This year's symposium brought together more than 600 technology experts, policy makers, urban planners, energy and utility representatives, academics, media members and citizens of San Francisco to discuss the key issues our cities need to address, and the need for extensive collaboration to make it all happen.
Topics included autonomous vehicles and how they will someday interact with the cities around them, how we can create more reliable methods for delivering goods in urban areas and even what our cities would look like if we completely reimagined our streets.
Panelists were asked thought-provoking questions about our future, including "How do we innovate our aging electrical grid to support a greener tomorrow?" and "What if we could use data to help people move more efficiently?"
These discussions all tied to a much larger trend — working together — that is necessary for us to realize the potential of the City of Tomorrow. We encourage you to relive the day through the stories below and share your own using #CityofTomorrow.
Most of the conversation about self-driving cars has been focused on the technology itself and not on how the vehicles will work in the city environment around them.
To help cities prepare for a world of self-driving vehicles, Bryan Salesky, CEO of Argo AI, Karina Ricks, director of mobility and infrastructure for the City of Pittsburgh, and Shin-Pei Tsay of the Gehl Institute offered perspectives from their respective areas of expertise.
What’s the No. 1 obstacle when it comes to enabling self-driving vehicles to operate in cities? Watch the video below to find out.
"Congestion costs the U.S. somewhere between 2 to 4 percent of our national gross domestic product, and that’s because we’re stuck doing nothing," says Jonathan Simkin, founder and CEO of Swiftly.
When we’re not working, we’re not producing anything for the economy. So what’s a solution to reduce our time stuck in gridlock? Connectivity.
"We all need to come together and share data so we can take a holistic view of who is using our streets and when," says Ali Vahabzadeh, CEO and founder of Chariot.
Under certain privacy circumstances, Chariot shares data with communities to help unclog streets and curb space. If everyone is on a uniform system, constantly pushing and pulling information, we can all have a smarter commute.
In urban communities, streets comprise 30 percent of all space. They are an economic generator, an area for social activity and a conduit for everything that moves. Shouldn't we design and manage our streets with these values in mind? In this session, participants got to play civil engineer, building their ideal "street."
Dr. Anne Goodchild of the University of Washington led a conversation on the growing challenge of package delivery and the innovations and inputs required to deliver goods in an efficient way.
"The epicenter of shopping is moving from the store to the home," says Daphne Carmeli, CEO of Deliv, a crowdsourced, same-day delivery startup.
And more and more people shopping from home means additional traffic from delivery vehicles. As demand for this service grows and congestion worsens, it's time we rethink the entire package delivery ecosystem — from the second you click "order" to the moment that item arrives at its final destination.
Take a look at how Ford and Domino’s Pizza are researching the future of food delivery.
Stanford’s James Ehrlich headed a diverse panel on America’s aging electrical grid and the risks and opportunities associated with innovating it.
Our renewable energy future is dependent on an electrical grid that can keep up with increasing demand. For example, for every two electric vehicles, the electricity needed to power them is like adding another house to the grid, says Steve Malnight, a senior vice president at PG&E Corp.
Since the Symposium, Ford released its 18th annual Sustainability Report that highlights the company’s journey over the past two decades and its steadfast commitment to doing what’s right for its customers, employees and communities. Click here for an overview on the report with a short film narrated by executive chairman Bill Ford.
Solutions to today’s mobility issues will never reach full potential unless they are done in a collaborative environment – a consensus reached by a panel of experts led by traffic and transportation maestro Sam Schwartz.
"Getting all the necessary parties to the table to discuss how to build the City of Tomorrow is a critical first step," says Mark de la Vergne, Detroit's mobility innovation chief. "Public engagement is not a San Francisco or Detroit challenge; it's a national challenge," he says.
Without the support of everyone — government, private sector, not-for-profits and the public — solutions to our urban mobility needs will become harder to reach.
The future of the City of Tomorrow depends on hearing all voices. Inspired by our day together, here are some perspectives on how we can plan for our transportation future:
The Rocky Mountain Institute takes a look at the potential market opportunity of electric automated mobility services.
Grayson Brulte, co-founder and president of Brulte & Company consulting firm, says autonomy will usher in the single greatest change in society since the Industrial Revolution.
Lauren Hepler at GreenBiz reports that building greener cities to boost social equity is a priority from coast to coast.
Streetsblog San Francisco writes that Ford could be the company to help create more livable cities.
The Verge takes a look at Argo AI – and why Argo is different than other artificial intelligence companies.
Scott Smith, founder and managing partner of Changeist, a consulting and creative group, asks whether dockless bikes are welcome new transport or mobility spam.
The New York Times documents a brutally long commute for Sheila James, who lives in Stockton, California, and commutes to San Francisco.
PSFK goes behind-the-scenes and provides insight on how Ford is reframing the future of mobility.
The speakers you heard from at the City of Tomorrow Symposium are on the cutting edge of making future transportation solutions a reality. But they can’t do it alone. How are you helping to design and build the City of Tomorrow? What should others start considering about how we move?
Continue the conversation on Slack and by using the #CityofTomorrow hashtag on LinkedIn and Twitter, and follow City of Tomorrow on Medium.
