This month, Automobility LA convened established and nascent industry leaders to elaborate on their vision of for an urban transportation future cultivated by public and private cooperation. VX News presents a discussion of this future among Ford Motors President and CEO Mark Fields, Los Angeles Chief Sustainability Officer Matt Petersen, and Chariot Co-founder and CEO Ali Vahabzadeh.
Seleta Reynolds joins VX News to discuss LADOT’s recently released Urban Mobility in the Digital Age report, which addresses the future of transportation in the city.
Dr. Gene Seroka of the Port of LA and Jeffrey Burgin of Pasha Stevedoring & Terminals share how the Green Omni Terminal demonstration proves zero-emission technologies can be integrated into our goods-movement system.
Over the last decade, significant efforts by leaders in Sacramento, automobile manufacturers, and hydrogen-fueling station developers have laid the foundation for a statewide infrastructure to support hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. California now leads the nation in developing fueling stations, with 17 retail stations open now and more than 30 more in development. In April, leaders from the public and private sector showed off the readiness of this advanced technology by driving from Santa Monica to Sacramento in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. VX News presents an excerpt of remarks from the event, featuring Tyson Eckerle (ZEV Infrastructure Deputy Director for the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development), Mary Nichols (CARB Chair); Janea Scott (CEC Commissioner); Tony Vasquez (Mayor of Santa Monica); Dr. Clark Parker (South Coast AQMD Board Member); and Shane Stephens (True Zero co-founder).
At the “Transit Oriented Los Angeles 2015” conference hosted by Urban Land Institute-LA in December, VerdeXchange Chairman David Abel moderated a discussion between California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Jeff Morales and Metro CEO Phil Washington. Washington and Morales both emphasized their focus on the positive impacts transit build-out can produce for the communities it touches, if approached with care—and the steps they are taking to meet local needs and incorporate community feedback into plans that are expected to yield a transformative impact on the Southern California region as well as the entire state. They also discussed both the agency and authority’s efforts to protect and bolster local business as rail construction occurs.
The Coalition for Clean Air’s Port and Freight Solutions Symposium in October brought together over 100 port experts, environmental advocates, and government agencies concerned with improving air quality and efficiency through reducing greenhouse-gas emissions at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles. Here, VX News presents edited excerpts from a number of panels that took place at the conference. Featured speakers include: California Air Resources Board Commissioner Hector De La Torre, Port of Long Beach Director of Environmental Planning Rick Cameron, ILWU’s Peter Peyton, and SoCalGas Director of Policy and Environment George Minter. These selections highlight promising new technology that could dramatically reduce truck emissions, as well as new initiatives underway at the ports.
Deborah Flint was nominated over the summer to take on the role of Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director, after Gina Marie Lindsey stepped down from the position. Flint comes to Los Angeles from the Bay Area, where she served as Oakland International Airport Director and oversaw the delivery of the BART Oakland Airport Connector. Flint speaks with VX News about her transition and new priorities regarding LAX’s continued growth and coming connection to rail, as well as LAWA’s ongoing construction and investment plans. She situates LAX as a major economic force in the region, explaining why growth is necessary to both passenger and cargo transport, and the management style she plans to introduce to accompany the airport system’s expansion.
Phillip Washington was appointed CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in March, coming west from Denver's Regional Transportation District. At the June meeting of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation Board of Governors, Washington explains five mega-trends in transportation, then articulates his goals for Metro in the context of these national shifts. He emphasizes the need for public-private partnerships in the context of shrinking federal funds for major infrastructure. VX presents an edited transcript of these remarks, with an introduction by LAEDC President and CEO Bill Allen.
The rise of Uber, Lyft, and other transportation network companies (TNCs) dependent on online-enabled platforms to connect passengers with drivers is globally eroding the franchises of locally regulated taxis. Drawing on remarks recently on the VerdeXchange 2015 Conference panel “How Technology and Competitive Drive Are Reinventing Mobility and the Urban Environment,” Bill Rouse, General Manager of Yellow Cab of Los Angeles, and Gabe Klein, a Special Venture Partner at Fontinalis Partners with experience leading public-sector DOTs, offered VX News their perspectives. They address changes to the urban ground transportation system that unregulated competition is bringing to cities.
The VerdeXchange 2015 Conference held in Downtown LA featured a panel focusing on sustainability efforts to clean goods movement at the San Pedro Bay ports. Moderated by the Port of Los Angeles’s former Director of International Trade Stephen Cheung (now president of World Trade Center Los Angeles), the discussion offered perspectives from California Air Resources Board Commissioner Hector De La Torre, Port of Long Beach Chief Commercial Officer Noel Hacegaba, and Southern California Gas Company Environmental Policy Manager Jerilyn Lopez Mendoza. VX News includes their edited contributions here, covering CARB’s Sustainable Freight Strategy, the ports’ Clean Truck Program, and the potential role of natural gas in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.