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I always say it's like you have the

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ability either to shape your future or you

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can sit back and let the future happen

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to you. And I think the plan like

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the Denver Mobility Project is the first step

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in trying to shape the future in into

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a way that that you want.

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I'm John Torrick. And I'm Danny Sullivan. And

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you're listening to Speaking of Design, bringing you

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the stories of the engineers and architects

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who are transforming the world one project at

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a time. Growing population and rapidly changing transportation

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technologies

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are affecting our everyday lives. Today, we'll learn

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how public transportation

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agencies

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are partnering with private sector technology companies

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to tackle that change head on in Denver,

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Colorado. That community's mobility blueprint may suggest a

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new approach for other metropolitan cities wrestling with

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the same issues in their communities.

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I don't own a car, so I either

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ride my bike or take the bus. About

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a half hour bike ride,

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goes around the lake through a couple neighborhoods,

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along the river, and through downtown. It's a

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pretty nice ride, pretty easy. Or I can

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take the bus. There are a couple different

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buses I can take and that's about forty

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minutes or something. That's Kiernan Miletsky, a transportation

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planner in his early thirties.

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He and his wife, Sarah, and their one

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year old daughter, Evangeline,

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live just a few miles west of Denver.

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In Lakewood, close to a famous wacky Mexican

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restaurant named Casa Bonita that you may have

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heard of. Denver's a sprawling city. And even

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though rail options have expanded,

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it's still largely a city built around the

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automobile.

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Certainly,

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Denver is not a city where very many

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people choose to not own a car. It's

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not that easy to get around.

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It works pretty well if you work in

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downtown, and the transit system here is pretty

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effective for that, but it can be kind

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of challenging to get around.

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Like many young professionals in the region, Kiernan

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loves what Denver has to offer in terms

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of recreation,

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hiking, camping,

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skiing, backpacking.

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And he also represents the changing point of

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view that many in his generation have when

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it comes to the concept of car ownership

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and mobility.

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Jason McGlashan, a transportation

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planner and colleague of Kiernan's,

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said a lot of the perks attracting an

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influx of residents to Denver have led to

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one inescapable

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drawback. Just in the last decade, there's just

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been an exponential

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change in traffic and traffic congestion. Some of

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that is owed to a a really strong

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job market here, and I think it appeals

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to a lot of people from just the

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life style and access to a lot of

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the opportunities in the Denver area. So a

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lot of that has driven

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population growth,

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at a really accelerated pace, one where transportation

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has a hard time keeping up. In fact,

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by the year 2030,

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Denver's population is projected to increase 26%

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to nearly 4,000,000 people. Local government officials expect

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that to bring a 50%

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increase in travel delays for motorists who already

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spend plenty of time stuck in gridlock.

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In spite of that dire projection for drivers,

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Jason said Denver actually does offer other mobility

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options. The Denver area has a great transportation

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system beyond the network of highways and arterials

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and local streets, but just a really strong

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network of bikeways and multimodal options. On top

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of that, they have a light rail system,

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which is a radial system really tying different

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parts of the region to the downtown,

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and then local bus systems, which really fill

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in a lot of those gaps as well

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as providing connections to park and rides throughout

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the region and a connection now with their

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commuter rail system from Downtown Denver

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to Denver International Airport. Which sounds like a

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robust transportation system

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with a lot of different options to meet

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people's needs. But even with all that, the

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first mile and last mile challenge is getting

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people from a station to their workplace or

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from their home to a station is a

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challenge. The feeder services

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really have a more difficult time, you know,

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serving lower density areas.

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All of the bus transportation is really in

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the same traffic congestion with the roadways.

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I think that makes the light rail system

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maybe less able to do what it could

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do for the region in terms of connecting

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those places. Transportation

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agencies in big cities have been staring down

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these kind of problems for years, and in

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some cases, decades.

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But more recently,

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new factors entered the equation,

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factors that commanded the attention of policymakers

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across the region. Working together,

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across a region of about

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3,200,000

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people,

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that doesn't happen every day. That's Rick Pilgrim,

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transportation development director at HDR. He also served

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for a decade as mayor of Beaumont, Colorado,

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a town of less than 1,010

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miles Southwest of Denver. Rick said Don Hunt,

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former executive director of the Colorado Department of

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Transportation,

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recognized

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new mobility challenges mounting as he retired in

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02/2014.

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Don learned that technology

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was coming at us and coming at us

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quick, especially from the private sector. Private sector

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was willing to put together

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self driving cars

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to look at ways that technology would transform

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transportation. And then he realized that people were

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connected

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with cell phone tech or smartphone technology, really.

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And using those choices

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was going to impact transportation in a great

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way. So Don said it was time to

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mobilize the transportation agencies in the region and

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pull them together with the private sector represented

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by the Denver Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce

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and take action. Self driving or autonomous vehicles

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usually grab the spotlight,

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but that's just one change on the horizon.

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Connected and electric vehicles,

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ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft, electric

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scooters and bikes available on the sidewalks,

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new transportation

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apps, and tolling technologies.

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This list of new technologies

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goes on and on, in most cases being

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driven by the private sector. So understanding how

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to manage those different kinds

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of disruptors

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that are coming at us, agencies are slow

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to take action because there's a lot that

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they need to consider before they take that

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action. Private sector companies are pretty quick

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because they're interested in

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getting their product out to the public. That

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tension is is what we need to deal

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with in the future.

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As Rick explained, Don recognized that all the

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transportation agencies in the region

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could benefit from joining forces to create what

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they called a mobility blueprint for the Denver

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Metropolitan

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Area. We looked around the country to see

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what other regions were working on these kinds

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of plans.

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There were

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a number of regions where one or more

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agencies

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were doing their own plans,

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but we didn't find any that were collectively

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getting their resources together and then working

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in a collaborative fashion to develop a single

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plan. Rick's colleague, Chris Primus, would become the

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deputy project manager responsible for carrying out the

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plan Don was envisioning. He realized that there

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was a need for the agencies, those agencies

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that provide our transportation,

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in our everyday lives,

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to transform their ways and think about how

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to invest their money differently

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than they had been for decades. And so

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he started talking to his friends involved in

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transportation.

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And he went to each of those respective

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agencies, which are the Colorado Department of Transportation.

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He went to the Denver Regional Council of

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Governments,

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and he went to the Regional Transportation District,

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which is our transit agency,

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and made a case that they should commission

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a study

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to investigate

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these new mobility technologies to see what benefits

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they could bring to the Denver region. Chris

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said there was one other major partner or

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group of partners

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needed at the table. We struggle with congestion

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here on an everyday basis, and we all

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realize that that hinders economic activity. And

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the private sector wants a workforce that is

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very adaptable and flexible and mobile to get

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to their respective jobs, but also a technology

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focused workforce that is at the forefront and

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the cutting edge of possibilities

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to to transform the world.

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Jason Longsdorf, the transportation policy lead on the

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blueprint,

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explained the different challenges each transportation

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agency faced.

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For example, the regional transportation

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district operates more than 170

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bus routes in nine rail lines across eight

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counties and more than 2,300

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square miles.

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Well, there was a real concern

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from our local transit agency, RTB, that they

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were beginning to see a dip in their

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ridership,

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and we're assuming that it was coming from

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a couple of different forces in terms of

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emerging technologies.

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There was the presence of Uber and Lyft

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services, and they thought that they were losing

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some of their choice riders. And then there

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were also some new micro mobility solutions like

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electric scooters and bicycle sharing programs that they

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thought were also kind of pulling from some

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of their shorter trip ride. Meanwhile, services like

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Uber and Lyft are having a different impact

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on the Colorado Department of Transportation.

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That's the agency responsible for maintaining the state's

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9,144

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mile highway system, including

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3,429

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bridges.

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At the same time, the Department of Transportation

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was looking a little further into the future

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and thinking Uber and Lyft have some kind

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of an impact, but the bet that Uber

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and Lyft have made on the presence of

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autonomous vehicles was another thing that CDOT really

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felt like they had not studied and could

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have

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well, they just really didn't understand what that

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impact could be, but anticipated that if we

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have a fleet of vehicles that can drive

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themselves, then this challenge we've had in terms

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of trying to solve congestion may become compounded

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by the fact that now we might have

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empty vehicles driving themselves around from place to

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place. The third partner, the Denver Regional Council

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of Governments,

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uses the memorable acronym Doctor COG. Doctor COG

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is a regional planning organization

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with representatives

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from more than 50 cities and counties in

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the Denver area.

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Each one is represented by a mayor or

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senior elected official. There were a lot of

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folks that were interested in what was happening.

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A lot of the local municipalities

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were working on their own kind of technology

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programs, everything from smart street lights to more

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advanced pedestrian detection at intersections.

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Curbside management was particularly important in how precious

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on street parking and bicycle lanes might be

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impacted by Uber and Lyft services or other

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micro mobility services.

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Although some of the emerging technologies coming from

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the private sector present policy challenges for public

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officials,

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Jason said everyone also recognized

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that they present opportunity.

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Good side is that all of these technologies

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bring with them massive amounts of data that

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the companies that own the vehicles or the

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00:11:26,625 --> 00:11:29,424
services can harness, but that could be really

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beneficial

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00:11:30,384 --> 00:11:33,904
for a safety and planning perspective for the

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agency. Including that fourth partner, representatives from the

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00:11:37,230 --> 00:11:39,709
Denver Chamber of Commerce gave the study an

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00:11:39,709 --> 00:11:41,009
entirely different dimension.

292
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Here's Chris Primus again. But what was unique

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was having the Denver Metro Chamber at the

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00:11:47,069 --> 00:11:47,970
same table.

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That was the first time that had occurred

296
00:11:51,304 --> 00:11:54,184
for the private sector and their interest in

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furthering the economy of the Denver area and

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the businesses and firms that they represent

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00:12:00,184 --> 00:12:01,732
to sit at the same table with the

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00:12:01,732 --> 00:12:03,839
chance transportation agencies. And it's kind of two

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00:12:03,839 --> 00:12:06,579
worlds coming together, learning each other's languages

302
00:12:06,879 --> 00:12:07,379
and

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perspective and needs. With all the right people

304
00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,559
on board, a study known as the Denver

305
00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:13,860
Mobility Choice Blueprint

306
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,414
began. This was an umbrella study to consider

307
00:12:17,735 --> 00:12:21,274
all types and all kinds of new mobility

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00:12:21,414 --> 00:12:25,754
technologies and to investigate them and to, one,

309
00:12:25,894 --> 00:12:29,195
state the problems the metropolitan region is facing

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due to growing population,

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00:12:31,095 --> 00:12:31,914
more congestion,

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00:12:32,529 --> 00:12:33,029
inequitable

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00:12:33,330 --> 00:12:36,529
provision of mobility to its residents. Face with

314
00:12:36,529 --> 00:12:39,350
the and then pair that with the opportunities

315
00:12:39,809 --> 00:12:42,470
afforded by these potential new technologies

316
00:12:43,009 --> 00:12:46,210
and how those two aspects can be brought

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together

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00:12:47,184 --> 00:12:49,264
to improve the quality of life in the

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00:12:49,264 --> 00:12:51,764
region. So the team called in some national

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00:12:51,825 --> 00:12:54,384
experts to help sort through all the new

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technology

322
00:12:55,264 --> 00:12:57,285
flying at communities like Denver.

323
00:12:58,705 --> 00:13:01,169
This wasn't about just making Denver the best

324
00:13:01,169 --> 00:13:02,709
just to be the most technological

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00:13:03,009 --> 00:13:05,250
city. This was really about trying to roll

326
00:13:05,250 --> 00:13:07,250
up our sleeves, and they really got to

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00:13:07,250 --> 00:13:08,690
the root of it. How can these three

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00:13:08,690 --> 00:13:11,570
agencies work together and really make Denver a

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00:13:11,570 --> 00:13:14,049
better place to live? That's Ben Pierce, the

330
00:13:14,049 --> 00:13:14,549
transportation

331
00:13:15,274 --> 00:13:17,915
technology program lead at HDR. Ben has a

332
00:13:17,915 --> 00:13:19,054
background in statistics.

333
00:13:19,514 --> 00:13:21,514
He loves to be an early adopter of

334
00:13:21,514 --> 00:13:22,014
technology,

335
00:13:22,475 --> 00:13:24,634
and he's a big Star Trek fan, as

336
00:13:24,634 --> 00:13:27,274
he says, a nerd at heart. His career

337
00:13:27,274 --> 00:13:28,735
became focused on transportation

338
00:13:29,259 --> 00:13:31,199
as the rapid growth of new technologies

339
00:13:31,819 --> 00:13:33,579
began to impact how we move. I mean,

340
00:13:33,579 --> 00:13:36,699
the relationship between cities and transportation has definitely

341
00:13:36,699 --> 00:13:38,379
come a long way. You know, at first,

342
00:13:38,379 --> 00:13:41,019
cities are all about growth, expansion, and then

343
00:13:41,019 --> 00:13:42,779
they get congestion, and then they're, oh my

344
00:13:42,779 --> 00:13:44,524
gosh. We got a congestion problem. What are

345
00:13:44,524 --> 00:13:45,884
we going to do about it? And then

346
00:13:45,884 --> 00:13:47,565
we're going to build this roadway or that

347
00:13:47,565 --> 00:13:49,565
roadway and they tend to want to build

348
00:13:49,565 --> 00:13:51,965
themselves out of it. And as the city

349
00:13:51,965 --> 00:13:54,225
matures and the population grows,

350
00:13:54,524 --> 00:13:56,190
you just can't continue to build your way

351
00:13:56,190 --> 00:13:57,870
out of the problem. And that's where typically

352
00:13:57,870 --> 00:14:00,190
we start looking for alternative solutions, and that's

353
00:14:00,190 --> 00:14:02,669
where technology starts to come up. Whether you're

354
00:14:02,669 --> 00:14:05,709
into science fiction or not, driverless vehicles sit

355
00:14:05,709 --> 00:14:07,970
atop the list of disruptive technologies

356
00:14:08,694 --> 00:14:11,174
that are coming whether we're ready or not.

357
00:14:11,174 --> 00:14:13,194
Well, we paid a lot of attention to

358
00:14:13,334 --> 00:14:15,914
automated vehicles. I think that's obviously

359
00:14:16,294 --> 00:14:18,714
has the potential to be a significant disruptor,

360
00:14:19,095 --> 00:14:22,134
much like we've seen transportation network companies kind

361
00:14:22,134 --> 00:14:24,074
of disrupt the public transit.

362
00:14:24,459 --> 00:14:26,139
The ability for a car to pick you

363
00:14:26,139 --> 00:14:27,820
up and drop you off at the door

364
00:14:27,820 --> 00:14:29,580
and then have the cargo on its way

365
00:14:29,580 --> 00:14:31,919
has all kinds of serious repercussions,

366
00:14:32,299 --> 00:14:34,700
not just to the cities, but to the

367
00:14:34,700 --> 00:14:36,860
traveling public and how we plan and build

368
00:14:36,860 --> 00:14:39,445
buildings. I mean, we don't build buildings to

369
00:14:39,445 --> 00:14:41,925
drop everyone off at the door at 08:00

370
00:14:41,925 --> 00:14:44,825
in the morning. Examples like that, the tangential

371
00:14:45,045 --> 00:14:46,345
effects of a new technology

372
00:14:46,725 --> 00:14:47,865
have a ripple effect

373
00:14:48,245 --> 00:14:50,504
beyond the obvious legal and safety considerations.

374
00:14:51,029 --> 00:14:53,110
Right now, we have a parking lot system

375
00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:54,870
where some people get dropped off at the

376
00:14:54,870 --> 00:14:56,629
door, some people get dropped off at a

377
00:14:56,629 --> 00:14:58,730
parking lot and walk, other people,

378
00:14:59,269 --> 00:15:01,750
take a bus. If we have automated vehicles

379
00:15:01,750 --> 00:15:03,829
and everyone wants to get dropped off with

380
00:15:03,829 --> 00:15:05,750
the door to door service, we may have

381
00:15:05,750 --> 00:15:06,409
to redesign

382
00:15:06,845 --> 00:15:09,404
the buildings to accommodate that and their curb

383
00:15:09,404 --> 00:15:11,884
space. The design of curb space and the

384
00:15:11,884 --> 00:15:13,985
amount of land needed for parking lots

385
00:15:14,285 --> 00:15:16,205
also comes up when you talk about ride

386
00:15:16,205 --> 00:15:19,085
hailing services like Uber and Lyft. They've already

387
00:15:19,085 --> 00:15:21,024
forced property owners and municipalities

388
00:15:21,644 --> 00:15:22,139
to reconsider

389
00:15:24,460 --> 00:15:25,279
Another consideration,

390
00:15:25,899 --> 00:15:27,660
if people can read a book or play

391
00:15:27,660 --> 00:15:29,679
games on their phone while taking an automated

392
00:15:29,740 --> 00:15:31,200
vehicle to their destination,

393
00:15:31,899 --> 00:15:34,460
how does that affect their decisions about taking

394
00:15:34,460 --> 00:15:35,279
public transit?

395
00:15:35,954 --> 00:15:37,794
Ben said that's an example where the way

396
00:15:37,794 --> 00:15:40,214
we choose to use autonomous vehicle technology

397
00:15:40,754 --> 00:15:43,794
will determine its impact on society. In Denver,

398
00:15:43,794 --> 00:15:46,194
they've just launched a first mile, last mile

399
00:15:46,194 --> 00:15:46,694
connectivity

400
00:15:46,995 --> 00:15:49,414
with an automated shovel out at Pena Station.

401
00:15:49,475 --> 00:15:52,169
So that's taking an automated micro transit shuttle

402
00:15:52,169 --> 00:15:54,649
and connecting it to a fixed route mass

403
00:15:54,649 --> 00:15:55,629
transit system.

404
00:15:56,009 --> 00:15:58,809
And that extends the reach of transit out

405
00:15:58,809 --> 00:16:00,490
into the community and that would be a

406
00:16:00,490 --> 00:16:02,090
good thing. On the other hand, if you

407
00:16:02,090 --> 00:16:04,889
have people that are not taking public transit

408
00:16:04,889 --> 00:16:07,230
because they want to take an automated vehicle

409
00:16:07,514 --> 00:16:09,915
instead of a public transit trip, then that

410
00:16:09,915 --> 00:16:11,835
could be a bad thing because that would

411
00:16:11,835 --> 00:16:13,134
create more congestion

412
00:16:13,675 --> 00:16:16,555
and delays on our roadways. For autonomous vehicle

413
00:16:16,555 --> 00:16:19,434
technology to work, roadway design becomes part of

414
00:16:19,434 --> 00:16:22,200
the conversation too. And when it becomes commonplace,

415
00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:25,860
it will also change traffic forecasting and roadway

416
00:16:25,860 --> 00:16:28,740
capacity. You know, making sure that the vehicle

417
00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:30,980
can position itself in the lane and whether

418
00:16:30,980 --> 00:16:32,440
that's from triangulation

419
00:16:32,899 --> 00:16:35,000
off of fixed objects, which require

420
00:16:35,404 --> 00:16:38,845
high definition mapping or LIDAR mapping or good

421
00:16:38,845 --> 00:16:40,465
clear lanes demarcations.

422
00:16:41,085 --> 00:16:43,404
Other things to consider would be how do

423
00:16:43,404 --> 00:16:45,024
you handle zero vehicle

424
00:16:45,404 --> 00:16:45,904
trips.

425
00:16:46,365 --> 00:16:48,845
Right now we have a preponderance of single

426
00:16:48,845 --> 00:16:51,500
occupant vehicle trips and now we could have

427
00:16:51,500 --> 00:16:53,579
zero occupant vehicle trips. And what does that

428
00:16:53,579 --> 00:16:56,220
do for capacity and congestion? These are all

429
00:16:56,220 --> 00:16:57,819
kinds of things you have to start thinking

430
00:16:57,819 --> 00:17:00,699
about and start planning up. Ben's colleague, Justin

431
00:17:00,699 --> 00:17:03,600
Robbins, said the scenario of a single occupancy

432
00:17:03,819 --> 00:17:05,279
autonomous vehicle takeover

433
00:17:05,684 --> 00:17:07,944
is exactly why cities need to be proactive

434
00:17:08,325 --> 00:17:10,404
so they can plan for, rather than react

435
00:17:10,404 --> 00:17:12,964
to, technology. So in a sense, you can

436
00:17:12,964 --> 00:17:15,284
all imagine a future in which autonomous vehicles

437
00:17:15,284 --> 00:17:18,085
overtake our roadway networks. Everybody has a single

438
00:17:18,085 --> 00:17:20,085
autonomous vehicle. They just drive around looking for

439
00:17:20,085 --> 00:17:22,460
passengers by themselves. It wouldn't be a great

440
00:17:22,460 --> 00:17:24,940
future, but if they are shared, if it's

441
00:17:24,940 --> 00:17:26,619
something that's managed, then all of a sudden,

442
00:17:26,619 --> 00:17:28,779
it makes a lot of sense. So that

443
00:17:28,779 --> 00:17:30,400
framework really informed

444
00:17:31,100 --> 00:17:32,240
how those technologies

445
00:17:32,859 --> 00:17:35,964
should be used. Justin's a transportation planner who

446
00:17:35,964 --> 00:17:36,464
specializes

447
00:17:36,845 --> 00:17:38,865
in automated and connected vehicles.

448
00:17:39,244 --> 00:17:41,664
But at heart, he's a student of cities.

449
00:17:42,285 --> 00:17:44,845
Those passions connect by looking at how new

450
00:17:44,845 --> 00:17:45,345
technologies

451
00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:48,720
will change urban landscapes across the world. Quite

452
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:50,079
honestly, I mean, this is my interest in

453
00:17:50,079 --> 00:17:52,720
autonomous vehicles. The transportation part, the technology part,

454
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:53,859
it's fun. It's interesting.

455
00:17:54,319 --> 00:17:55,700
But really what catches

456
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:57,919
my attention is what it means for our

457
00:17:57,919 --> 00:18:00,045
cities. All the secondary effects that I think

458
00:18:00,045 --> 00:18:01,724
we're still trying to grapple with. To the

459
00:18:01,724 --> 00:18:03,964
extent that cars change the way we develop

460
00:18:03,964 --> 00:18:05,804
cities and the way that we look at

461
00:18:05,804 --> 00:18:08,204
land use, autonomous vehicles are going to have,

462
00:18:08,204 --> 00:18:11,005
I think, the same amount of effect. Justin

463
00:18:11,005 --> 00:18:12,625
sees the mobility blueprint

464
00:18:12,970 --> 00:18:14,809
as a way to help steer the community

465
00:18:14,809 --> 00:18:16,590
toward more favorable scenarios

466
00:18:17,210 --> 00:18:19,850
as new technologies arrive. Part of the reason

467
00:18:19,850 --> 00:18:22,029
to have a document like this is to

468
00:18:22,090 --> 00:18:24,330
make sure that as things happen, even things

469
00:18:24,330 --> 00:18:26,535
that we can't predict, we at least understand

470
00:18:26,674 --> 00:18:28,355
where we want to go and what we

471
00:18:28,355 --> 00:18:31,154
want the Denver region to be. And I

472
00:18:31,154 --> 00:18:32,994
think that's one of the critical pieces of

473
00:18:32,994 --> 00:18:34,755
that is we are living in this age

474
00:18:34,755 --> 00:18:36,595
of uncertainty right now where we can see

475
00:18:36,595 --> 00:18:38,309
on the horizon all these changes that are

476
00:18:38,309 --> 00:18:41,130
gonna happen. And I think cities and communities

477
00:18:41,190 --> 00:18:43,909
and regions are struggling to understand how we

478
00:18:43,909 --> 00:18:46,250
react to something where we don't necessarily

479
00:18:46,789 --> 00:18:47,769
know for certain

480
00:18:48,230 --> 00:18:50,414
how it's going to turn out. Of course,

481
00:18:50,575 --> 00:18:53,394
driverless cars aren't the only transportation technology

482
00:18:54,095 --> 00:18:56,975
challenging city planners. Things like the electrification of

483
00:18:56,975 --> 00:18:58,195
the roadway, the electrification

484
00:18:58,575 --> 00:19:00,894
of the transportation fleet, this is a trend

485
00:19:00,894 --> 00:19:03,480
that we all know is coming. The vehicles

486
00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,960
are anticipated to reach cost parity with internal

487
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,539
combustion engines by about 2023.

488
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,000
So, understanding what that means, what types of

489
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:11,500
amenities

490
00:19:11,799 --> 00:19:14,200
or charging infrastructure need to be in place

491
00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,940
to support that type of transportation system, understanding

492
00:19:17,079 --> 00:19:17,579
communications.

493
00:19:18,304 --> 00:19:20,224
So, with the rollout of five gs, what

494
00:19:20,224 --> 00:19:22,785
that means for our transportation system. You know,

495
00:19:22,785 --> 00:19:24,865
everybody has a handheld device in their pocket

496
00:19:24,865 --> 00:19:26,804
now that can communicate instantly.

497
00:19:27,345 --> 00:19:29,684
Now, cars will be able to communicate, transportation

498
00:19:29,825 --> 00:19:32,029
will be able to communicate. How you actually

499
00:19:32,330 --> 00:19:35,049
manage a system that facilitates that type of

500
00:19:35,049 --> 00:19:38,090
communication. As new models of transportation arrive, such

501
00:19:38,090 --> 00:19:39,950
as electric bicycles and scooters,

502
00:19:40,490 --> 00:19:43,049
planners are also finding they have to rethink

503
00:19:43,049 --> 00:19:44,830
something as seemingly commonplace

504
00:19:45,205 --> 00:19:47,684
as streetscape design. The way that we divide

505
00:19:47,684 --> 00:19:49,205
our streets right now, the way that we

506
00:19:49,205 --> 00:19:51,144
divide up our right of way is typically

507
00:19:51,205 --> 00:19:53,605
exclusive of mode or or mode exclusive, I

508
00:19:53,605 --> 00:19:55,845
should say. So you have vehicle lanes that

509
00:19:55,845 --> 00:19:59,205
are specifically for privately owned vehicles or bus

510
00:19:59,205 --> 00:20:00,789
transit. And then you might have a transit

511
00:20:00,789 --> 00:20:03,910
lane where it's only transit vehicles can move

512
00:20:03,910 --> 00:20:05,670
and then you have bike lanes and then

513
00:20:05,670 --> 00:20:06,570
you have sidewalks.

514
00:20:07,350 --> 00:20:08,789
So the way we do it now is

515
00:20:08,789 --> 00:20:10,710
we have a limited amount of right of

516
00:20:10,710 --> 00:20:13,065
way and we divide it up by mode.

517
00:20:13,304 --> 00:20:14,664
And one of the things that I think

518
00:20:14,664 --> 00:20:16,585
is concerning is that in the world where

519
00:20:16,585 --> 00:20:17,085
transportation

520
00:20:17,784 --> 00:20:20,264
innovation is happening really, really quickly, how do

521
00:20:20,264 --> 00:20:22,204
we start to redefine our right of way

522
00:20:22,424 --> 00:20:23,325
to be

523
00:20:23,704 --> 00:20:26,105
accommodating for all the modes that even we

524
00:20:26,105 --> 00:20:29,250
don't know exist yet? Technology experts like Ben

525
00:20:29,250 --> 00:20:32,869
and Justin brought national perspective to emerging technologies

526
00:20:33,169 --> 00:20:36,309
and how other communities are facing them. Meanwhile,

527
00:20:36,529 --> 00:20:37,909
colleague Jason Maglachen

528
00:20:38,289 --> 00:20:41,029
led a team responsible for modeling and analysis

529
00:20:41,295 --> 00:20:42,195
of the potential

530
00:20:45,535 --> 00:20:46,035
impacts.

531
00:20:47,775 --> 00:20:49,154
There's not a lot

532
00:20:49,775 --> 00:20:52,335
of literature and research on this yet, which

533
00:20:52,335 --> 00:20:54,414
is why we had to present these as

534
00:20:54,414 --> 00:20:54,914
scenarios

535
00:20:55,295 --> 00:20:57,640
of what if, if you will. And so

536
00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:59,799
it was challenging. I wouldn't say it makes

537
00:20:59,799 --> 00:21:01,319
my job more difficult. I think it makes

538
00:21:01,319 --> 00:21:03,880
it that much more exciting. Transportation planners like

539
00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,619
Jason use travel demand models to forecast

540
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:08,299
how population increases,

541
00:21:08,759 --> 00:21:11,819
new development projects, and different types of travelers

542
00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:13,284
will impact traffic.

543
00:21:13,664 --> 00:21:16,304
This helps communities determine which projects will bring

544
00:21:16,304 --> 00:21:18,644
the greatest benefit to the most residents

545
00:21:19,024 --> 00:21:22,304
and which ones get funding. The forecasting goes

546
00:21:22,304 --> 00:21:25,505
well beyond counting cars. The models are all

547
00:21:25,505 --> 00:21:28,679
data based, and so the model for the

548
00:21:28,679 --> 00:21:31,559
Denver region is what's considered an activity based

549
00:21:31,559 --> 00:21:34,460
model. And within it, it represents every household

550
00:21:34,919 --> 00:21:37,500
in the region with data and information

551
00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:38,940
about households

552
00:21:39,399 --> 00:21:42,359
more on aggregate sense by zones or by

553
00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:42,859
neighborhoods.

554
00:21:43,255 --> 00:21:45,275
So things like auto ownership,

555
00:21:45,654 --> 00:21:48,775
income levels, the types of work trips that

556
00:21:48,775 --> 00:21:50,934
individuals would make, and those are also matched

557
00:21:50,934 --> 00:21:54,634
to travel opportunities, whether it's for jobs, education,

558
00:21:55,220 --> 00:21:56,039
for recreation,

559
00:21:56,420 --> 00:21:58,579
or whether it's travel even outside of the

560
00:21:58,579 --> 00:22:01,140
region. So the model starts with this data

561
00:22:01,140 --> 00:22:03,700
framework, and this has been the tool that's

562
00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:06,259
informed transportation decision making for a number of

563
00:22:06,259 --> 00:22:08,660
years. But Jason described it as a new

564
00:22:08,660 --> 00:22:12,065
frontier to account for factors like autonomous vehicles,

565
00:22:12,445 --> 00:22:14,384
ride hailing apps, and new microtransit

566
00:22:14,684 --> 00:22:16,305
options. When you introduce

567
00:22:16,924 --> 00:22:20,285
new concepts like ride hailing apps and with

568
00:22:20,285 --> 00:22:22,684
a more saturated network of those, how does

569
00:22:22,684 --> 00:22:24,890
that affect affect travel for what was previously

570
00:22:24,890 --> 00:22:26,650
a zero car household that may have been

571
00:22:26,650 --> 00:22:30,170
dependent purely on transit or may have not

572
00:22:30,170 --> 00:22:33,049
had access to rides at all for work

573
00:22:33,049 --> 00:22:35,789
opportunities or for education. And then making adjustments

574
00:22:35,849 --> 00:22:37,390
in the model to identify

575
00:22:37,690 --> 00:22:40,214
where are these zero car households If we

576
00:22:40,214 --> 00:22:43,815
can provide an accessible and affordable service that

577
00:22:43,815 --> 00:22:45,994
allows them to get access to transportation,

578
00:22:46,454 --> 00:22:48,555
how would that change their travel behavior?

579
00:22:48,934 --> 00:22:51,434
While new ways to travel by car enhance

580
00:22:51,494 --> 00:22:53,195
mobility for certain people,

581
00:22:53,700 --> 00:22:55,700
they also can result in more cars on

582
00:22:55,700 --> 00:22:57,460
the road. At the same time, you have

583
00:22:57,460 --> 00:22:59,220
to also look at what are the potential

584
00:22:59,220 --> 00:23:00,200
negative consequences.

585
00:23:00,500 --> 00:23:03,399
So for drivers who can afford an automated

586
00:23:03,460 --> 00:23:06,419
vehicle, completely self driving level four, level five,

587
00:23:06,419 --> 00:23:09,144
and if we couple that with transportation infrastructure

588
00:23:09,285 --> 00:23:11,924
that provided for places for those vehicles to

589
00:23:11,924 --> 00:23:12,424
operate

590
00:23:12,724 --> 00:23:15,304
and and potentially park, would that change

591
00:23:15,605 --> 00:23:18,085
people's trip making decisions now? Maybe they live

592
00:23:18,085 --> 00:23:20,884
further away from downtown and drive more miles

593
00:23:20,884 --> 00:23:22,984
because the journey itself is less onerous.

594
00:23:23,309 --> 00:23:25,549
So his team considered multiple scenarios for the

595
00:23:25,549 --> 00:23:28,669
year 2030, which accounted for 800,000

596
00:23:28,669 --> 00:23:31,889
new residents in Denver, emerging transportation choices,

597
00:23:32,349 --> 00:23:33,329
and whether transportation

598
00:23:33,710 --> 00:23:36,669
agencies maintain the status quo or act boldly

599
00:23:36,669 --> 00:23:38,944
to get ahead of change. And the scenarios

600
00:23:39,164 --> 00:23:41,184
were used just to inform

601
00:23:41,484 --> 00:23:44,365
our group of how these different changes might

602
00:23:44,365 --> 00:23:46,845
impact some of the the broader metrics of

603
00:23:46,845 --> 00:23:47,345
transportation,

604
00:23:47,724 --> 00:23:50,204
things like vehicle miles of travel, hours of

605
00:23:50,204 --> 00:23:50,704
congestion,

606
00:23:51,244 --> 00:23:53,990
or number of crashes on an annual basis.

607
00:23:54,210 --> 00:23:56,070
But it also allows us to do some

608
00:23:56,450 --> 00:23:57,509
more personal insights

609
00:23:57,890 --> 00:23:58,390
into

610
00:23:58,850 --> 00:24:01,090
individual travel. And I think that was really

611
00:24:01,090 --> 00:24:03,970
a key feature of this study was using

612
00:24:03,970 --> 00:24:04,789
a traditional

613
00:24:05,170 --> 00:24:08,775
large network tools to try to understand at

614
00:24:08,775 --> 00:24:09,515
a more microscopic

615
00:24:09,815 --> 00:24:12,795
level how these different types of changes

616
00:24:13,174 --> 00:24:16,375
would impact the individual person. The people side

617
00:24:16,375 --> 00:24:18,154
of the Denver Mobility Blueprint

618
00:24:18,649 --> 00:24:21,549
added an entirely different dimension to the study.

619
00:24:25,210 --> 00:24:26,990
So if you think about a triangle,

620
00:24:27,369 --> 00:24:30,029
there's one end that is about technology,

621
00:24:30,329 --> 00:24:31,789
one end about transportation.

622
00:24:32,250 --> 00:24:34,974
Those are two areas that our clients and

623
00:24:34,974 --> 00:24:37,054
our team, our consultant team were very comfortable

624
00:24:37,054 --> 00:24:39,214
with. But what we also knew is that

625
00:24:39,214 --> 00:24:41,775
there was a very important third side of

626
00:24:41,775 --> 00:24:42,515
that triangle,

627
00:24:42,974 --> 00:24:45,214
which was about livability and that if we

628
00:24:45,214 --> 00:24:47,234
thought about those three things holistically,

629
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,279
we might end up with a very different

630
00:24:50,279 --> 00:24:50,779
solution

631
00:24:51,319 --> 00:24:53,160
than if we had only focused on the

632
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,539
technology and the transportation aspects of this problem.

633
00:24:56,599 --> 00:24:59,420
That's Kya Nesbitt, who led a community engagement

634
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,845
team as part of the blueprint. Kaya began

635
00:25:01,845 --> 00:25:04,005
her career as a product development engineer at

636
00:25:04,005 --> 00:25:04,505
Nike.

637
00:25:04,805 --> 00:25:07,125
Eventually, she wanted to expand her interest to

638
00:25:07,125 --> 00:25:09,285
design to see the impact it could have

639
00:25:09,285 --> 00:25:10,744
on the scale of a city.

640
00:25:11,204 --> 00:25:13,625
That led her into urban design and landscape

641
00:25:13,684 --> 00:25:14,184
architecture.

642
00:25:14,630 --> 00:25:17,850
Kaya's team conducted extensive community ethnography

643
00:25:18,470 --> 00:25:21,190
to gain deeper insights into the needs, the

644
00:25:21,190 --> 00:25:23,670
hopes, and the fears of the people who

645
00:25:23,670 --> 00:25:25,850
travel around Denver every day.

646
00:25:26,230 --> 00:25:27,210
Community ethnography

647
00:25:27,590 --> 00:25:31,625
is a method used often by anthropologists, and

648
00:25:31,625 --> 00:25:33,565
it's a research method essentially

649
00:25:34,105 --> 00:25:36,605
of understanding a population and its need.

650
00:25:37,065 --> 00:25:37,884
We have

651
00:25:38,265 --> 00:25:39,725
borrowed the inspiration

652
00:25:40,265 --> 00:25:42,684
around that deep research process,

653
00:25:43,210 --> 00:25:45,370
and we utilize it as part of our

654
00:25:45,370 --> 00:25:46,509
community engagement.

655
00:25:47,049 --> 00:25:48,750
And essentially it's a way

656
00:25:49,049 --> 00:25:49,789
of having,

657
00:25:50,410 --> 00:25:52,830
small group in-depth conversations

658
00:25:53,610 --> 00:25:54,910
that try to reach,

659
00:25:55,529 --> 00:25:57,450
ask questions that aren't as direct as you

660
00:25:57,450 --> 00:26:00,015
might ask in a public survey, for example.

661
00:26:00,075 --> 00:26:02,394
And essentially, the intent is to try and

662
00:26:02,394 --> 00:26:02,894
uncover

663
00:26:03,595 --> 00:26:05,535
more needs and mindset

664
00:26:05,914 --> 00:26:06,734
and understanding

665
00:26:07,115 --> 00:26:09,355
of why people make the decisions that they

666
00:26:09,355 --> 00:26:12,339
make and the choices that they choose. So

667
00:26:12,339 --> 00:26:15,059
Kya's team went into the community to listen

668
00:26:15,059 --> 00:26:17,079
to a wide variety of perspectives

669
00:26:17,700 --> 00:26:20,419
of how people travel every day. We had

670
00:26:20,419 --> 00:26:23,299
a series of one on one conversations with

671
00:26:23,299 --> 00:26:25,940
people in their living rooms or around kitchen

672
00:26:25,940 --> 00:26:28,105
tables, and we had those conversations,

673
00:26:28,724 --> 00:26:30,964
with a wide variety of people across the

674
00:26:30,964 --> 00:26:31,784
Denver Metropolitan

675
00:26:32,085 --> 00:26:32,585
Area.

676
00:26:32,964 --> 00:26:34,504
Those in-depth conversations

677
00:26:35,365 --> 00:26:38,024
didn't just ask about what kind of transportation

678
00:26:38,244 --> 00:26:41,009
do you use, but they asked about how

679
00:26:41,009 --> 00:26:43,490
do you define quality of life. We had

680
00:26:43,490 --> 00:26:45,509
various little games and exercises

681
00:26:46,049 --> 00:26:48,609
that asked people to rank quality of life

682
00:26:48,609 --> 00:26:51,809
factors and those include everything from health and

683
00:26:51,809 --> 00:26:52,309
safety,

684
00:26:53,105 --> 00:26:54,484
work and productivity,

685
00:26:55,184 --> 00:26:55,684
heritage,

686
00:26:56,305 --> 00:26:58,325
as well as access to transportation.

687
00:26:58,865 --> 00:27:02,465
Hearing individual perspectives from about 25 pairs of

688
00:27:02,465 --> 00:27:02,965
people

689
00:27:03,505 --> 00:27:05,285
cast a new light on what transportation

690
00:27:05,585 --> 00:27:08,309
means to people from different walks of life.

691
00:27:08,369 --> 00:27:10,369
So what we learned from some of those

692
00:27:10,369 --> 00:27:11,269
early conversations

693
00:27:12,130 --> 00:27:13,190
is that transportation

694
00:27:14,049 --> 00:27:17,409
is an enabler to quality of life. It's

695
00:27:17,409 --> 00:27:19,544
not only about how you get from point

696
00:27:19,544 --> 00:27:21,384
a to point b. It's a part of

697
00:27:21,384 --> 00:27:23,325
how you connect with your community,

698
00:27:23,625 --> 00:27:26,585
your ability to have choices for mobility. So

699
00:27:26,585 --> 00:27:28,744
whether you are able to feel like you

700
00:27:28,744 --> 00:27:31,384
can bike safely to work and that might

701
00:27:31,384 --> 00:27:34,220
make you feel like you've had some exercise

702
00:27:34,220 --> 00:27:36,720
and you are able to see your community

703
00:27:36,779 --> 00:27:38,779
in a new way. You may arrive home

704
00:27:38,779 --> 00:27:40,940
after a long day in a better mood

705
00:27:40,940 --> 00:27:42,720
because you've had a positive

706
00:27:43,259 --> 00:27:44,559
transportation experience

707
00:27:44,859 --> 00:27:46,640
through biking or walking

708
00:27:47,095 --> 00:27:47,914
or carpooling.

709
00:27:48,295 --> 00:27:51,195
Transportation is about connecting to our community.

710
00:27:51,575 --> 00:27:53,914
It's not just about the movement

711
00:27:54,375 --> 00:27:57,195
and the details around vehicle miles traveled

712
00:27:57,495 --> 00:27:58,154
and congestion.

713
00:27:58,455 --> 00:28:00,315
Armed with the depth of those conversations,

714
00:28:00,934 --> 00:28:03,329
Kaya's team then sought to gather feedback on

715
00:28:03,329 --> 00:28:05,650
a wider scale. So in order to test

716
00:28:05,650 --> 00:28:08,630
what we heard from that that small representative

717
00:28:08,849 --> 00:28:12,130
sample, we used social media, and we used

718
00:28:12,130 --> 00:28:12,630
technology

719
00:28:13,009 --> 00:28:16,164
to build essentially a small game almost like

720
00:28:16,224 --> 00:28:18,085
some of those games you see on Facebook

721
00:28:18,144 --> 00:28:20,464
like what kind of spirit animal are you

722
00:28:20,464 --> 00:28:22,384
and answer a number of questions and then

723
00:28:22,384 --> 00:28:24,464
in the end it tells you oh you're

724
00:28:24,464 --> 00:28:26,704
this type of spirit animal perhaps an eagle

725
00:28:26,704 --> 00:28:28,759
or a fox And so we took inspiration

726
00:28:28,900 --> 00:28:31,320
from that kind of fun way of engaging

727
00:28:31,940 --> 00:28:33,480
and applied it to transportation.

728
00:28:34,019 --> 00:28:37,460
People answered simple, fun questions such as, would

729
00:28:37,460 --> 00:28:39,380
you rather be the driver or be the

730
00:28:39,380 --> 00:28:39,880
passenger?

731
00:28:40,605 --> 00:28:42,285
Or are you the type of person who

732
00:28:42,285 --> 00:28:44,845
buys new technology right when it comes out?

733
00:28:44,845 --> 00:28:46,444
Or are you the type who couldn't care

734
00:28:46,444 --> 00:28:49,404
less? Through that social media game, the team

735
00:28:49,404 --> 00:28:51,664
reached more than 1,000 additional residents.

736
00:28:52,045 --> 00:28:54,450
That gave them more data to support or

737
00:28:54,450 --> 00:28:56,710
enhance the findings from the initial interviews.

738
00:28:57,329 --> 00:28:59,650
Then they added one more layer by hosting

739
00:28:59,650 --> 00:29:01,829
workshops with about 40 participants,

740
00:29:02,130 --> 00:29:04,069
which they called mobility ambassadors.

741
00:29:05,009 --> 00:29:07,329
In total, the team hosted more than 70

742
00:29:07,329 --> 00:29:10,585
events to explain the blueprint and collect feedback.

743
00:29:11,044 --> 00:29:13,144
We engaged a number of agencies

744
00:29:13,684 --> 00:29:15,304
and regional transportation

745
00:29:15,605 --> 00:29:16,664
management associations

746
00:29:17,284 --> 00:29:19,224
and included them in our workshops

747
00:29:19,605 --> 00:29:21,544
as well as a number of stakeholders

748
00:29:21,845 --> 00:29:24,230
from doctor Cog, Cog, our regional councils of

749
00:29:24,230 --> 00:29:27,509
government, our client team from the Colorado Department

750
00:29:27,509 --> 00:29:28,169
of Transportation,

751
00:29:28,869 --> 00:29:31,369
RTD, and the Denver Metro Chamber.

752
00:29:31,750 --> 00:29:32,889
Perhaps not surprisingly,

753
00:29:33,269 --> 00:29:35,289
the findings of the community engagement

754
00:29:35,904 --> 00:29:38,785
activities often reminded decision makers of the human

755
00:29:38,785 --> 00:29:39,924
side of transportation.

756
00:29:41,025 --> 00:29:43,045
There was a lot of concern

757
00:29:43,424 --> 00:29:45,365
around these new technologies

758
00:29:46,065 --> 00:29:47,204
and some fears

759
00:29:47,505 --> 00:29:50,640
around how they might disrupt people's connection

760
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:52,259
to their neighbors

761
00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,519
and it became clear that even some simple

762
00:29:55,519 --> 00:29:56,019
things

763
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:58,019
like connection of sidewalks

764
00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:02,000
and trails that connect people's communities to their

765
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:02,500
jobs,

766
00:30:02,894 --> 00:30:03,634
Those simple

767
00:30:04,174 --> 00:30:07,775
infrastructure elements were as important if not more

768
00:30:07,775 --> 00:30:10,575
important to them than how they thought about

769
00:30:10,575 --> 00:30:12,434
the future of mobility technology.

770
00:30:12,974 --> 00:30:15,055
So it was a good reminder for us

771
00:30:15,055 --> 00:30:18,390
that the human nature is such that we

772
00:30:18,390 --> 00:30:21,269
can often get ahead of ourselves in thinking

773
00:30:21,269 --> 00:30:23,769
about the future, but we need to remember

774
00:30:23,829 --> 00:30:26,970
that there are some simple things around transportation

775
00:30:27,349 --> 00:30:28,089
and connectivity

776
00:30:28,390 --> 00:30:29,130
of communities

777
00:30:29,589 --> 00:30:31,575
that we need to address. When it comes

778
00:30:31,575 --> 00:30:33,194
to new technology specifically,

779
00:30:34,054 --> 00:30:37,755
residents' biggest concerns revolved around safety and security

780
00:30:37,974 --> 00:30:38,875
in many forms.

781
00:30:39,255 --> 00:30:42,315
Both the fears around how transportation

782
00:30:42,694 --> 00:30:43,194
technologies

783
00:30:43,575 --> 00:30:45,769
might have less human connection

784
00:30:46,070 --> 00:30:46,890
and therefore

785
00:30:47,269 --> 00:30:50,630
create more safety problems on our streets. But

786
00:30:50,630 --> 00:30:54,309
they also talked about security and sometimes that

787
00:30:54,309 --> 00:30:55,210
relates to

788
00:30:55,590 --> 00:30:56,490
data security

789
00:30:56,789 --> 00:30:59,029
as well as your own feeling of personal

790
00:30:59,029 --> 00:30:59,529
security.

791
00:31:00,034 --> 00:31:02,934
So as we have greater and greater connectivity

792
00:31:03,315 --> 00:31:06,034
of things through the Internet and as our

793
00:31:06,034 --> 00:31:06,534
online

794
00:31:07,075 --> 00:31:07,575
personalities

795
00:31:08,115 --> 00:31:10,214
become more connected with transportation,

796
00:31:10,835 --> 00:31:13,654
there was concern around wanting to

797
00:31:13,990 --> 00:31:15,929
share more and more of that information

798
00:31:16,309 --> 00:31:18,089
and have both our whereabouts

799
00:31:18,390 --> 00:31:20,250
as well as our personal data

800
00:31:20,710 --> 00:31:23,029
be held in a secure way. As for

801
00:31:23,029 --> 00:31:25,849
the safety of technologies such as autonomous vehicles,

802
00:31:26,164 --> 00:31:28,164
how they're introduced to the community will go

803
00:31:28,164 --> 00:31:31,044
a long way toward building rider's comfort level.

804
00:31:31,044 --> 00:31:33,544
That's something that we learn through our community

805
00:31:33,605 --> 00:31:36,005
engagement. The idea of having almost like a

806
00:31:36,005 --> 00:31:38,724
concierge service the first time you try an

807
00:31:38,724 --> 00:31:41,429
autonomous bus, for example. If there's actually a

808
00:31:41,429 --> 00:31:43,750
person on the bus that can help you

809
00:31:43,750 --> 00:31:46,630
understand where you're going, welcome you, and help

810
00:31:46,630 --> 00:31:49,049
you understand what the experience will be like,

811
00:31:49,269 --> 00:31:51,269
that can help people feel a lot more

812
00:31:51,269 --> 00:31:54,069
comfortable with trying a new technology such as

813
00:31:54,069 --> 00:31:57,394
an autonomous vehicle for the first time. However,

814
00:31:57,455 --> 00:32:00,755
even the demographic most uncertain of new technology

815
00:32:01,055 --> 00:32:03,375
recognized the benefits it can bring to their

816
00:32:03,375 --> 00:32:05,695
lives. One thing that was very surprising when

817
00:32:05,695 --> 00:32:07,875
we talked to some of our older residents

818
00:32:07,934 --> 00:32:10,349
in the Denver Metro Area was many of

819
00:32:10,349 --> 00:32:14,029
them were very excited about technology such as

820
00:32:14,029 --> 00:32:15,890
autonomous and connected vehicles.

821
00:32:16,269 --> 00:32:19,410
Some of them really expressed how they expected

822
00:32:20,029 --> 00:32:22,509
those type of technologies would enable them to

823
00:32:22,509 --> 00:32:25,170
stay more mobile for longer in their lives

824
00:32:25,505 --> 00:32:27,985
and staying more connected to your community for

825
00:32:27,985 --> 00:32:29,684
longer is only a benefit.

826
00:32:34,625 --> 00:32:36,865
With the three sides of the triangle in

827
00:32:36,865 --> 00:32:38,325
place, the technology,

828
00:32:38,865 --> 00:32:39,365
transportation,

829
00:32:39,904 --> 00:32:40,644
and livability,

830
00:32:41,509 --> 00:32:42,869
it was time for the team to put

831
00:32:42,869 --> 00:32:45,429
together a blueprint. This is really not about

832
00:32:45,429 --> 00:32:47,130
trying to come up with the precise

833
00:32:47,589 --> 00:32:49,529
answer. That's Jason McGlashan,

834
00:32:49,829 --> 00:32:52,470
the transportation planner we met earlier who was

835
00:32:52,470 --> 00:32:54,515
responsible for modeling and analysis.

836
00:32:55,134 --> 00:32:57,295
Because there's just so much uncertainty, what we

837
00:32:57,295 --> 00:32:59,055
really need to do is step back and

838
00:32:59,055 --> 00:33:01,134
try to paint the picture of what we

839
00:33:01,134 --> 00:33:02,975
want the future to be like and then

840
00:33:02,975 --> 00:33:05,455
go backwards and say, alright. If that's the

841
00:33:05,455 --> 00:33:08,009
end result we desire, what are the steps

842
00:33:08,089 --> 00:33:10,509
or the tactical actions, in this case,

843
00:33:10,890 --> 00:33:13,609
we need to focus on to push us

844
00:33:13,609 --> 00:33:16,089
towards achieving that goal? And so it's somewhat

845
00:33:16,089 --> 00:33:18,730
of the reverse engineering approach, starting with your

846
00:33:18,730 --> 00:33:21,210
answer first and then going backwards to how

847
00:33:21,210 --> 00:33:23,674
do you get there, as opposed to putting

848
00:33:23,674 --> 00:33:26,154
in all the constraints and letting the problem

849
00:33:26,154 --> 00:33:26,654
unfold.

850
00:33:27,035 --> 00:33:29,515
In doing so, the blueprint consisted of a

851
00:33:29,515 --> 00:33:32,154
long list of tactical actions to help achieve

852
00:33:32,154 --> 00:33:32,894
the transportation

853
00:33:33,195 --> 00:33:33,695
future

854
00:33:34,075 --> 00:33:37,309
the community and its leaders want. Kiernan Miletsky,

855
00:33:37,609 --> 00:33:39,369
the young professional who we met at the

856
00:33:39,369 --> 00:33:40,589
beginning of the episode,

857
00:33:41,130 --> 00:33:44,269
explained how the community outreach that Kaya described

858
00:33:44,730 --> 00:33:47,069
helped give a human face to that list.

859
00:33:47,369 --> 00:33:49,054
I think one of the more unique tools

860
00:33:49,054 --> 00:33:51,134
we used on this project, we built these

861
00:33:51,134 --> 00:33:54,095
personas based on some in-depth interviews with various

862
00:33:54,095 --> 00:33:56,654
people from across the region. And then when

863
00:33:56,654 --> 00:33:58,095
we got to the end of the project,

864
00:33:58,095 --> 00:34:00,835
we used those personas to try to explain

865
00:34:00,974 --> 00:34:03,615
how the recommendations of the blueprint might change

866
00:34:03,615 --> 00:34:05,589
life for certain kind kinds of people across

867
00:34:05,589 --> 00:34:08,809
the region. The blueprint included five distinct personas

868
00:34:08,869 --> 00:34:10,170
of mile high travelers,

869
00:34:10,949 --> 00:34:14,469
then evaluated how different actions would impact each

870
00:34:14,469 --> 00:34:16,789
person. We found that trying to articulate those

871
00:34:16,789 --> 00:34:17,594
changes at a macro

872
00:34:18,234 --> 00:34:21,034
regional level is really hard, and you kinda

873
00:34:21,034 --> 00:34:23,275
lost the meaning, the significance of some of

874
00:34:23,275 --> 00:34:25,835
the recommendations at that scale. But if you

875
00:34:25,835 --> 00:34:28,255
drill down and sort of explained how

876
00:34:28,554 --> 00:34:30,715
the life of, say, a single mother living

877
00:34:30,715 --> 00:34:32,954
in Aurora and working in Downtown Denver might

878
00:34:32,954 --> 00:34:35,969
change if we took this coordinated approach to

879
00:34:35,969 --> 00:34:38,130
adopting these new technologies, we're able to tell

880
00:34:38,130 --> 00:34:40,550
a much more powerful story. Example, the persona

881
00:34:40,610 --> 00:34:42,710
of the single mother was named Maria.

882
00:34:43,250 --> 00:34:45,329
The blueprint showed a map of the places

883
00:34:45,329 --> 00:34:48,474
Maria travels in a typical day, from Aurora

884
00:34:48,474 --> 00:34:50,554
where she lives to her mother's house in

885
00:34:50,554 --> 00:34:52,894
Five Points to drop off her son, Gabriel,

886
00:34:53,355 --> 00:34:55,755
then to class at Metro State, followed by

887
00:34:55,755 --> 00:34:57,295
her part time job downtown,

888
00:34:57,835 --> 00:34:59,675
then back to her mother's house to pick

889
00:34:59,675 --> 00:35:02,710
up Gabriel and return home to Aurora. The

890
00:35:02,710 --> 00:35:03,609
plan explained

891
00:35:03,909 --> 00:35:05,829
how long it takes now, how much it

892
00:35:05,829 --> 00:35:09,269
costs Maria, what her current transportation options are,

893
00:35:09,269 --> 00:35:11,429
and how that trip might look with new

894
00:35:11,429 --> 00:35:11,929
technologies,

895
00:35:12,469 --> 00:35:15,055
such as autonomous micro shuttle. I think it

896
00:35:15,055 --> 00:35:16,894
was the fact that it was rooted in

897
00:35:16,894 --> 00:35:19,715
these really in-depth, really thoughtful ethnographies

898
00:35:20,094 --> 00:35:22,255
that the team conducted early in the process

899
00:35:22,255 --> 00:35:24,355
that really surfaced people's frustrations

900
00:35:24,655 --> 00:35:25,155
and

901
00:35:25,849 --> 00:35:26,349
aspirations

902
00:35:26,650 --> 00:35:28,269
and fears and concerns.

903
00:35:28,890 --> 00:35:31,210
And being able to use those in the

904
00:35:31,210 --> 00:35:33,289
development of the personas made them a lot

905
00:35:33,289 --> 00:35:36,090
more real. I think the personas struck people

906
00:35:36,090 --> 00:35:36,829
as authentic

907
00:35:37,449 --> 00:35:40,489
because they came from this earnest process that

908
00:35:40,489 --> 00:35:43,164
was really, truly rooted in what we heard

909
00:35:43,164 --> 00:35:45,964
from the community. Chris Primus, the deputy project

910
00:35:45,964 --> 00:35:46,464
manager,

911
00:35:47,005 --> 00:35:49,484
explained how the group arrived on the final

912
00:35:49,484 --> 00:35:51,105
list of tactical actions.

913
00:35:51,405 --> 00:35:52,304
We identified

914
00:35:52,764 --> 00:35:54,179
over a 30

915
00:35:54,420 --> 00:35:56,359
tactical actions, and we iteratively

916
00:35:56,739 --> 00:35:59,219
whittled those down through a variety of meetings

917
00:35:59,219 --> 00:36:02,359
and workshops with our client team and stakeholders

918
00:36:03,059 --> 00:36:06,039
down to what became a set of 34

919
00:36:06,585 --> 00:36:09,644
tactical actions that the blueprint recommends the agencies

920
00:36:09,704 --> 00:36:12,744
to implement. The blueprint places the actions into

921
00:36:12,744 --> 00:36:13,885
seven main categories,

922
00:36:14,585 --> 00:36:15,565
regional collaboration,

923
00:36:16,184 --> 00:36:17,164
system optimization,

924
00:36:17,625 --> 00:36:18,525
shared mobility,

925
00:36:19,050 --> 00:36:20,590
data security and sharing,

926
00:36:20,890 --> 00:36:22,030
mobility electrification,

927
00:36:22,809 --> 00:36:24,349
driverless vehicle preparation,

928
00:36:24,809 --> 00:36:27,869
and new transportation funding. The recommended actions

929
00:36:28,170 --> 00:36:30,110
are each tagged with initiator

930
00:36:30,570 --> 00:36:32,430
of primarily being one of the agencies

931
00:36:32,809 --> 00:36:36,484
who have assigned on to be responsible for

932
00:36:36,484 --> 00:36:38,664
making sure that recommended strategy

933
00:36:38,964 --> 00:36:40,105
is is initiated,

934
00:36:40,565 --> 00:36:42,724
not necessarily that the agency will do it

935
00:36:42,724 --> 00:36:46,005
themselves, but they're responsible for finding somebody or

936
00:36:46,005 --> 00:36:48,184
some agency to make it happen.

937
00:36:48,559 --> 00:36:49,940
Some actions are smaller,

938
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:51,300
practical tactics

939
00:36:51,679 --> 00:36:53,539
that can enhance how new technologies

940
00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:56,260
integrate into the existing infrastructure.

941
00:36:57,039 --> 00:37:01,034
So for example, implement curbside management standards, which

942
00:37:01,275 --> 00:37:05,114
focuses on how new technologies can help the

943
00:37:05,114 --> 00:37:08,394
activities occur along a curve, including Lyft or

944
00:37:08,394 --> 00:37:11,454
Uber, drop off and pickup, and flexible parking,

945
00:37:11,514 --> 00:37:12,974
and other smart technologies.

946
00:37:13,275 --> 00:37:14,094
Jason Longsdorf,

947
00:37:14,474 --> 00:37:17,940
the Blueprint's policy lead, provided examples of actions

948
00:37:18,079 --> 00:37:20,239
with a much greater scale. So there were

949
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:22,820
a number of different kinds of policy recommendations

950
00:37:23,039 --> 00:37:25,940
that we landed on, things like a goal

951
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:26,500
to

952
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:27,700
more aggressively

953
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:28,900
electrify

954
00:37:29,599 --> 00:37:32,575
the fleets in the Denver region. And each

955
00:37:32,575 --> 00:37:35,295
of those agencies had different challenges with their

956
00:37:35,295 --> 00:37:38,255
fleets. Buses are one. It's a massive vehicle

957
00:37:38,255 --> 00:37:40,335
and takes quite a bit of infrastructure to

958
00:37:40,335 --> 00:37:42,539
generate the amount of electricity. So they were

959
00:37:42,539 --> 00:37:44,079
actually at the time contemplating

960
00:37:44,380 --> 00:37:46,619
creating their own mini utility that create their

961
00:37:46,619 --> 00:37:49,340
own energy. But in working with the Department

962
00:37:49,340 --> 00:37:49,920
of Transportation

963
00:37:50,860 --> 00:37:52,780
and then through the MPO as the MPO

964
00:37:52,780 --> 00:37:54,699
was thinking about all of the fleets that

965
00:37:54,699 --> 00:37:56,619
all of the different cities and counties around

966
00:37:56,619 --> 00:37:59,114
the metro area had there, They were able

967
00:37:59,114 --> 00:38:00,715
to agree on kind of what a goal

968
00:38:00,715 --> 00:38:02,715
was and decide how to move forward on.

969
00:38:02,715 --> 00:38:03,534
Other tactics

970
00:38:03,835 --> 00:38:06,315
looked at how technology could help to improve

971
00:38:06,315 --> 00:38:07,934
traffic flow on roadways.

972
00:38:08,235 --> 00:38:10,015
We were looking at things like

973
00:38:10,679 --> 00:38:11,179
synchronization

974
00:38:11,639 --> 00:38:14,699
of signal timing on certain corridors

975
00:38:15,559 --> 00:38:19,319
or essentially creating, like, a smart highway with

976
00:38:19,319 --> 00:38:20,300
some advanced

977
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:21,659
ramp metering

978
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:22,460
programs

979
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,179
and algorithms to try to keep the highways

980
00:38:25,635 --> 00:38:26,454
flowing efficiently

981
00:38:26,835 --> 00:38:28,755
by not letting too many vehicles onto them

982
00:38:28,755 --> 00:38:31,715
and keeping kind of a maximum capacity and

983
00:38:31,715 --> 00:38:34,275
and controlling speeds. Jason also gave an example

984
00:38:34,275 --> 00:38:36,515
of how partnering with the private sector could

985
00:38:36,515 --> 00:38:37,414
benefit travelers.

986
00:38:37,875 --> 00:38:40,775
The transit agency formed a partnership with

987
00:38:41,079 --> 00:38:43,319
both Uber and Lyft so that anytime you

988
00:38:43,319 --> 00:38:46,119
open any of the three entities' apps, both

989
00:38:46,119 --> 00:38:47,559
Uber and Lyft, once you open it, you

990
00:38:47,559 --> 00:38:49,480
can click on the transit option to compare

991
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:52,359
the travel time and cost comparison of taking

992
00:38:52,359 --> 00:38:55,324
transit versus taking Uber or Lyft. And a

993
00:38:55,324 --> 00:38:58,204
transit agency has a similar option where you

994
00:38:58,204 --> 00:38:59,964
can go and see the other two services

995
00:38:59,964 --> 00:39:02,684
as well. Having the transportation agencies in all

996
00:39:02,684 --> 00:39:04,924
the cities and counties in the area working

997
00:39:04,924 --> 00:39:05,424
together

998
00:39:05,885 --> 00:39:08,065
also makes a big impact on travelers.

999
00:39:08,610 --> 00:39:11,510
Whereas on one hand that might sound obvious,

1000
00:39:11,650 --> 00:39:13,410
it also might not sound like a big

1001
00:39:13,410 --> 00:39:15,750
deal. But during the course of the study,

1002
00:39:15,809 --> 00:39:18,930
a perfect example appeared on sidewalks throughout the

1003
00:39:18,930 --> 00:39:19,430
community

1004
00:39:19,809 --> 00:39:22,150
in the form of shared electric scooters.

1005
00:39:22,514 --> 00:39:24,694
The policy around how

1006
00:39:25,154 --> 00:39:28,295
electric scooters and electric bikes are to be

1007
00:39:28,434 --> 00:39:30,295
used in the region and

1008
00:39:30,594 --> 00:39:32,054
the fear with

1009
00:39:32,355 --> 00:39:34,994
fifty fifty six different cities and counties in

1010
00:39:34,994 --> 00:39:36,054
the metro area

1011
00:39:36,519 --> 00:39:39,160
was that we might end up with 56

1012
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,420
different policies that those companies

1013
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:43,740
had to figure out independently.

1014
00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,280
And so one of the policy goals we

1015
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:48,059
came up with was that there would be

1016
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:49,019
a single

1017
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:51,820
committee at the Regional Council of Governments

1018
00:39:52,335 --> 00:39:55,875
that would help develop kind of boilerplate policies

1019
00:39:55,934 --> 00:39:57,855
so that as those companies came in and

1020
00:39:57,855 --> 00:40:01,054
wanted to introduce their services, every local municipality

1021
00:40:01,054 --> 00:40:03,295
would have at least the same starting place.

1022
00:40:03,295 --> 00:40:04,929
Do you ride them in the street? Do

1023
00:40:04,929 --> 00:40:06,530
you ride them on the sidewalk? Do you

1024
00:40:06,530 --> 00:40:08,210
need to wear a helmet? How old do

1025
00:40:08,210 --> 00:40:09,730
you need to be to ride them? Do

1026
00:40:09,730 --> 00:40:10,949
you need a driver's license?

1027
00:40:11,250 --> 00:40:13,570
What's the speed limit for them? Because all

1028
00:40:13,570 --> 00:40:15,969
the partners were already at the table working

1029
00:40:15,969 --> 00:40:16,710
on the blueprint,

1030
00:40:17,135 --> 00:40:19,614
the scooters gave everyone a chance to develop

1031
00:40:19,614 --> 00:40:20,675
a common policy,

1032
00:40:21,135 --> 00:40:23,295
at least as a starting point for each

1033
00:40:23,295 --> 00:40:26,414
city. Yeah. They are allowed in bike lanes

1034
00:40:26,414 --> 00:40:28,815
wherever there are bike lanes as long as

1035
00:40:28,815 --> 00:40:30,734
the speed limit is less than 30 miles

1036
00:40:30,734 --> 00:40:32,319
an hour or less. Where there are no

1037
00:40:32,319 --> 00:40:33,920
bike lanes that are allowed on sidewalks, but

1038
00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:35,839
they can only go seven miles an hour.

1039
00:40:35,839 --> 00:40:39,039
So trying to communicate that to the tens

1040
00:40:39,039 --> 00:40:41,619
of thousands of people that wanna use scooters

1041
00:40:41,679 --> 00:40:43,460
all over the the metro area

1042
00:40:44,075 --> 00:40:46,394
to have a common set of rules. And

1043
00:40:46,394 --> 00:40:48,155
I'm not saying that everybody's gonna follow them.

1044
00:40:48,155 --> 00:40:50,555
Clearly, they don't. But at least there's essentially

1045
00:40:50,555 --> 00:40:52,795
a common set of rules for everyone. If

1046
00:40:52,795 --> 00:40:54,735
each city developed its own policy,

1047
00:40:55,115 --> 00:40:57,595
a rider traveling from one suburb to the

1048
00:40:57,595 --> 00:40:58,095
next

1049
00:40:58,469 --> 00:41:00,309
might not know when the scooter should be

1050
00:41:00,309 --> 00:41:01,050
on the street

1051
00:41:01,349 --> 00:41:03,130
versus when it should be on the sidewalk.

1052
00:41:03,590 --> 00:41:06,250
For that matter, neither would drivers or pedestrians

1053
00:41:06,630 --> 00:41:09,269
trying to safely avoid those scooters. That's one

1054
00:41:09,269 --> 00:41:11,829
example, and Kya Nesbitt said there will continue

1055
00:41:11,829 --> 00:41:13,894
to be more decisions best made as a

1056
00:41:13,894 --> 00:41:16,214
region. When you think about how, say, for

1057
00:41:16,214 --> 00:41:17,755
example, an autonomous vehicle

1058
00:41:18,214 --> 00:41:20,295
moves about a city, it's not like you

1059
00:41:20,295 --> 00:41:23,514
can have different rules from municipality to municipality.

1060
00:41:23,655 --> 00:41:25,574
That's just not how people move about their

1061
00:41:25,574 --> 00:41:27,320
lives. We need to think about this in

1062
00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:30,699
a broader scale. So this project really addressed

1063
00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,000
a regional scale, which I believe is very

1064
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,320
important as we think about technology in the

1065
00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:37,880
future. In the end, Kya said she's proud

1066
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:40,539
of the unique perspective the blueprint provided

1067
00:41:40,925 --> 00:41:43,965
by focusing on how mobility technology will affect

1068
00:41:43,965 --> 00:41:47,164
quality of life. As technology becomes even more

1069
00:41:47,164 --> 00:41:50,045
pervasive throughout our lives, as we are more

1070
00:41:50,045 --> 00:41:51,264
and more connected

1071
00:41:51,565 --> 00:41:52,065
digitally,

1072
00:41:52,525 --> 00:41:55,619
there are issues around safety and security. There

1073
00:41:55,619 --> 00:41:56,279
are concerns,

1074
00:41:56,659 --> 00:41:58,839
but there are also great opportunities

1075
00:41:59,219 --> 00:42:01,239
for ways that mobility technology

1076
00:42:02,019 --> 00:42:04,359
can help us become more connected.

1077
00:42:04,819 --> 00:42:07,480
That point of view makes you rethink transportation

1078
00:42:08,295 --> 00:42:10,694
beyond asking how long it will take or

1079
00:42:10,694 --> 00:42:12,554
if you're going by car or by train.

1080
00:42:12,855 --> 00:42:15,194
Help us get to our health care appointments

1081
00:42:15,335 --> 00:42:16,875
faster. Help recognize

1082
00:42:17,335 --> 00:42:19,815
when there's a safety issue on the road

1083
00:42:19,815 --> 00:42:22,155
and have emergency response vehicles

1084
00:42:22,610 --> 00:42:25,410
address that more quickly. It might help us

1085
00:42:25,410 --> 00:42:28,469
as we age. It might help us enable

1086
00:42:28,610 --> 00:42:31,489
to stay more connected and mobile within our

1087
00:42:31,489 --> 00:42:31,989
communities.

1088
00:42:32,289 --> 00:42:35,730
Realizing the potential of technology to improve people's

1089
00:42:35,730 --> 00:42:36,230
lives

1090
00:42:36,554 --> 00:42:38,394
was one of the most exciting parts of

1091
00:42:38,394 --> 00:42:40,094
the project for Chris Primus.

1092
00:42:40,394 --> 00:42:43,355
There are some people who have limited means

1093
00:42:43,355 --> 00:42:46,155
to travel, whether those means be physical means

1094
00:42:46,155 --> 00:42:48,894
or financial means. And these new technologies

1095
00:42:49,275 --> 00:42:51,769
offer opportunities to help solve some of those

1096
00:42:51,769 --> 00:42:54,489
problems that we've had so long. And if

1097
00:42:54,489 --> 00:42:56,809
you keep the focus right, you can provide

1098
00:42:56,809 --> 00:42:59,789
a better quality of life for your citizens,

1099
00:42:59,929 --> 00:43:02,730
for your residents. Rick Pilgrim, the project manager

1100
00:43:02,730 --> 00:43:04,190
and former mayor of Beaumont,

1101
00:43:04,565 --> 00:43:06,644
said one of the key takeaways was the

1102
00:43:06,644 --> 00:43:08,905
benefit of getting multiple agencies,

1103
00:43:09,204 --> 00:43:12,025
cities, and private companies at the same table,

1104
00:43:12,405 --> 00:43:14,744
looking at the same data and working together

1105
00:43:14,885 --> 00:43:15,704
on solutions.

1106
00:43:16,244 --> 00:43:18,565
The private sector needs to be a partner

1107
00:43:18,565 --> 00:43:21,289
here. And especially as the consumer,

1108
00:43:21,910 --> 00:43:22,730
the transportation

1109
00:43:23,510 --> 00:43:24,010
user,

1110
00:43:24,550 --> 00:43:25,849
makes different decisions

1111
00:43:26,390 --> 00:43:28,890
than they have over the last fifty years.

1112
00:43:29,110 --> 00:43:30,550
So we have to change the way we

1113
00:43:30,550 --> 00:43:33,670
think in terms of transportation planning because people

1114
00:43:33,670 --> 00:43:34,410
are choosing,

1115
00:43:34,949 --> 00:43:36,885
much different ways to travel. So

1116
00:43:37,505 --> 00:43:39,924
working together is gonna be the solution,

1117
00:43:40,385 --> 00:43:42,644
and partnering with the private sector

1118
00:43:43,264 --> 00:43:45,105
is gonna be a key to the future

1119
00:43:45,105 --> 00:43:45,605
success.

1120
00:43:46,065 --> 00:43:48,944
Communities that go the extra mile to embrace

1121
00:43:48,944 --> 00:43:51,730
changes and plan for them can help shape

1122
00:43:51,730 --> 00:43:53,110
their mobility future.

1123
00:43:53,489 --> 00:43:56,050
But for those who don't, that technology is

1124
00:43:56,050 --> 00:43:58,769
still coming whether they prepare or not. I

1125
00:43:58,769 --> 00:44:01,090
think those cities are gonna find that they

1126
00:44:01,090 --> 00:44:02,309
lose the ability

1127
00:44:02,849 --> 00:44:03,670
to manage

1128
00:44:04,235 --> 00:44:04,894
the outcomes,

1129
00:44:05,434 --> 00:44:08,494
and they wind up with a community that's

1130
00:44:08,715 --> 00:44:09,535
less robust.

1131
00:44:09,994 --> 00:44:11,695
It's subject to

1132
00:44:12,074 --> 00:44:15,195
the private sector doing the easy stuff and

1133
00:44:15,195 --> 00:44:18,094
leaving the hard stuff for the public sector.

1134
00:44:18,155 --> 00:44:20,969
Jason McGlashan said he believes the proactive approach

1135
00:44:21,030 --> 00:44:23,289
taken in Denver can help other communities

1136
00:44:23,750 --> 00:44:26,730
take on similar issues. I think every metropolitan

1137
00:44:27,349 --> 00:44:30,070
area in The US and, you know, and

1138
00:44:30,070 --> 00:44:32,789
the world are all wrangling with this issue

1139
00:44:32,789 --> 00:44:35,135
and trying to understand, you know, how do

1140
00:44:35,135 --> 00:44:36,914
they need to adjust and address

1141
00:44:37,295 --> 00:44:40,494
technology and new mobility and just societal changes

1142
00:44:40,494 --> 00:44:42,414
that are going to be occurring. And so

1143
00:44:42,414 --> 00:44:43,934
the work that was done as part of

1144
00:44:43,934 --> 00:44:45,635
Denver Mobility Choice Blueprint

1145
00:44:46,014 --> 00:44:49,470
and mapping out a range of thoughtful tactical

1146
00:44:49,530 --> 00:44:50,510
actions that

1147
00:44:50,809 --> 00:44:54,750
address everything from policy framework, from intergovernmental coordination,

1148
00:44:55,289 --> 00:44:57,150
to maintenance and funding,

1149
00:44:57,610 --> 00:45:00,890
to safety, to operational controls. And there's really

1150
00:45:00,890 --> 00:45:02,845
a lot of good thought that went into

1151
00:45:02,845 --> 00:45:04,465
this, and that is all directly

1152
00:45:04,845 --> 00:45:08,285
applicable to just about anywhere. Being involved with

1153
00:45:08,285 --> 00:45:08,945
the blueprint

1154
00:45:09,244 --> 00:45:12,785
completely changed how Kiernan Miletsky thinks about transportation,

1155
00:45:13,405 --> 00:45:15,325
and he has a pretty good analogy to

1156
00:45:15,325 --> 00:45:18,480
illustrate his point. Transportation is something that you

1157
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:19,840
have to do to survive. You have to

1158
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:20,579
move around

1159
00:45:21,199 --> 00:45:23,280
to get to work, to participate in society.

1160
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:24,400
You have to move around. You have to

1161
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:25,920
do it every day. And for most of

1162
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:27,039
my life, I felt like a lot of

1163
00:45:27,039 --> 00:45:28,719
transportation is kind of a means to an

1164
00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:30,320
end, point a to point b, that sort

1165
00:45:30,320 --> 00:45:32,425
of thing. But that's not actually how we

1166
00:45:32,425 --> 00:45:34,344
think about most things in our lives that

1167
00:45:34,344 --> 00:45:36,284
we have to do in order to survive.

1168
00:45:36,425 --> 00:45:37,945
It's not how we think about eating, for

1169
00:45:37,945 --> 00:45:39,625
example. If we all if all we cared

1170
00:45:39,625 --> 00:45:40,684
about eating was

1171
00:45:41,144 --> 00:45:43,089
getting the nutrients we needed to survive, and

1172
00:45:43,089 --> 00:45:44,949
we're just eating whatever gelatinous

1173
00:45:45,329 --> 00:45:47,409
protein block. But we don't do that. We

1174
00:45:47,409 --> 00:45:50,050
go to restaurants. We cook. We think of

1175
00:45:50,050 --> 00:45:52,609
food as a way to experience culture and

1176
00:45:52,609 --> 00:45:53,109
community

1177
00:45:53,569 --> 00:45:55,349
and the way to just enjoy life.

1178
00:45:56,554 --> 00:45:58,154
And the main thing that I've learned so

1179
00:45:58,154 --> 00:45:58,974
far at HDR

1180
00:45:59,434 --> 00:46:01,755
is that transportation can be the same. There's

1181
00:46:01,755 --> 00:46:04,634
no reason that transportation can't also be a

1182
00:46:04,634 --> 00:46:06,634
way to build community, a way to bring

1183
00:46:06,634 --> 00:46:07,375
people together,

1184
00:46:07,755 --> 00:46:09,800
a way to be healthy, a way to

1185
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:12,039
just have more fun in life. And Kiernan

1186
00:46:12,039 --> 00:46:13,659
believes that through the blueprint,

1187
00:46:14,119 --> 00:46:14,619
transportation

1188
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:16,699
can make that kind of impact

1189
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,900
on the residents of the Denver region. And

1190
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:20,860
I think

1191
00:46:21,215 --> 00:46:23,215
mobility choice, as I said, was not really

1192
00:46:23,215 --> 00:46:25,054
in the end a technology project. It was

1193
00:46:25,054 --> 00:46:25,554
about

1194
00:46:26,255 --> 00:46:27,394
building that community,

1195
00:46:28,175 --> 00:46:31,394
about thinking about how to make people's transportation

1196
00:46:31,614 --> 00:46:33,394
experience more valuable to them

1197
00:46:33,855 --> 00:46:35,635
in the future using these technologies.

1198
00:46:35,934 --> 00:46:38,549
So So it's not just letting technology happen

1199
00:46:38,549 --> 00:46:40,730
to us. It's it's taking a proactive

1200
00:46:41,589 --> 00:46:42,969
stance and articulating

1201
00:46:43,750 --> 00:46:45,429
what we as a region care about from

1202
00:46:45,429 --> 00:46:47,929
a transportation perspective and making sure that technology

1203
00:46:48,275 --> 00:46:49,815
helps us move towards that.

1204
00:46:51,315 --> 00:46:53,255
For more information on this podcast,

1205
00:46:53,635 --> 00:46:57,255
visit hdrinc.com/speakingofdesign.

1206
00:46:57,555 --> 00:47:00,195
You'll find links to pictures, articles, and more

1207
00:47:00,195 --> 00:47:01,815
information about this project.

1208
00:47:02,195 --> 00:47:03,989
If you like what you heard, be sure

1209
00:47:03,989 --> 00:47:06,650
to rate us or leave feedback on iTunes,

1210
00:47:06,710 --> 00:47:08,809
Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.