Could LA do a car-free Olympics?
(3min read) Plus, America’s first all-EV police fleet.
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The end of the Paris Olympics, an event that at every turn seemed to celebrate the beauty and wisdom of human-centered urbanism, leaves Los Angeles, the host in 2028, with a tough act to follow. But Mayor Karen Bass says her city is up to it, and is even floating the idea of a “car-free” Games. If nothing else, Archer Aviation plans to be offering air taxi flights in LA by then.
Meanwhile, lots of tension in the news about robotaxis. Their rise in China –– including an imminent IPO for WeRide –– has drivers there worried for their jobs. And yet one person who doesn’t seem to be sold yet on robotaxis is the CEO of Uber.
Plus: America’s first all-EV police fleet, Ola goes public, and why are federal climate dollars being used to expand highways?
What you need to know
LA prepares for car-light Olympics: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says she wants a “no-car Games” when her city hosts the Olympics in four years. She wants to bolster public transit in the infamously car-centric city to the point where visitors don’t have to rely on rental cars or Ubers to get to and from events. As for what to do about the city’s notorious local traffic, Bass points to former Mayor Tom Bradley’s successful efforts to reduce rush hour traffic during the 1984 Summer Olympics, mostly by encouraging employers to stagger their workers’ schedules. These days, the message to employers is simpler: could you just go remote for a couple weeks?
WeRide prepares IPO: The Chinese autonomous ride-hailing firm readies an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange that it hopes will raise $400 million. The company already has autonomous driving permits in China, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore and is able to test vehicles with a safety driver in California. The rise of China’s auto industry has become a political lightning rod in the U.S., not just because of the threat to domestic industry, but due to fears of AVs acting as data-collection agents for the Chinese government.
Chinese drivers fret over robot competition: Reuters speaks with a few of China’s 7.7 million ride-hail drivers, who fear that they’ll soon lose their livelihoods to robotaxis.
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Uber CEO doubts Tesla robotaxis: Dara Khosrowshahi expresses skepticism of Elon Musk’s stated plans to unveil a robotaxi platform in October. The Uber chief doubts that society is ready to embrace self-driving cars on a large scale and points out that the peak times for ride-hailing are also the same times when Tesla owners are most likely to be using their vehicles. Plus, he adds, a ride-hailing business that processes millions of transactions a day is not something to easily tack on to a vehicle manufacturing business.
Ola la la! Ola Electric, the Bengaluru-based electric moped manufacturer, makes a splash on the Bombay Stock Exchange, surging 20% in its first day. It closed the day at a market cap of $4.8 billion. India’s two-wheel market is enormous, and getting people to switch to electric mopeds is a big part of the government’s climate push, even if it recently dialed back subsidies for electric mobility.
The first all-EV police force: The city of South Pasadena, Calif. becomes the first in the U.S. to fully electrify its police fleet. It got a crucial assist from regional utility Southern California Edison, which built the 34 chargers that will power its fleet of 20 Teslas. Shifting to EVs presents a major opportunity for long-term cost savings for public sector fleets, but the upfront cost for the vehicles and charging infrastructure is likely preventing many local governments from making the jump.
Democratic Convention tests Chicago transit: Leaders in the Windy City see the Democratic National Convention as an opportunity to showcase the positive aspects of a city whose image has suffered from a surge in gun violence over the past decade. A top priority: ensuring that the 50,000 guests have a good experience on the city’s transit system, which is still 33% below its pre-Covid ridership and faces a fiscal cliff.
Archer plans air taxis in LA by 2026: eVTOL startup Archer Aviation says it will be operating private air taxis in Los Angeles in time for the World Cup in 2026. It’s not clear how much the rides will cost, but ideally they will allow people to replace a two or three hour drive through LA’s notoriously congested freeways with a 10-15 minute flight through its notoriously smoggy skies. The San Jose-based company plans on putting in place vertiports at LAX, the USC campus, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank, Van Nuys and Long Beach, and Orange County.
What we’re reading
When climate funds pay for highway expansions: CityLab highlights a troubling trend: states around the country are using federal dollars earmarked for carbon reduction to expand highways, arguing that by reducing congestion, they are reducing greenhouse emissions. Suffice it to say, many environmental and transportation experts do not believe that highway expansion is a useful climate tool.
How does your state generate electricity? The New York Times has some cool data visualizations showing how the energy mix powering America’s electricity has evolved over the past two decades. There are vast differences between states. In Iowa, wind powers 60% of electricity, while in Wyoming coal is still king.
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Editor, CoMotion NEWS
jcraver@comotionglobal.com
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