, include Pontera (formerly FeeX); FairFly; SeeTree; Refundit; Fibo; Dynamo; Kahun, and he’s always working on the next one.

Africa is the second most populous continent in the world with 1.4 billion population and will reach 1.6 billion inhabitants by 2030. It is more than 16% of the world’s population. The startup ecosystem is evolving in Africa and venture capital firms are investing in the region, but it is only 2% of the total VC investment globally. Technology will play an important role in shaping the African economy and reforming the financial, healthcare, mobility & logistics sectors. Thus, it is important to follow a human-centric investment approach for venture capital firms. Africa needs to build infrastructure from the scratch for transportation and logistics to grow the GDP.

Olu Oyinsan is the managing partner at Oui Capital recently transitioning from Vice President at Ingressive Capital, an early-stage African venture fund, where he led the investment function. Olu began his career in commercial banking with Guaranty Trust Bank in Nigeria, later working as a consultant at Forrester, advising some of the world’s leading technology companies on products and processes, and as a relationship manager at Silicon Valley Bank, where he supported technology startups across all verticals in accessing debt, equity and mezzanine products.

Digital technologies are currently remodeling the public transit ecosystem. Blockchain technologies are changing the world and becoming more mainstream. The opportunity of an increasing number of decentralized applications running in peer-to-peer networks needs to be understood by the various stakeholders involved in the process. Being a new technology, it is difficult to find dedicated use cases of using blockchain technology in the mobility sector. However, there are several examples where blockchain can potentially be used for selected public transit services including decentralized MaaS, smart contracts, asset management, carbon trading, workforce management, and supply chain and logistics.

Sophia Rödiger, is the founder and CEO of bloXmove, the decentralized ledger for Power & Mobility. She is a business psychologist, author and has been shaping innovation, transformation, and marketing initiatives in the digital mobility environment for over seven years. Most recently, she led the global startup hub as well as global transformation at Daimler Mobility (now Mercedes Benz Mobility AG). As a mentor, Sophia is particularly committed to women in technology fields and supports their international networking and visibility. If Sophia is not working on the future of mobility in the universe or metaverse, she loves to spend time in the mountains.

Digital technologies are currently remodeling the public transport ecosystem. Blockchain is emerging as new technology to facilitate seamless urban mobility through delivering future-oriented Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions. Other new emerging technologies like Web3 and Metaverse have the potential to offer door-to-door journey experiences to users. Iomob is building the Internet of Mobility and has the vision to empower enterprise organizations to offer seamlessly interoperable, global mobility roaming to their users. The company also launched the first NFTs collection with Brightline train operator in Miami and the first-ever transportation layer in metaverse in partnership with Next Earth and Vueling Airlines.

Boyd Cohen is the CEO and Co-founder of Iomob, a decentralized Internet of Mobility network. Since obtaining his Ph.D. in strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado in 2001, he spent the past two decades focused on accelerating the path to a low-carbon sustainable economy. This included publishing 3 books, multiple peer-reviewed articles, and starting a handful of ventures in the smart cities and sustainability arena.

Transformation is always challenging, and the public transport sector is no exception. Around the world, this industry is undergoing significant change as travel patterns evolve and expectations grow. The rise of autonomous mobility will further reshape travel habits and the broader mobility landscape. However, it is crucial that the core principles of public transport remain intact. To stay relevant, public transport agencies must adapt to shifting rider behaviors. Internal factors such as service reliability, comfort, and convenience, as well as external factors like urban planning and transit-oriented development, will play an important role in driving the adoption and success of public transportation in the future.

Adam Giambrone spent 20 plus years working in North America, Africa and the Middle East. He has held senior roles in all three regions. Currently, he is Infrastructure and Transportation Project Management lead at HDR Middle East. Prior to this, he was the head of Land Mobility and Road Transportation at Neom, a new city in Saudi Arabia. He served as General Manager at Saudi Public Transit Company (SAPTCO) from 2018 to 2021. He also spent 7 years with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) including 5 years as the Commissioner and Chair of the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) from 2003 to 2010. He was an elected councilor.

Digitalization and innovation have been behind many of the exciting changes to the ways in which we live and move. Mobility, including passenger transport, personal vehicles, supply chain, delivery, and logistics, all are undergoing a huge transformation.

Digitalization brings a host of opportunities for the mobility sector, including opportunities to increase efficiency and enhance quality, lower costs, improve the customer experience and loyalty. However, it also brings with it a slew of significant challenges, such as data privacy, cyber security, and so on.

Mobility Innovators Podcast is dedicated to fostering innovation in the mobility sector. Our aim is to bridge the gap between the city's authorities, operators, and industry organizations with new-age technology firms and ideas. We will be talking about the latest developments in transit tech, cleantech, smart cities, and mobility tech space. You will listen to innovation managers from transit agencies around the world, as well as executives from the industry, startup founders, technology experts, investors, consultants, and thought leaders.

Join us on this exciting journey.

Innovation is playing an important role in improving the customer experience for public transportation users. Transit agencies should create a strong innovation culture within their organization to define what innovation means to them, generate new ideas by involving front-line staff, learn best practices from other agencies, and conduct pilots to test new ideas. On-demand buses, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), and blockchain are all new emerging opportunities for transit agencies. There are also new challenges such as cybersecurity. DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) has implemented many innovative projects, such as passenger fare restructuring, on-demand mobility, integration with first and last-mile connectivity, and the establishment of a mobility sandbox.

Tina Mörch-Pierre is the Sr. Director, Innovation and Technology Services at First Transit. Her experience and depth of knowledge span over twenty-five years in varying industries including transportation, healthcare, technology, and finance. Previously, she was working as AVP – Innovation at DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit). Tina has spent the last decade leading various transit initiatives including fare collection programs, launching mobile applications, strategizing, and deploying MaaS programs as well as exploring innovative approaches to solving transportation needs. She shared her experience on various key topics and her personal journey.

The city of Madrid is committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and has launched A new sustainable strategy for Madrid: Madrid 360 in September 2019. Sustainable Mobility is a key component of the strategy, focusing on the creation of low-emission zones, the construction of infrastructure, the promotion of public transportation, electromobility, and personal mobility. EMT Madrid is in charge of operating buses and a bicycle-sharing system in the city of Madrid, operating a fleet of 2,082 buses and carrying 1.6 million every weekday. The agency has always been at the forefront of introducing and testing new technologies, such as launching an open-loop payment system in 2019, a MaaS application in 2019, micro-transit services in 2020, and numerous other digitization initiatives.

Juan Corro Beseler is the Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at EMT Madrid, the leading mobility surface, since then has been in charge of rolling out EMT innovative solutions like the Smart Bus Madrid and pushing the MaaS development in Madrid. Juan has developed his professional career in the field of innovation and digital transformation in both the public and private sectors. Before joining the municipal company, he held the position of vice president of Strategy and Business Development at SAYME, academic director of the Engineering Area of U-tad (University Center for Technology and Digital Art), and director of the Cabinet of the Secretary of State of Telecommunications and for the Information Society, leading the deployment of the first Digital Agenda for Spain and representing the Ministry of Industry in the National Cybersecurity Council.

Transit agencies around the world are faced with the challenge of digitizing their operations in a short period of time due to pandemics. The challenge is further complicated for the small and medium-sized transit agencies as they lack the expertise and resources. RTC (Reseau de Transport de la Capitale) made it through and became a champion of digital transformation, launching many technical innovations like payment apps, etc.

Christian Lebeuf is the Director of Technology of RTC, Quebec City, Canada. As head of the technology sector with the RTC, he set up and launched the bus fleet's electrification program, put it in place, and supervised the team in charge of deploying the IT systems required for the operation of Quebec's future tramway.

Technology will be crucial in improving public transportation networks in emerging markets. Deep tech can assist in rationalizing a large volume of data in order to build inference. However, many emerging markets lack data because it is fragmented and non-standardized. The public transit agencies in emerging markets should follow open data and open-source principles. This will help the entrepreneurs to build various applications.

Devin shared his personal experience of building a bootstrap business and how he raised funding from notable investors. He shared some valuable entrepreneurial lessons and his journey from bootstrapped startup to venture-capital-backed business. He highlighted in this part that Ideas are a dime and it takes a lot of grit and determination for founders to run with an idea, turn it into a business, and then scale it.

Devin de Vries is CEO and co-founder of WhereIsMyTransport. The company is building the largest source of mobility and location data for emerging markets, producing, and maintaining public transport network information from every mode of transport. The company has collected data from various cities across Southeastern Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia.

Public transit ridership is recovering slowly and has reached an average 80% of the pre-pandemic level. However, it is important to highlight that different countries are in different recovery phases. Secondly, the riders traveling patterns have changed and there are more riders on weekends, and peak hours are flattened. Public transit agencies need to adjust to this changing behavior. On the other hand, transit agencies around the globe are facing challenges with staffing as there is a shortage of drivers and workers. Thus, the role of planning and scheduling has become more critical to provide services to riders. Transit agencies will face new challenges with the induction of electric buses as the buses will have a limited range. Thus, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning will allow transit agencies to build dynamic schedules. Further, on-demand mobility can complement fixed-line services. This episode will share the story of Optibus and how the company is helping to digitalize public transit agencies.

Amos Haggiag is the CEO and co-founder of Optibus, a cutting-edge software platform that powers complex public transportation operations in more than 2,000 cities worldwide. Before co-founding Optibus in 2014, Amos led the development of large-scale personalization engines as a senior software development engineer at Microsoft and designed machine learning algorithms at Siemens. He is the recipient of several prestigious math and technology awards, including the Intel Prize (for software engineering), the Elkin Prize (for information technology) and the Wolf Prize (for mathematics).

The Middle East is generally known as a car-dependent region owing to its harsh climate and cheap energy cost. However, things have changed dramatically in the last decade as cities have put digitalization and improvement of public transport on their agendas. There is a competitive spirit among countries in the Middle East region as countries are investing heavily in public transport infrastructure and innovation. The new investment in the rail network, metro system, electric buses, etc. will create more opportunities for people to do things. Further, the startup ecosystem is booming in the Middle East as Dubai is emerging as the favorite destination for crypto and Web3 Startups. Similarly, Riyadh is attracting innovative startups as a regional hub.

Dheeraj Bhardwaj is a Group CEO for City Group Co., Kuwait, leading the transformation agenda of the passenger transport/ mobility sector in Kuwait with a focus on digital innovations and green initiatives. Prior to this, he was co-founder and CEO of Arnab Mobility based in the UAE. A unique blend of experience ranging from intense R&D, and technology start-ups to large corporates and Strategy Consulting. As a digital & innovation consulting lead of PwC, he advised and consulted for a number of Government departments and businesses in the UK, India, and the Middle East on Strategy, Innovation, and Technology implementations. Dheeraj developed Innovation Strategy for $25 billion Crossrail project in London and the award-winning “Dubai Innovation Index”.

The automotive industry is currently experiencing a once-in-a-century transformation. With the advent of digitalization and connectivity, there is a massive opportunity for growth in the industry, which will be further fueled by artificial intelligence (AI) as it works with the data created by digitalization. The ability to upgrade vehicles' software will be a significant opportunity for manufacturers, as it will provide greater flexibility for consumers. In addition, the emergence of new modes of transportation, such as ride-hailing and micromobility, will offer more options for riders, ultimately changing the way we move for the better. Micromobility sector is going through a rough phase but regulatory push fosters the adoption of technology. Startups looking to capitalize on this transformation should focus on the end-use and end-users economics and utilization, rather than solely on their product.

Sebastien Bihari is the General Partner of Vektor Partners. The fund has reached a first close of EUR 50 million and looking to raise EUR 125 million. The fund invests in early-stage startups in the mobility sector, focusing on software, AI /machine learning, and data-driven business models. Prior to launching the fund, he was the Managing Director, Head of Automotive Investment Banking EMEA with BNP Paribas, and Executive Director / SVP, M&A at Moelis & Company. He is a global citizen and lived and worked in many countries.

India is investing lots of funds in rail infrastructure projects including urban rail systems in cities, rapid rail transit system for regional cities, and High-Speed rail project to connect cities. Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) projects in the National Capital Region of India is connecting 3 major satellite cities with the capital city – Meerut (82 km), Alwar (198 km) and Panipat (103 km). The first corridor from Delhi to Meerut is under construction, costing $5 billion in investment. National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is mandated to design, develop, implement, financing, operate, and maintain the RRTS project. RapidX has adopted an outsourcing model and has appointed Deutsche Bahn for operation and maintenance. The agency is using many innovative technologies to build the project, including BIM (Building Information Modelling), Digital twins, Precasted Tracks, Catenary (Rigid), Rolling stocks, and UPI ticketing solutions.

Vijay Kumar Singh is Managing Director of NCRTC and presently leading transformation in regional mobility by implementing Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) projects in the National Capital Region of India. NCRTC is mandated for designing, developing, implementing, financing, operating, and maintaining the RRTS project. He has built NCRTC from scratch and is now spearheading the development of the idea into a reality through this $ 15 billion project. Before joining NCRTC, he was the Chief Executive Officer of the High-Speed Rail Corporation, where he played a key role in developing the Mumbai-Ahmedab ad HSR project. Having served as Executive Director in the Ministry of Railways, Government of India, he has experience working on the Board of many joint venture companies and has acquired a profound policy perspective. He has been the officer in charge of the execution team of the first section of Delhi Metro project in the field.

The mobility sector is undergoing a major transformation. The automotive industry is investing more in digital transformation, electric vehicles, and autonomy. There are many attempts done in the past too. However, these changes will really happen, and we will see that scaling which we are talking about is it's mostly that we think three things are coming together - Technology, Consumer Needs, and Regulation. There is a big shift in consumer behavior to use different mobility options.

Timo Möller is a Partner and Co-Leader of the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility focusing on strategic questions about the several disruptive trends affecting the mobility industry and the new business opportunities. In his leadership role at the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility, Timo focuses on strategic and operational questions about the disruptive trends in the mobility industry: connectivity, autonomous driving, electrification, and shared mobility. He also follows the next-horizon trends and analyses the potential application of these technologies in the mobility ecosystem, e.g., applied AI, Cloud & Edge Computing.

Cities around the world are investing in electric buses and planning to induct electric buses to achieve their climate goals. The city of Shenzhen, a 20-million-strong metropolis, is known as the global capital of electric buses. The first 100 electric buses were introduced in 2010, and the entire fleet was converted to electric in 2017, totaling 16,000 electric buses and 22,000 electric taxis. The electrification of public transportation in Shenzhen has yielded numerous lessons.

Joseph (Joe) Ma is Technical Advisor to CEO of Saudi Arabia Public Transport Company (SAPTCO). Earlier, he was Deputy General Manager of Shenzhen Bus Group, a company that is running 6,000 electric buses and 5,000 electric taxis. He is the brains behind Shenzhen's successful electric bus operation.

Public Transport is the backbone of cities and provides access to people for both economic and leisure activities. It plays a more essential role in emerging markets. According to the UN and other sources, around 3 billion people rely on Public Transport in the emerging markets. The people in emerging markets are reliant on public transport mainly for commuting to and from work. These markets are option-rich but information poor. People do not have access to information about the available public transport options.

WhereIsMyTransport is building the largest source of mobility and location data for emerging markets, producing, and maintaining public transport network information from every mode of transport. The company has collected data from various cities across Southeastern Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. WhereIsMyTransport is a venture-backed company that has raised $28 million in funding from notable investors.

Devin de Vries is CEO and co-founder of WhereIsMyTransport. An entrepreneur dedicated to fostering technological innovation to overcome social challenges, Devin leads a team inspired by a shared vision to bring the benefits of high-quality data and technological innovation to people living and working in emerging markets. He has built 3 ventures and all his ventures have been tech-related: in high school, university, and now with WhereIsMyTransport. Devin shared some valuable entrepreneurial lessons and his journey from bootstrapped startup to venture-capital-backed business.

The role of the public transit sector will evolve in the future as people are looking for better customer experience and real-time updates. The pandemic has negative impact on the public transit sector across the globe. However, the North American region is still lagging behind in the recovery. Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $108 billion to support public transportation programs, including $91 billion in guaranteed funding. This funding has helped cities to launch various pilots including electric/fuel cell buses, autonomous vehicles, and MaaS. The emergence of new mobility options including urban air mobility and autonomous vehicles will change the landscape. Mobility will become more individualized.

Paul Comfort is a Transit Evangelist and has spent his career in government and public transportation. He is currently working as SVP and Chief Customer Officer at Modaxo. He worked as County Administrator for two suburban counties in Maryland. Later, he worked as CEO of Maryland Transit Administration (MTA). He has also worked in business development and operations management for many public and private transit operations. He is the author of four books – “The Future of Public Transportation” and “Conversations of Equity and Inclusion in Public Transportation”. Also the popular host of “Transit Unplugged Podcast”.

The digital mapping industry is currently experiencing a significant revolution marked by the emergence of location technology companies. These companies are harnessing inputs such as GPS, geolocation, mapping, and navigation to develop innovative solutions for various industries, including transportation, logistics, and retail. With a shift in focus from "route optimization" to "resource optimization," location-based technologies offer numerous use cases that can significantly enhance operational efficiency. Furthermore, with API integration, operators can seamlessly integrate location-based data with their existing ERP systems, enabling them to add a business layer to their operations. This integration allows for better data management and improved decision-making capabilities.

Ajay Bulusu is the co-founder of NextBillion.ai, a startup that provides mapping solutions using artificial intelligence for the mobility and logistics industry. Before starting NextBillion.ai, he was leading Geo Data Operations Team at Grab and was working as Senior Director Of Product. He also worked as a product manager at Google and led the development of several key products, including Google Flights and Google Assistant. Ajay is known for his expertise in AI and is part of the Forbes Tech Council. He is also featured as Fortune 40U40.

Generally, the rail industry has a reputation for being slow to adopt new technologies. However, in reality, rail technologies are evolving a lot in the last few years. The key difference is that the adoption, the adoption is just slow, but the technology is evolving. Public transit companies around the world are implementing new technologies to make passengers’ journeys more comfortable. Metro and other major public transport systems have progressed from simple mass transportation services to integrated public transport providers. All new-generation technologies are very important for the rail sector, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data etc. Technology is helping to move towards zero infrastructure and adopt predictive maintenance practices. Hitachi Rail is one of the pioneers in rail technology and is working on various key projects.

An Ecuadorian living in Italy, Wellington Toapanta is Head of Digital Strategy & Innovation at Hitachi Rail, leading the Digital and Innovation Business strategy globally. His key responsibilities include the consolidation of Hitachi Rail's Digital strategy, the identification of digital and innovative trends from the market, and the identification of strategic partnerships (and M&A). He has 14 years of experience in the railway environment and previously led European Research Projects from Horizon 2020 and was part of the Strategy and Business Development teams with global responsibilities with Ansaldo STS (now Hitachi Rail) for Railway, Mass Transit, and Freight.

Autonomous mobility will play a major role in reshaping cities. Industry predicted that autonomous vehicles would be providing services and were available on our streets by 2021. However, the industry is still not closer to market deployment. Autonomous vehicles are already in the phase of disillusionment under Gartner Hype Cycle for connected and smart mobility. The industry will see upper movement from this level. User acceptance and perception of autonomous vehicles will have a big impact on large-scale adoption. According to Lloyd’s Register Foundation, only 27% of the global population would accept or believe that this technology is safe. The cities and authorities have a big role to support the new technology deployment. European Commission (EU) followed the right approach to fund the pilots and demonstration of new technologies.

Guido di Pasquale is the Managing Director of PAVE (Partners for Automated Vehicle Education), a coalition of industry, non-profit and academic institutions. The key mission of PAVE is to inform the public about automated vehicles and their potential. Prior to joining PAVE Europe, he was working as Deputy Director of Knowledge and Innovation at UITP. He has 20 years of experience in the transport and automation field, specializing in Intelligent Transport Systems, Automated Mobility, integrated mobility, research and innovation, strategy, and policy. He was involved in many EU projects including SPACE Project (Shared Personalised Automated Connected vhEicles), Shift2Rail GoF4R (Governance of the Interoperability Framework for Rail and Intermodal Mobility), AUTOPILOT (Automated Driving progressed by the Internet of Things), IMOVE (Accelerate deployment and unlock the scalability of MaaS schemes in Europe and GALILEO FOR MOBILITY (Fostering the adoption of Galileo for MaaS).

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and is well-known for its busy port, which is among the largest in the world. Hamburg Hochbahn is the public transport operator in the city, operating 111 bus routes and 4 underground lines. The city has launched an ambitious project - Hamburg Takt, which to increase the market share from 22% in 2017 to 30% by 2030. The city is now investing in many innovative projects including GoA4 Metro line and autonomous fleet project. The city is looking to replace 1100 diesel buses with zero-emission buses by 2030. The episode will share “How HOCHBAHN as a key mobility provider is implementing innovative solutions (together with local and regional partners) in Hamburg.”

Natalie Rodriguez is Head of Innovation of Hamburg Hochbahn AG, the second largest transport company in Germany. From 2018 until 2021, she was the lead project manager of automated driving, Bus-Segment and was in charge of the HEAT-Project (Hamburg Electric Autonomous Transportation). Natalie has been working for over 15 years in international planning and consulting companies specialized in public transport in Caracas, Lyon, Karlsruhe and since 2011 for the HOCHBAHN holding different positions in the areas of tariff, demand, and revenue estimations; corporate management, project management office, business development and Innovation and Change. She has always tried to combine my love for languages and for Mobility throughout her professional career.

Public transport is the backbone of the cities. However, there is a need to shift focus on customer experience owing to the emergence of multiple mobility options. Using AI and machine learning through leveraging a variety of data sources, public transport operators can understand the real historical and current passenger demand of urban transportation systems. The city authorities should try to adopt SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan) which aims to build 15-minute cities that allows people to ditch their car. To achieve this goal, new emerging modes including micromobility, on-demand buses, and car sharing systems need to work in tandem with the public transport system. European cities have some good examples of multi-modal integration. Cities should continue to experiment with futuristic ideas including Urban Air Mobility, Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and Autonomy, etc. and encourage startups to share fresh perspectives.

Scott Shepard (Asistobe CCO / CPO) leverages his professional training as an urban planner & designer to deliver value in mobility innovation, startup advisory, entrepreneurship, and thought leadership. Scott is an advocate for #CitiesFirst and an expert in the intersection of cities, movement, and technology. He is a digital mobility expert, entrepreneur, startup advisor, and thought leader who understands and is passionate about the intersection of cities, movement, and technology. He works for more than 15 years in the USA in different roles helping cities to plan mobility and transport infrastructure. Later he moved to Europe and worked with multiple startups in an Operation and Business role. In this podcast, we discussed various topics including the future of mobility, the public transport sector in Europe, the idea of 15 minutes cities, the evolution of micro-mobility, and the growing startup ecosystem in Europe.

New York City Transit (NYCT) is the largest public transit agency in North America, carrying more than 2.5 billion passengers every year. NYCT is going through transformation and implanting new initiatives including predictive maintenance. The agency is implementing many new initiatives including new ticketing solution. The agency is planning to introduce electric buses and using AI to improve the maintenance of existing buses. The episode will highlight some of the key initiatives launched by NYCT and the new innovation culture within the agency.

Richard Davey is President of New York City Transit and is responsible for managing the largest transit agency in North America. He joined in May 2022. Previously, he served as a Partner and Director at the Boston Consulting Group in their Public Sector and Industrial Goods practice areas. He also served as CEO of Boston 2024, the organization that sought to bring the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to Boston. He is a transit enthusiast and was the Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation from September 2011 to October 2014 and previously the General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority from March 2010 to September 2011.

Guest: Mohamed Mezghani, Secretary General, International Association of Public Transport (UITP)

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) was founded in 1885 as the European tram operators' association. Fast forward today, UITP has more than 1,800 members in 100 countries around the world. New mobility and digitalization will play an important role in the recovery plan of transit players. UITP is supporting the various stakeholders by sharing knowledge and best practices around the world.

Mohamed Mezghani is Secretary-General of International Association of Public Transport (UITP). He has been working for more than 25 years in public transport and urban mobility-related fields. In this episode, we talk with Mohamed about technology innovation, new mobility and public transportation, a new generation of passengers, the future of mobility in Africa and the MENA region, women in mobility, and management lessons from football.

If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on Mobility Innovators Podcast, email us at info@mobility-innovators.com

Venture capitalists are pouring money into the mobility sector. In 2021, mobility startups have raised $97.7 billion. It is important to note that venture capital firms are investing in a variety of mobility technologies such as autonomous vehicles, on-demand, e-scooters, electric vehicles, battery technologies, cybersecurity, data management, fleet subscription, urban logistics, urban air mobility, and many others.

Innovation is happening all around the world. However, Israel will play an important role in the future mobility industry, with more than 600 mobility startups founded over the last decade here in Israel. Furthermore, many venture capital firms are focusing on investing in mobility and logistics startups. We invited one of the first investors in the mobile technology sector to share his knowledge.

Michael Granoff is the founder and Managing Director of Maniv Mobility, a Tel Aviv-based venture capital firm that invests in startups that aim at revolutionizing the mobility and technology industries. Maniv Mobility has raised around $160 million so far and has invested in more than 37 startups. Some of the notable investments include Otonomo, bipi, Aurora labs, Revel, Turo, Upstream Security, Ridecell etc. Mike is also a founding board member of Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), a Washington, DC-based policy and advocacy organization. He also serves on the boards of many mobility start-ups.

Traffic Congestion is emerging as a major challenge for the cities. More than 1.35 million people die in road accidents every year people are losing 51 hours in traffic jams every year. Traffic management systems use traditional methods to regulate the traffic flow. However, many cities are using artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve traffic congestion issues and follow a network approach rather than a single junction. The cities can simulate different scenarios in real-time to understand the impact on a network basis. Further, Transit Signal Priority (TSP) is helping to reduce travel time for the riders and improve efficiency. The episode will cover the topics related to AI in Traffic Management and the role of traffic signals for autonomous vehicles.

Tal Kresier is the Co-founder and CEO of @NoTraffic . NoTraffic is a company that focuses on developing technology for intelligent traffic management and optimization. As CEO, he manages a large team of industry leaders from various fields such as AI, Machine Vision, Cybersecurity, and Engineering, bringing the team together and creating the most sophisticated traffic management platform. Prior to NoTraffic, Tal served as a Business Analyst at Beta Finance consulting firm, where he led complex projects in the transportation, infrastructure, and energy industries.

Public transport sector is undergoing major transformation owing to the availability of various mobility options in the cities, as well as, changing riders' behavior. Public transit operators need to adapt to these new technology and market trends. The riders are looking for more personalized information in real-time, including any change or disruption of service. Further, there is an expectation of incentives and rewards in the event of such an inconvenience. The podcast will touch on various key issues including predicting users' behavior using smartphone data, data privacy issues, customer satisfaction and loyalty in public transport, and how to win back riders.

Roman Oberli is Chief Executive Officer of Axon Vibe, a location-based contextual platform that detects and predicts real-world human behavior. Roman leads a team of more than 100 engineers and data scientists from multiple disciplines, located at five centers around the globe – every day evolving the future of mobility. As the chief of Axon Vibe’s product vision and development process, Roman has become a thought leader in spatial analysis and a true visionary in tackling the urban challenges of congestion, pollution, and the “new normal” through behavioral change. As a serial entrepreneur by nature, Roman has extensive experience in building and scaling startup ventures.

Public transit agencies are facing an increasingly complex and rapidly changing environment. Factors such as changing demographics, evolving customer needs, and technological advancements are driving the need for public transit agencies to be more agile and innovative in their approach. In order to stay relevant and competitive, transit agencies need to be able to quickly adapt to new trends and emerging technologies, while also providing reliable and efficient service to their customers. This requires a willingness to experiment with new ideas, embrace new technologies, and develop new business models that can help them better meet the needs of their customers. Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is a mid-size public transportation agency that provides bus service in the Greater Cincinnati area and emerging as one of the innovative transit agencies in the US. The agency has already achieved 85% recovery rate and is now looking to expand its services even further.

Khaled Shammout is Chief Strategic Planning, Development, and Innovation Officer at Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA). He is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the agency's technology and data-driven strategies. He also leads the development of SORTA's long-term strategic plan and works to enhance the agency's customer experience. Prior to SORTA, he worked with different agencies in the US including Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA), Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), and Palm Beach County. He was also the Chief of the Bus Transit Team at Makkah Mass Rail Transit.

The pandemic had a significant impact on public transportation ridership in North America. Currently, the ridership is ranging between 50-70% depending on the city and transit mode. Before the pandemic, ridership on Ottawa's transit system was among the highest per capita of any North American city, with 475,000 daily journeys in the city of 1 million habitants. OC Transpo (aka Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission) is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. The agency is adapting to changing customer behavior and has launched many initiatives to bring back ridership. The transit agency is planning to convert the full bus fleet to electric by 2027 and working on Phase II of the Ottawa Light Rail system, to build a truly multi-modal transport network.

Renée Amilcar became the first woman to be permanently hired for the role of General Manager of Transit Services with OC Transpo in the City of Ottawa. She joined the position in October 2021 after spending 19 years at Société de transport de Montréal (STM). During her stint at STM Montreal, she managed different departments, including the planning section, bus maintenance, and operation. She is also the winner of the exceptional woman leadership prize for large companies awarded by the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ) in 2018. She was also the first female bus committee chair of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP).

Many cities and countries globally are setting ambitious targets to achieve net-zero emissions, with mobility and logistics playing a pivotal role in reaching these goals. Fleet operators are confronted with the significant challenge of planning for energy transition, necessitating substantial capital investments in the coming years. However, they must prioritize between various projects and adopt a data-driven approach. Data will also be crucial in ensuring compliance and accessing a rapidly expanding array of climate-based financing products. This will entail leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence to analyze and comprehend the data, enabling informed decision-making and strategic planning for energy transition initiatives.

Danielle Walsh is co-founder and CEO of Clearly, a startup based in the UK, which helps the global transportation sector to reach net zero emissions. Clearly is the company with the data and AI stack that enables corporations to actually achieve their net zero targets in the largest part of the economies - transport and anything related to that. It uses AI to gather, combine, and enhance data across the supply chain so companies know exactly where the most emissions are coming from in the fleet; easily assess optimal projects to reduce emissions, and automate the access of shared and cheaper financing. The company is already operating in 8 cities around the world, has more than 50,000 assets under contract, and has tracked over 100 million trips. Prior to founding her venture, she was a Director in TMT Investment Banking at HSBC and led Technology for Future Cities & New Initiatives. She is also an Angel Investor.

Public transit agencies are trying to bring back lost ridership by launching various marketing campaigns and loyalty programs. The potential to combine games and rewards with public transport travel is significant. It could provide additional behavior change rewards for off-peak travel, encourage walking instead of vehicle access to public transport, or reward the use of alternative public transport stops to avoid congested stations. Move2Earn is a new segment in blockchain and incorporates the concepts of Game-Fi, Social networks, and NFTs to incentivize participants.

Currently, most of the Move2Earn games are either walking, running, or like Fitbit app that tracks your exercise routine, and you get rewarded with tokens. Move2Earn protocol can encourage individuals to use more sustainable or green mobility options. The users can save carbon emissions which can be converted into NFTs, crypto tokens, or other rewards. There are few Move2Earn players which are using blockchain technologies to promote green mobility.

Boyd Cohen is the CEO and Co-founder of Iomob, a decentralized Internet of Mobility network. Since obtaining his Ph.D. in strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado in 2001, he spent the past two decades focused on accelerating the path to a low-carbon sustainable economy. This included publishing 3 books, multiple peer-reviewed articles, and starting a handful of ventures in the smart cities and sustainability arena. This is Boyd's second episode with @Mobility Innovators and he shared about his new project - WheelCoin, a Move2Earn app using #blockchaintechnology.

Angel investment is important to the achievement of startups. Angel investors are early backers who not only provide funding to small startups or entrepreneurs, but also support product development and discovering early customers. As the private funding market is facing slow down, it will be important for the entrepreneurs to build their ventures strategically. Startups in mobility spaces are no exception and should focus on building distribution and finding product-market fit. This episode will feature firsthand knowledge from an Angel Investor who has invested in over 280 startups globally. Some of the key questions in this podcast are:

· Angel investment strategy – Indexing approach?

· Angel Investor due-diligence checklist?

· Difference between Angel Investors vs Venture Capitalists?

· Due diligence process followed by Angel Investors for Mobility Startups?

· How to raise venture capital as a first-time founder?

· How to build a pitch deck for Investors?

· How do angel/venture capitalists add value?

· Potential uses cases of Web3 and blockchain?

· Future of Startup ecosystem in emerging markets?

· Funding winter implication and key advice for founders

· How to become an Angel Investor?

Ashley Flucas is the founder and general partner of Flucas Ventures. Based in West Palm Beach, Florida, the syndicate of around 2,000 angel investors has invested in more than 200 startups. Ashley, a graduate of Duke University and Harvard Law School, also serves as a partner at Jupiter, a Florida-based real estate finance fund with $3 billion in assets under management.

The mobility and transportation sector has gone through a major transformation in the last decade, with the emergence of many new mobility options like shared mobility and e-scooters for passengers. We will see the emergence of many new modes including autonomous shuttles and urban air mobility. Mobility as a Service (MaaS) was the buzzword but failed to fulfill the promise. However, MaaS 2.0 is emerging as a potential disruptor mainly due to two factors – MaaS operators are following B2B / B2G approach to achieve mass adoption. Secondly, the operators have the basic infrastructure in place which will help to integrate them easily. Further, there is an opportunity to integrate MaaS app with other stakeholders including airlines, hotels, airports, etc.

Guillermo Campoamor is the Co-founder and CEO of Meep. He has a background in the legal and corporate sectors but now building a mobility tech startup. This clearly demonstrates his ability to manage diverse teams and build complex products in the mobility space. He founded Meep in 2017 with the aim of changing the mobility paradigm and shifting to a more adaptable and sustainable way of moving around cities. Meep is building MaaS application and working with 20 cities in 5 countries.

Innovation will play a key role in the transformation of the public transport network. Cities around the world are seeking out innovative solutions to reduce emissions and adapt to changing travel behaviours. The RATP Group is the world's third largest public transport company, carrying 16 million people every day in 14 countries through 107 subsidiaries around the world. RATP is implementing various innovative projects including BIM robots, AI and IoT, 5G, 3D printing etc. to executive various projects including artificial intelligence to translate instantly several languages, and Perceval, the dog robot to monitor tracks. However, the increasing digitalization will lead to threats from cyber-attacks. To be future-ready, the agencies want to collaborate with external stakeholders such as startups, academia, and research institutes.

Côme Berbain is Head of innovation for RATP Group and head of the Autonomous Vehicle program. He has 15 years of experience in the public (Ministry of Defence, French national authority for cybersecurity) and private sector (Orange, Trusted Logic) on the topics of cybersecurity and digital transformation. He advised the State Secretary for Digital in 2017 and 2018 on the topics of digital trust and state digital transformation, before becoming Chief Technology Officer of the French State at the inter-ministerial directorate for Digital. He joined RATP in November 2019. He holds an engineering degree and a Ph.D. in Cryptography.

Public transit agencies are grappling with various challenges, from managing increasing ridership to enhancing the customer experience and ensuring improved accessibility. In response to the post-pandemic world, Uber has adjusted its strategy, focusing on solving these problems by offering services such as micro-transits, paratransit, first and last-mile connectivity, and late-night outage assistance. With partnerships spanning over 60 transit agencies globally, Uber is at the forefront of addressing these challenges and driving a more connected transportation ecosystem. In North America, Uber is placing emphasis on micro-transit and paratransit services, while in Europe, the company is collaborating with first and last-mile providers. As we look ahead to the emergence of autonomous mobility, it becomes crucial for transit agencies to partner with different stakeholders to continually improve the customer experience.

In this episode, we dive into the evolution of the ride-hailing or on-demand industry, which has transformed the mobility landscape. Initially seen as a competitor to traditional taxis and public transportation, it quickly led to the emergence of new partnership opportunities that reshaped the way we travel.

Jen Shepherd is the Global Head of Uber Transit. She is responsible for overseeing the development and expansion of the Uber Transit feature, which allows users to plan and pay for public transportation trips within the Uber app. This includes working with transit agencies and other partners to integrate their services into the app, as well as ensuring that the user experience is seamless and intuitive. Under her leadership, Uber has expanded its transit offerings to more cities and has continued to invest in the development of the Uber Transit feature. She has more than 15 years of experience in strategy and technology. Prior to joining Uber, she worked at Deloitte, Walt Disney, and Starbucks.

School Bus Transportation is the largest transit system in North America. In the US alone, there are 50 million K-12 students in public schools and there are 5.8 million in private schools. So it's in total it's like 57 million students or kids who need to be transported every day. However, School Bus transportation is facing many challenges including a shortage of bus drivers, funding constraints, and increasing complexity. Technology will play an important role in improving the school bus operation and managing resources optimally.

Keith Corso is the Co-founder & CEO of BusRight. He ideated the company in high school and built the foundation for BusRight during his time at Northeastern University in Boston, alongside several other team members. BusRight is a transportation technology startup, reshaping the student transportation industry with its routing software, real-time GPS, dynamic driver navigation, and a bus tracking app for parents. He has held roles on both sides of the venture ecosystem, from serving as the President of the Entrepreneurs Club in college, to working as an Analyst for MassMutual Ventures, a Venture Fellow for Underscore VC, and Venture Director for Origin - a deep tech hub