LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced the creation of Urban Movement Labs, a public-private partnership that will work to accelerate transportation innovation across Los Angeles.
The venture will focus on creating more ways for Angelenos to get around by bringing stakeholders in to develop new ideas, safely test them on the city's streets and implement them in a partnership with local communities.
“Angelenos don't wait for the future, we guide it,” Garcetti said. “Urban Movement Labs will secure Los Angeles' standing as the transportation innovation capital of the world, a place where new technologies are tested, proven and brought to life, and people in every community have a seat at the table today as we think about what our city will look like tomorrow.”
Garcetti's office said it will empower a coalition to design and deploy creative solutions to the city's critical transportation challenges.
In its first year, UML will work with people to confront “major issues” affecting daily life, the mayor's office said, which includes providing better transportation options to residents and the city's 50 million annual visitors, easing commutes across the region and converting underused transportation assets into affordable housing.
In addition to working with residents and businesses, UML will be built around three core initiatives:
--The Ideas Accelerator: UML will identify current challenges, match solutions to each of them, then develop pilot programs to test ideas on the city's streets,
--The Economic and Workforce Development Initiative: UML will be focused on developing a pipeline of businesses and “good-paying” jobs for the local workforce,
--And the Urban Proving Grounds Initiative: UML members will identify and vet a network of neighborhoods where solutions can be tested, evaluated, scaled to size and eventually deployed.
“It's a unique opportunity to be part of this deep public-private partnership and we're excited to leverage UML as the platform to put real transportation solutions into place with the city of Los Angeles as a global stage for mobility innovation,” said Arthur Orduna, the chief innovation officer with Avis Budget Group, one of the various UML business partners listed by the mayor's office.
Founding partners of UML include the mayor's Office of Economic Development, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Los Angeles World Airports, the Port of Los Angeles, Avis Budget Group, the L.A. Cleantech Incubator, Lyft, Verizon, and Waymo.
For more information on Urban Movement Labs, visit urbanmovementlabs.com.
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