#28: Year One on the Journey + Our Favorite Recent Transit Agency Innovations

Welcome to The Weekly Journey - your two-minute journey through the world of mobility and beyond. Use it to stay informed, find a new go-to source, or just have a peek inside how we think. Brought to you by the team at Journey.

A Journey insight. 💡

It’s been just over one year since we launched Journey - a new nationwide mobility strategy firm focused on TDM, curbside and parking strategy, transit planning, and planner-led engagement. What a year it’s been!

The Journey So Far…

We’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with clients both nationally and in our hometowns of Austin, Chicago, and Boston. Some highlights so far:

🎓 Universities & Event Centers: We worked with the University of Texas, the University of Michigan, and the Austin Convention Center to create mobility plans for their ambitious expansion projects, centered on strategies that reduce car parking demand by giving people more transportation choices.

🏛️ Transit Governance & Funding: We investigated new governance and funding approaches for the Baltimore Regional Transit Commission and just kicked off a national research effort on similar topics for the Transit Cooperative Research Program.

🚌 Community Transit: We worked with Watertown, MA to prioritize and jumpstart city-led mobility strategies, as well as with the Charles River TMA to promote the EZRide shuttle.

🏗️ Development: We supported ambitious developers working to provide innovative mobility options, incorporate transit, and reduce car parking demand.

We’d like to thank our clients and teaming partners that have helped jumpstart our new woman-owned business. Forging new partnerships and getting in the weeds to create mobility solutions are our favorite parts of the job.

The Journey Ahead…

We’re excited for the second year of Journey - including upcoming projects focused on:

🏟️ Collaborating on TDM and mobility plans for some of the biggest upcoming megaevents and stadiums across the country.

🅿️ Crafting innovative parking reform and TDM strategies up and down the West Coast.

🏙️ Improving bus, rail, and demand response services throughout Chicagoland.

⭐ Creating new mobility choices in our hometown of Austin - including work focused on curb management, transit, and ambitious transit-oriented developments.

Our team is also preparing to launch some exciting new products and services, including, a full suite of planner-led engagement services in Austin, an innovative monthly service model to support clients nationwide, and mobility planning tools that enable rapid strategic iteration for major events, stadiums, and major developments.

Reach out for a sneak peak of our upcoming offerings and stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.

-Lauren, Dan, and Amanda

A few interesting things. 🧠

🚇 Transit CX: The Maryland Transit Administration published a great update on their work to improve the transit customer experience (PDF).

🧪 Innovation: CTA in Chicago just launched the Rider Lab - a new program that lets riders test new websites, apps, and solutions. We love seeing transit agencies working directly with the public to co-create new products.

👨‍🦽‍➡️ Accessibility: The Office of Performance and Management Innovation at MassDOT and the MBTA posted a deep dive into their new metrics for measuring the accessibility of rail platforms. Includes insights on using GTFS Pathways - an emerging tool for providing better navigation information within transit stations.

🏘️ TOD: The Urban Institute talked with transit planners across the country to learn more about how they consider potential displacement in the context of transportation projects. The literature review is a must read as well.

📖 Storytelling: Some great communication tips for planners from Lauren Middleton-Pratt, Director of Planning for Austin, TX.

💪 Job Postings:

• The Tennessee Titans are hiring a Director of Parking and Transportation

• The City of Fort Worth is hiring a new Chief Planning Officer

• The Metropolitan Council and Metro Transit are hiring a Strategic Policy Consultant

• The City of Boston’s Office of New Urban Mechanics is a hiring a Senior Program Manager focused on Storytelling

• SEPTA is hiring a new Senior Director for their Control Center

A quick Journey update. 🏗️

👩‍🏫 Upcoming Conferences:

ACT: Lauren will be attending and presenting at the ACT Annual International Conference in New Orleans, which starts on August 3. Lauren will be featured two panels:

• Stadium and Megaevent Mobility Playbooks - Monday, August 4 at 10:30 AM

• A Traffic Engineer and a TDM Expert Walk into a Bar - Tuesday, August 5 at 11:10 AM

Movability: Lauren will also be at the Moveability Summit in Austin on September 19. Make sure to check out her panel on Best Practices for Employee/Student/Residential Pass Programs.

APTA: Dan will be in Boston during the APTA TRANSform Conference on September 14-17.

📚 Book Clubs:

ACT Book Club: Lauren also hosts the Association for Commuter Transportation book club. Next month, the club is switching things up a bit and reading Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg. TDM supercommunicator Jeff Tumlin will join the next meeting to share his insights and reflections. Sign up here to join us on August 27 at 3:00 PM Eastern / 12:00 PM Pacific.

Chicago City Builders Book Club: Lauren co-hosts the Chicago City Buildings Book Club. Check out their new LinkedIn page to learn more about their upcoming events. The next read is The Loop: The "L" Tracks That Shaped and Saved Chicago and resonates beyond The Windy City for those who want to read along.

We'll be joined by author Patrick Reardon who has us ponder:

🔮 What would Chicago have been like if the elevated Loop structure hadn't been built?

👷‍♂️ Is the elevated Loop "the single most important structure in the history of Chicago"?

It's never a bad time to ponder the role of transit infrastructure to boosting a city - especially now as numerous agencies make the case for new funding approaches.

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