Recommendations | Green Cities: Smart Mobility

20-Minute Neighborhood – Plan and develop 20-minute neighborhoods with access to food and grocery stores nearby.
Affordable Housing – Create policies that developers have to have at least 20% of units in new apartment buildings be affordable based on minimum wage.
Affordable Housing – Strive to dedicate a large portion of redesigned parking facilities towards affordable or public housing.
Alternative Energy Vehicles – Explore using alternative energy vehicles powered by biofuel, electric battery, hybrid energy, hydrogen, and solar.
Automobile Buffers – Create parks where cars are at least 20 feet away from the parking area so it’s safe to play.
Automobile Deterrence – Develop deterrence to prevent the increase of automobile autonomy, in which single ownership of cars increases. It has been noted by Riggs (2020) that a 15-20% increase in vehicle travel can occur if car ownership increases instead of decreases as a result of AV implementation.
Automobile Independence – Reduce the need for owning an automobile by installing a right-of-way light rail close to major roads and highways, with intermodal transportation options.
Autonomous Mobility – Rebuild and deconstruct the urban landscape to accommodate autonomous driving.
Autonomous Mobility Equity – Create a land use-planning program that ensures equity of exposure of autonomous vehicles and safe, desired streets close to essential destinations
Autonomous Mobility Information – Develop informational material to inform the public of AV benefits.
Autonomous Mobility Landscape – Enhance landscape to accommodate autonomous driving with narrower lanes, closer proximate services, remote storage, safe pick up and drop off procedures
Autonomous Mobility Rideshare – Establish a citywide AV rideshare system.
Autonomous Vehicle Sharing – Implement a low-cost or free public fleet of AVs similar to bike-share systems that are available today. This will help improve the equity of AV technology, which has a high barrier of entry due to the expensive cost of initial acquisition.
Bicycle Community Engagement – Community events that promote biking and community rides.
Bicycle Development – Promote the “Share the Road” campaign.
Bicycle Funding – Fund bike programs in schools.
Bicycle Highways – Create superhighways for bikes and design paths made exclusively for cyclists.
Bicycle Lanes – Install bicycle lanes throughout cities. In some cases, these may replace parallel parking spaces.
Bicycle Lanes, Two-way – Develop two-way bike lanes in the main streets
Bicycle Prioritizaton – Design for bikes instead of cars.
Bicycle Public Engagement – Allow input from the community or partner with institutions to decide locations for docking sites that meet the community’s needs.
Bicycle Racks – Bike racks in busy areas to improve more places for people to park their bikes.
Bicycle Racks – Develop high-quality protected bike tracks.
Bicycle Racks, Covered – Make covered, secure, and accessible bike racks in and outside of the converted homes.
Bicycle Safety – Implement a bike safety program in all schools.
Bicycle Storage – Install bike storage near bike systems converting parking if necessary.
Bikesharing – Promote bikesharing for first- and last-mile connection, health, recreation, and tourism.
Cash/coin Transit Payment – Promote cash and coin payments in public transportation options rideshare operations will encourage more users. Not requiring a bank card will provide security for many residents.
Collaborative Design – Advocate for blue-sky thinking and the use of collaborative design
Community Development Project – Maintain this as a community-developed project rather than a development project (acknowledge the needs and opinions of people who will be living in these buildings).
Community Space Top Floor – Prioritize top floors of buildings as community space (almost like a small community center).
Commuter Ferries – Invest in commuter ferries. Purchasing hybrid models could make a strong statement about the city’s position on fighting climate change, and money saved on gas, despite the higher upfront cost, could make hybrid ferries a more cost-efficient purchase in the long run. City funds could potentially go into hybrid ferries today, instead of flood barriers due to risen sea levels fifty years from now.
Cybersecurity – Produce and develop highly advanced cybersecurity systems with clear, accessible understandable privacy policies for users.
Cycle Track – Construct separated cycle tracks for suburban/urban connectivity.
Decarbonization, Urban – Remove the majority of fossil fuel filling stations located within the urban center.
Densification – Build more middle to high-density buildings in traditionally low-density areas.
Densification, Residential – Further develop housing infrastructure near the urban center, encouraging fewer commutes.
Development Code Update – Amend zoning codes to anticipate mixed uses and enable adaptability for a variety of building types including parking structures.
Development Flexibility – Provide incentives for developers prioritizing retrofitting or future-proof construction.
Electric Charging Stations – Cities must prioritize and fund micromobility management businesses like CHARGE or use them as a model to implement better storage and charging stations in appropriate areas of the city.
Electric Charging Stations – Convert the second level of parking structures to electric charging stations for vehicles, bicycles, and scooters.
Experiential Design – Create micromobility experiences that are educational, entertaining, escapist, and esthetic.
Experiential Design, Sensory – Create micromobility experiences that consider visual, aural, and tactile perception.
Geofencing – Create expanded geofencing for vehicles so individuals do not feel restricted by a limited zone. If micromobility systems become even more widely adopted individuals could potentially travel amongst cities with their friends. This could also be a recreational activity for tourists.
Green Roofs – Build community gardens on the roofs or courtyards of converted homes.
Green Roofs, Green Space – Convert empty downtown rooftops into gardens and/or treed parks for CO2 emissions
Green Roofs, Parking Structures – Convert roof levels of parking structures to community garden space.
Green Space – Create policies that each street needs at least two types of green spaces
Green Space – Integrate the city with natural elements to improve the look and feel of urban spaces.
Green Space – Utilize urban walkways as greenspaces, providing locally native trees for shade.
Green Streets – Redesign public streets to incorporate biophilic design, low impact development, rainwater gardens, green infrastructure, edible landscaping, and urban ecology.
Green Walls – Install vertical gardens on the exterior of the structures.
Ground-floor Commercial – Have small cafes/businesses on the first floor with the first people hired living in the converted homes.
Information Kiosks – Provide more information kiosks that can reflect real-time transit schedules will increase user accessibility and timeliness.
Intelligent Transport Systems – Utilize the systems thinking approach to ensure that design solutions respond and connect with what is around them.
Internet of (moving) Things – Ensure data connectivity and communication between built infrastructures by requiring urban systems to provide cohesive and comprehensive details of their operations
Language Translation – Increase language translation in transport-sharing apps will aid those whose first language isn’t English and will also create a larger range for accessibility
Light Rail Access – It is estimated that every hour wasted in traffic costs the average citizen about $21. If you do the math, an average American who spends about two hours stuck in traffic, five days a week, for an entire year, comes out to about $10,000. That’s a little bit of an extreme estimate, but it still shows the significant impact traffic congestion has on citizens. If more people were able to access right-of-way light rail systems that aren’t held up by streetlights or congestion, that would free up time, money, and energy for community investment and economic prosperity.
Light Rail Affordability – Make light rail transportation an affordable option for those who are poor or disenfranchised.
Light Rail Air Pollution Mitigation – Decrease pollution by encouraging light rail use.
Light Rail Bike Capacity – Increase bike rack capacity on the light rail
Light Rail Community Development – Encourage the development of cultural and commercial points of interest along light rail paths.
Light Rail Corridors – Create green corridors for the light rail to travel through to increase visual appeal and draw attention to environmental connections
Light Rail Development – Expand light rail service with new infrastructure.
Light Rail Development – Reduce traffic congestion by implementing widespread light rail access.
Light Rail Economics – Create jobs through the implementation, upkeep, and operations of light rail systems.
Light Rail Equity – Promote equity by making the light rail system accessible to those with disabilities.
Light Rail Luggage Space – Provide more luggage space for travelers, especially for those coming from and going to the airport
Light Rail Neighborhood Development – Increase property values along light rail lines. Property values, both commercial and residential, are found to be generally higher the closer they are to a light rail system.
Light Rail Public Art – Celebrate culture by displaying art both inside and outside the light rail trains.
Light Rail Public Art – Incorporate public art into the interior and exterior of the trains not only to provide a pleasing aesthetic for riders but also to give a platform for different cultural groups in a city to feel seen.
Light Rail Sense of Place – Define a sense of place for the city by marketing the light rail as a unique and vibrant aspect of the area.
Light Rail, Solar-Powered – Install solar panels to the roofs of the light rail for extra energy, maybe to run the lights inside the train.
Low-Income Neighborhood Transport Sharing – Adding more hubs of transport-sharing stations in lower-income areas. Aiding more bike share stations in lower-income areas and increasing the accessibility of various rideshare companies as well.
Micmobility Mapping – Develop an intensely cohesive system of city mapping that details marked lane systems for pedestrians and bikers
Micromobility Exclusive Use – Create shopping and dining areas with no car access, only able to walk, bike, or skate in the area. (ex: Portland waterfront)
Micromobility Exclusive Use – Dedicate select downtown streets to exclusive pedestrian and bicycle use.
Micromobility Investment – Invest in pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure, encouraging urban mobility.
Micromobility Prioritization – Prioritize the needs of people over cars. The current design of cities focuses on cars, and how streets can make car travel more efficient. Bikes, pedestrians, and other forms of multi-modal transport are not considered. It will be critical for AVs to safely and quickly detect humans whether they are walking/biking etc. and designs in software and infrastructure will need to reflect this.
Micromobility Promotion – Promote both bike and scooter mobility so that more options are given to the people to use
Micromobility Tourism – Create specific micromobility tourism attractions, tours, and events for bicycles, rollerblades, scooters, Segways, unicycles, etc.
Micromobility Training – Provide accessible training programs and informational services to aid bikers and pedestrians on safe transportation and etiquette (analogous to Driver’s Ed)
Micromobility Urban Design – Redesign public spaces and streetscapes to accommodate micromobility with design features such as ramps, racks/storage, signage, etc.
Mixed-Use Development Education – Work with social media or news outlets to increase popularity and awareness among Americans of multi-purpose zoning and buildings. This will help push more people to become interested in advocating for multi-purpose buildings.
Multimodal Investment – Invest in public transit, smart mobility, micromobility, and active mobility options as a viable alternative to privately-owned vehicles.
Multimodal/Intermodal Management – Create well-designated areas for bikers, pedestrians, and drivers
Pandemic Urban Design, Community Engagement – Try to allow more community input into future designs. Everyone’s experience with COVID-19 will be different and may lead to a better approach to design.
Pandemic Urban Design, Health Care Consultation – Involve more healthcare workers in discussions regarding city planning. Their valuable education and experience will put a different lens on planning.
Pandemic Urban Design, Historic Precedents – Consider the history of past pandemics and their outcomes to make more informed decisions regarding future designs.
Pandemic Urban Design, Landscaping – Consider the long-term health impacts on individuals, especially regarding air quality, and how this impact can be lessened via different transportation or plantings.
Pandemic Urban Design, Outdoor Recreation – Push for more outdoor recreational areas within urban areas. This will create safe areas for socially distanced activities.
Pandemic Urban Design, Social Distancing – Consider new designs of streets and outdoor spaces for facilitating local community and social connections, regardless of social distancing restrictions.
Pandemic Urban Design, Surfaces – Decrease the amount of high traffic touch surfaces in streetscapes.
Pandemic Urban Design, Universal Design – Reach out to disability advocates for recommendations regarding other health impacts that may be debilitating for large amounts of COVID-19 patients’ long term, such as heart problems, lung problems, difficultly walking a long distance, and even mental impairment. Compensate them for their work and insight.
Parking Conversion – Allow for the conversion of existing off-street parking into housing or other necessary projects.
Parking Conversion – Convert parking lots and present opportunities for mixed-use developments in these areas. It is likely that the lack of drivers required will free up many parking lots, as single ownership of cars will likely decrease.
Parking Conversion – Use smart mobility and parking conversion as an opportunity to connect suburbs to denser urban areas and densify the city rather than continue expanding sprawling cities.
Parking Conversion to Bus Lanes – Allocate on-street parking for bus lanes. Use the increased efficiency of the car-free bus route to create a bus rapid transit
Parking Garage Conversion – Anticipate and design for alternate uses and futures for parking garages that transcend their default function based on spontaneous events and local amenities.
Parking Garage Mixed-Use Development – Prioritize retrofitted or redesigned buildings and parking facilities into mixed-use, adaptable and sustainable buildings rather than opting for demolition.
Parking Garage Redesign – Standardize parking garage design specifications and regulations to facilitate their future redesign.
Parking Management – Consider parking spaces as a social, environmental, and economic opportunity with value, which has the potential to contribute to the well-being of the planet and the prosperity of humans.
Parking Management – Create a city-wide parking goal. City officials should ask themselves how much land they want to give to parking.
Parking Management Strategies – Adopt appropriate parking management strategies with consideration for pricing, regulation, remote and shared parking.
Parking, Green Space – Aim to increase the amount of vegetation and nature in the city with future building and parking redesigns.
Parking, Non-subsidized – Stop subsidizing parking. Force drivers to pay their fair share for public space.
Parking, Redesign – Reimagine excess paved parking lots with new businesses and public spaces.
Parking, Reduction/Removal – Remove or reduce off-street parking requirements for development
Parking, Reduction/Removal – Remove the majority of streetside parking.
Parking, Rental Non-requirement – Remove the requirement for renters to pay for parking spaces they do not use.
Parklets – Develop a system for parklet installations. Allow for both private and public operation on existing street parking
Parklets – Remove some off-street parking and turn them into parklets.
Parklets, Street Seats – Convert the unused street-side parking spaces into green spaces, “Street Seats” and eateries.
Pedestrian-Centric Downtown – Design smart routes that are more likely to route cars away from important areas, such as business districts and residential areas, unless necessary. This can help create pedestrian-centric downtown areas and much safer living environments for suburban areas.
Public Service – Continue to respond to the needs of the public. Improved satisfaction from mobility services supports its widespread use.
Public Transit – Increase public transit that reaches mixed-use development.
Rainwater/greywater Management – Construct greywater and rainwater collection for the community garden and plumbing.
Ride-Hailing – Integrate all ride-hailing transportation services into multi- and intermodal planning.
Ride-share, Affordability – Promote local and more affordable ride-share programs.
Ride-share, Credit Cards – Offer ride-share-specific credit cards will combat the implication that many face in regards to not trusting the system with their personal and bank information. It will also cater to those who do not have bank cards.
Ride-share, Non-Tech – Increase non-technology-based rideshare options. Limiting app-required rideshare options will allow for more populations to use these services and especially those who are in the lower-income areas.
Ride-share, Storage – Add increased storage in rideshare options for bikes, strollers, and wheelchairs.
Risk Management / Resiliency – Innovate and provide creative solutions to emerging problems. Improve resiliency and ways to deal with black swans.
Safety Officials – Provide trained safety officials that ensure the safety and wellbeing of all users of the paths day and night to ensure the comfort and protection of commuters
Sense of Place – Maintain and contribute to uniqueness within spaces. Establish a sense of place and ensure that it is maintained.
Sense of Place, Art – Cultivate and develop a sense of place within city streets. This could mean anything from street art exhibits to more greenery and biophilic/regenerative design in the general surroundings. As people stop focusing on the road, they will shift their focus to view the streets around them.
Sense of Place, Entrances/Gateways – Provide a sense of arrival to neighborhoods, commercial districts, community areas, etc. with landscaping, signage, and design features.
Sidewalk Extension – Extend sidewalks by 2 feet
Signage – Mark bike lanes and other infrastructure to promote the use of bicycles.
Skinny Street Design – Narrow streets, allowing for expanded pedestrian access.
Smart City Technologies – Implement ‘smart city’ technologies before the implementation of AVs. This includes ways for locational/vehicle data collection, distribution, privacy, and security. Since AVs are just driving computers, these require a lot of data to function and to further learning.
Smart Mobility Community Engagement – Host classes or hangouts for people to use these bikes and scooters together so that a strong community is brought together!
Smart Mobility Education – Create classes that teach about the safety and operation of smart mobility vehicles, similar to the ones like driver’s education.
Smart Mobility Esthetics – Cultivate and ensure the protection of the appealing sensory qualities of streets through conscious land-use and transportation service placement
Smart Mobility Etiquette – Develop systems of regulations that ensure road-friendly etiquette and enforce those regulations with trained officials.
Smart Mobility Funding – Apply for state and federal grants to fund conversions.
Smart Mobility Gamification – Design mobile apps to be engaging, intuitive, and fun.
Smart Mobility Health – Have a compartment on the shared device for wipes to clean after use. This shows the user that you care about their safety.
Smart Mobility Health – In addition to a compartment for sanitizing wipes, allow for space for water bottles to fit that way users can stay hydrated when they bring along their water bottle.
Smart Mobility Incentives – Create a rewards system for users of smart mobility to encourage novel and continued ridership.
Smart Mobility Information – Create accessible, interactive, and responsive digital programs for users with real-time directions, information, general vehicle details, emergency procedures, etc. throughout use.
Smart Mobility Information – Provide accessible information services regarding the benefits of sustainable travel behavior regarding social, economic, and environmental systems.
Smart Mobility Mapping – Create a map and small tokens for riders to find at locations if they ride to them using the shared mobility bikes or scooters
Smart Mobility Network – Create more roads and spaces as designated travel areas for rides of smart mobility vehicles. Also, if shortcuts are created then more people will be naturally driven to choose the faster alternative than a traffic-filled trip.
Smart mobility Partnerships – Form community/business partnerships to achieve goals.
Smart Mobility Public Information – Create advocacy and awareness of the availability of smart mobility systems within cities through advertisements and events.
Smart Mobility Public Information – Invite the community to help create a promo video using them as models.
Smart Mobility Safety – Develop safety regulations for other modes of green transport (cycling, walkways, etc.)
Smart Mobility Safety – Ensure that transit and cycling is a safe and enjoyable choice before converting existing parking
Smart Mobility Safety – Prioritize user experience to ensure safety, accessibility, livability within redesigned cities, and exposure to modes of transport
Smart Mobility Safety and Wayfinding – Create safe facilities compatible with cycling and walking like lock-up stations, streetlight systems, and larger, well-labeled paths and lanes for bikers and pedestrians separately
Smart Mobility Social Media – Get on social media, make a hashtag, and when people are using these services repost their photos
Smart Mobility Sustainability Incentives – Create regulations requiring and incentivizing green, hybrid, or electric autonomous vehicles and transport-sharing programs to optimize the longevity of vehicles.
Smart Mobility Zero-Emissions Vehicles – Incorporate transportation modes that are muscle-powered, electric battery, solar, and or fuel cell (hydrogen).
Smart Trees – Install several “smart trees” for innovation, interest, and street-side power source
Solar Energy – Install solar panels/wind power on converted homes, roof space, and height of building permits.
Space, Open – Convert streetscapes, parking spaces, and alleys into public open space wherever appropriate through programs such as living alleys, parklets, pavement to parks, and streets as places.
Space, Shared – Redesign streets where appropriate to consider multifunctional designs such as woonerfs, complete streets, living streets, and context-based streets.
Street Closure – Work with the city after gaining a larger following of community members to shut down a couple of streets for the day so that no automobiles can be used but rather people on bikes or bikes or other alternative nonautomotive transportation devices can use the space.
Street Closure, Festival Street – Identify one or more streets to serve as specific sites for local events.
Street Lighting – design streets so that they are safer for nighttime travel for cyclists and pedestrians.
Suburban Connectivity – Establish or expand upon existing parking and mass transit options linking the suburban communities to urban boundaries.
Traffic Calming – Change the driving speed to 25 mph in busy areas like downtown, campus, near parks
Traffic Calming, Pedestrian- Bike-Friendly – Implement systems to induce traffic-calming behavior for private automobiles.
Traffic Calming, Safety – Study roads that are prone to vehicle accidents. Implement slower traffic in these areas through universal control devices.
Transit Hours of Operation – Extend hours of operation on the weekends, especially in the university area for students who are out late
Transit Information Apps – Make an app suitable for both android and iPhone users. Currently, the app is only available for iPhones.
Transit Information, Real-time – Provide real-time information at stations and online for arrival/departure times, and delays.
Transit Information, Static – Provide schedules and maps at stations, kiosks, and online.
Transit Routes – Add more bus routes and start the design of an underground rail line.
Transit Schedules – Incorporate more accurate real-time transit schedules that can be created through apps but also more information kiosks in neighborhoods that are traditionally lower-income areas or house residents of color.
Transit Subsidization – Lower the fare fee of a day pass
Transit Subsidization, Students – Create a discount for students, as well as other universities and community colleges. Consider even making it free for students.
Transit Virtual Ticketing – Make an app for users to pay for fare tickets online to avoid wait times and lost or damaged tickets.
Transportation, Inter- & Multimodal – Design transportation for mixed-mode commuting: walking, cycling, driving, public transit.
Transportation, Intermodal – Support intermodal transportation connections. For example, train stations could be adjacent to easy bus access to get users closer to their destination.
Transportation, Multimodal – Adopt transportation options that replace the need to travel by car. Public transit has the potential to provide all sorts of mobility options.
Universal Access, Sustainability – Provide accessibility for people with disabilities. Sustainable and convenient transportation options should be available to all kinds of people.
Universal Design, Building Access – Create accessible building entries and exits.
Universal Design, Information – Create information systems that connect data that can help support the visually impaired or the blind. Micromobility should not discriminate against those with disabilities, it has the opportunity to make travel easier if they can alert visually impaired or blind drivers of barriers in their path.
Universal Design, Practices – Create a foundation for micromobility that embraces Universal Design Practices to facilitate the innovation of products that differentiate between essential information and the environment.
Universal Design, Transit – Develop high-quality public transit systems for physically disabled citizens and seniors
Universal Design, Wheelchair Access – Create modifications to current existing micromobility vehicles to be wheelchair accessible. This could also apply to individuals with other mobility impairments.
Vehicle Sharing – Implement policies to promote higher rates of vehicle sharing, which should be increasing as a result of driverless cars.
Vehicle Trip Distance Reduction – Work to reduce vehicle trip distances, by redesigning streets to reduce the effects of urban sprawl, especially for new developments.
Walkability Assessment – Evaluate and develop communities for walkability using apps and algorithms such as WalkScore.
Walkability Landscape – Develop landscapes that are rideable and walkable (consider intense inclines and declines)
Walkability, Urban Space Connectivity – Encourage walkability through the creation of safe, welcoming, and interconnected urban spaces.
Water Transit, Bicycle Racks – Place bicycle racks at water transit stations, and on-board holding spaces for bikes on the ferries. This will make ferry rides an attractive additional commuting option for cyclists.
Water Transit, Community Engagement – Devise a program held by the city and the ferry system, that holds river cleanup events once every few months. This could help commuters engage with the environment around them, provide them with a chance to give back to their community, and help improve the quality of the river. To create an incentive, participants could receive benefits, like discounted ferry tickets.
Water Transit, Community Feedback – Establish a means for commuters to give feedback to those who own and run the water transit system. This could look like a visibly posted link on informational screens or posters for people to go to and submit comments, a box with paper and pencils for hand-written suggestions, or more.
Water Transit, Connectivity – Build water transit stops near accessible walking paths or other bus or railway stations. This would help make water transit accessible to commuters seeking time efficiency, convenience, and frictionless mixed-mode transportation options.
Water Transit, Functionality – Design water transit for work and school commutes, alternative emergency access, and tourism.
Water Transit, Information Apps – Add ferry schedules, routes, and ticket costs to city-wide transit app databases. Commuters should not need to go out of their way to find information on water transit.
Water Transit, Pubilc Information – Position interactive screens inside the ferries with facts about the local area and features being passed on the route. This information should rotate on the screen every few minutes, and the list of facts should be changed once a month or so to keep information new and relevant. There should be enough screens so that everyone can see them if they wish, but they are also not distracting. These screens could help transform commutes into educational experiences.
Water Transit, Station Information – Implement real-time transit information and virtual ticketing at water transit stations. This way, people, including those without mobile transit applications, can access needed commuting details and tickets.
Water Transit, Traffic Management – Use floating gardens as lane boundaries.
Water Transit, Universal Design – Ensure that the transit stations, ramps, and ferries are wheelchair accessible and safe. It is important that people of all physical abilities feel welcome on public transportation.
Wayfinding – Provide signage and directional markers to indicated proximity to public transit and amenities. Wayfinding also promotes friendliness, reduces travel friction, and enhances the sense of place.
WiFi – Expand free public wifi will benefit those who do have access to smartphones but might not have data plans.