Smart Cities World: Cities Lead the Way on Open Source Tools For Mobility
A coalition of cities committed to using open-source technology have launched the Open Mobility Foundation (OMF) to help develop and deploy digital mobility tools and put in the place governance to manage them.
The non-profit brings together academic, commercial, advocacy and municipal stakeholders and its work is underpinned by a Mobility Data Specification (MDS) platform that the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) developed to help manage dockless micro-mobility solutions.
The platform comprises of a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that create standard communications between cities and private companies to improve their operations. The APIs allow cities to collect data that can inform real-time traffic management and public policy decisions.
Private-public forum
The OMF aims to be a “new kind” of public-private forum to seed ideas and govern an evolving software platform. Serving as a forum for discussions on a range of topics. It sets out its four primary areas of focus as:
Increasing safety: cities need tools to manage and measure new transportation modes in order to ensure the safety of their residents and reach the goals of Vision Zero;
Ensuring equity: cities need tools to ensure mobility technologies do not create or exacerbate inequality. New forms of transportation should be accessible and affordable to all residents;
Improving quality of life: cities need tools to ensure transportation options do not impede sidewalks or increase roadway congestion and add to the sustainability and safety of our urban environment;
Protecting privacy: cities need tools that enable them to generate and analyse data through the mobility services they provide while also adhering to world-class privacy and data security standards.
"Cities are always working to harness the power of technology for the public good. The Open Mobility Foundation will help us manage emerging transportation infrastructures, and make mobility more accessible and affordable for people in all of our communities," said Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, who also serves as advisory council chair of Accelerator for America, which showcased the MDS platform early on.
"The Open Mobility Foundation will help us manage emerging transportation infrastructures, and make mobility more accessible and affordable for people in all of our communities"
Growing from work pioneered at the LADOT and the City of Santa Monica, the founding municipal members of the coalition are: Austin; Bogotá, Colombia; Chicago; Los Angeles; Louisville; Miami; Miami-Dade County; Minneapolis; New York City Department of Transportation; New York City Taxi and Limo Commission; Philadelphia; Portland; San Francisco; San Jose; Santa Monica; Seattle; and Washington DC.
“Mayors across the country have made infrastructure, innovation and inclusion our key focus. The OMF joins all of these priorities and will help cities better manage the public right-of-way for all citizens,” said Steve Benjamin, mayor of Columbia and president of the US Conference of Mayors.
In addition to cities and public agencies, the Open Mobility Foundation is founded in part by The Rockefeller Foundation philanthropy as well as micro-mobility operators Bird and Spin and technology companies such as Microsoft, Blue Systems and Stae. It is also supported by advisors such as the International Association of Public Transport, Transportation for America, MetroLabs and the NewCities Foundation.
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