The Goal of Seamless Urban Mobility
We won't Uber our way out of traffic congestion. What's needed is a system to integrate all transportation options.
Authors
Bob Graves |
Email : bgraves@governing.comBob Graves. M.S., associate director of the Governing Institute, is the designated content curator for the FutureStructure initiative and also a co-founder of e.Republic, the parent organization of Governing. As associate director, Graves writes, presents, moderates and provides advice on smart and sustainable approaches to water, waste, energy, transportation and building systems drawing from his more than 25 years of experience working with private sector companies, nonprofits and state and local governments.
In the 1980s as a co-founder of e.Republic, Graves was instrumental in establishing the Government Technology event and publishing divisions of the company. These divisions expanded rapidly from a single Government Technology Conference in Sacramento, California (1987) to scores of regional and local conferences and print and online publications providing news, in-depth articles, and research to hundreds of governments agencies and IT companies across the country. He also served as its Chief Administrative Officer and president, ensuring that the company's organization kept pace with its growth into new sectors of research and online publishing.
In 2006 capitalizing on his academic training in environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Graves co-founded and served as president and editor-at-large of Green Technology, a California based nonprofit publishing organization providing strategy and leadership for clean and sustainable communities. Bob helped produce three international "Governors' Global Climate Summits" with a team from then California Governor Schwarzenegger's office. He has also headed the production of numerous conferences on green technology, moderated roundtables on high performance buildings and guided training activities for over 5,000 government building officials and design/construction professionals on CALGreen - California's new green building code.
When -- and Where -- Will Electric Vehicles Rule the Roads?
California is setting the pace in the U.S., but one small country is far ahead of the rest of the world. Many factors are at work.
Can We Keep Food Scraps Out of the Landfill?
Hardly any of it is being recycled now. But with California leading the way, there are signs of real progress.
Taking Transit Beyond the Traditional
As they increasingly understand that they're in the mobility business, some agencies are making the most of innovative approaches.
The Shaping of a ‘20-Minute City’
Aiming to build an efficient, sustainable and multi-modal transportation system, Tempe, Ariz., is taking a particularly comprehensive approach.
The Murky Future of Driverless Vehicles
Predictions for their widespread adoption and the impacts they will have vary wildly. It will be up to government to sort out the issues.
Transportation and the Challenge of Future-Proofing Our Cities
To preserve their communities' economic and social wellbeing, leaders will need to manage an endless cycle of technological disruption.
A New Phase in California's War on Dirty Air
Its ports and freight system account for a significant portion of its air pollution. Will aggressive new state and regional efforts once again serve as a model for the nation?
The Motor City's Blight Busters
With a bottom-up approach, Detroit is making surprising progress toward turning around its neighborhoods.
Driverless Cars and the Disruptions They Will Bring
In planning for an autonomous-vehicle future, governments need to pay attention to the broader picture.
A Holistic View of Sustainability
New green certification programs give communities the flexibility to set their own goals and targets.
New Alliances in the Quest for Resilience
Interest is growing in approaches that look for redundancies to overcome infrastructure's risks and vulnerabilities.
Electric Vehicles’ Slow Merge Into the Fast Lane
Sales are lagging in the proving ground of California. But maybe it's too early to be keeping score.
Urban Transportation’s Multimodal Future
Networked alternatives for getting around are about to redefine our cities as much as the horseless carriage did a century ago.
Infrastructure's Digital Disruption
Planning that doesn't account for technology's exponential impact will be off the mark.
Limited Resources and the Vision of a Circular Economy
Technology is boosting the idea of a zero-waste framework in which everything is used, reused and recovered.
Doubling Down on California’s Climate Commitment
Legislation it passed a decade ago has produced significant gains without wrecking the state's economy. A new law holds promise for accelerating those gains.
Electric Utilities and the Future They Need to Embrace
Fights over payments and charges for rooftop solar are getting a lot of attention, but the underlying issue is deeper and broader.
Where Are the P3s We Need?
We ought to be doing what many other countries are doing: making far more use of public-private partnerships for infrastructure.
A Desert City's Sustainability Turnaround
Once derided as the world's least environmentally sustainable city, Phoenix is in the midst of a remarkable transformation.
Are We on the Way to 100 Percent Renewable Energy?
With the technology maturing and public support growing, it's looking more and more realistic.
Getting Smart About Waste
Technology has a role in moving toward a goal of zero waste, but so does the "soft" infrastructure of citizen activism and effective policies.
The Unsettled World of the Automobile
Ride-sharing and car-sharing are complicating life for transportation planners, not to mention automakers.
The Accelerating Clean Power Disruption
Policy and technology are driving innovation in the energy sector, and much of it is coming from the utilities themselves.
The Making of a 'Smart City'
By linking environmental sustainability and economic growth, Charlotte is showing the way.
Tailoring Our Transportation Systems for Self-Driving Cars
In guiding the transformation, governments need to be in the driver's seat.
How Transportation Planning Is Stuck in the Past
As a new report makes clear, few of our urban areas are adapting to the changes that are revolutionizing the way we get around.
How Will We Handle a Sky Full of Drones?
Regulating them will be a challenge for governments at all levels, but we're going to have to figure out how to do it.
Power Plays: The Increasingly Competitive Electricity Landscape
As new ways of buying and selling energy emerge, the system of monopoly control is being challenged.
Can Smart Infrastructure Be Cyber-Secure?
With everything increasingly connected, there is a growing awareness of new vulnerabilities.
One California Community's Power Switch
Lancaster's effort to build a seamless, integrated energy infrastructure points the way to long-term robustness and sustainability.
The Transportation Choices That Millennials Want
To attract young professionals, cities increasingly are going to have to think multi-modal.
How We're Learning to Measure Progress on Sustainability
Los Angeles is leading the way with a dashboard that shows the public how the city is doing.
Sustainability and the Biosphere We Inhabit
A project that was designed to study space colonization has lessons for communities on this planet.
Why a Regional View of Infrastructure Is Crucial
A new report covering the national capital area could serve as a template for other regions to engage the public and deal with funding gaps.
The Evolving Politics of Climate Change
Public attitudes are shifting in favor of government action. What's playing out in Salt Lake City is worth watching.
The Critical Interdependence of Our Infrastructure
Nowhere is that more true than within regions. It calls for an integrated approach to planning and funding.
The Common Threads that Underlie Our Infrastructure Debate
Despite regional and local differences, officials from around the country see eye to eye on some important concerns.
LED Street Lighting Interview with David Gassaway
Get a hands-on perspective on what it takes to start a citywide street lighting upgrade project. Governing Senior Fellow, Bob Graves interview with David Gassaway, management analyst, City of Rancho Cordova, California.
Can Water Use Be Cut with Equity and Fairness?
Los Angeles' and California's efforts to cope with an ongoing drought highlight the need for a systems approach.
How We Can Get Our Mobility Back
Government has a big role to play as we work to develop an intelligent, multimodal transportation system.
Leadership in a Time of Drought
Looking to maximize its water resources, California is finding that better management and efficiency are key.
The Infrastructure the Next Generation of Cities Will Need
It will be technology that will enable "Cities 3.0" -- the transformation of metropolitan centers into hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Golden State's Low-Carbon Future
California is well along in an effort to transition to a environmentally friendly economy. Will the rest of America follow?
The Value in Our Garbage
The food we don't eat gives us gas. But beyond renewable energy generation, organic waste holds the potential of big benefits for our communities.
The Obstacles in the Pathway to Zero Waste
A resource recovery rate of 100 percent may be a worthwhile goal, but there are plenty of challenges facing governments that want to achieve it.
The Soft Infrastructure of Smart Cities
Thanks to technology, the systems that run our cities are becoming more and more interconnected. But how we use those systems is always going to be guided by human intelligence.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Making the Most of the Water You Have
In the midst of the worst drought on record, some California communities are showing that there's plenty that can be done.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Guiding Change in a Complex and Interconnected World
A new initiative aims to provide a forum for public officials to talk about the future of their communities in an age of upheaval.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Community Airspace and the Invasion of the Drones
Unmanned aircraft are coming, and they will raise a lot of issues for local governments to sort out.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Greening the Fleet: How Columbus, Ohio, Is Setting the Pace
The city is well along in an effort to leave gasoline and diesel fuel behind and power its vehicles with cheaper, cleaner natural gas. The payoffs go beyond cost savings.
Voices of the GOVERNING Institute
Turning 'Scary Places' into Great Places
Sprawl has obliterated much of our neighborhoods' and communities' social infrastructure. The challenge is finding a new economic model that could turn that around.
The Democratization of Power
Our one-way, hub-and-spoke model for delivering electricity dates back to the days of Thomas Edison. But disruptive technologies are enabling a new model that will transform utilities as we know them.
One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure
By reusing, recycling or composting everything possible, the Canadian city of Edmonton is on its way to reaching the seemingly impossible goal of diverting 90 percent of trash from landfills.
One City's Creative Solution for Trashy Freeways
When the state stopped picking up litter on the highways, Bakersfield, Calif., found a sustainable way to get the job done -- and help the homeless in the bargain.
A Moore's Law for Energy?
The ways we produce and distribute energy are going to change, with end users empowered much as in the world of computing. What we can't predict is when that will happen.
Sustainability and Our Horizontal Infrastructure
A new rating system aims to build sustainability considerations into the entire infrastructure process, from planning to implementation.
Lighting the Way to Cleaner Air
The way we light our streets can do more than save money for the taxpayers. It can contribute significantly to reducing air pollution.
When Cheaper Isn't Better
Governments are beginning to look at energy and other life-cycle costs in their purchasing. It's about more than saving money.
Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Waste
An engineering feat more than a century ago created a host of problems for communities that depend on Lake Michigan for their water. But those problems also present opportunities.
Cities and the Competition for Energy Efficiency
Excellent tools are available to monitor energy use across a community. Isn't it time for cities to be benchmarked against each other?