LA City

Mayor Garcetti Announces First-in-the-nation Urban Air Mobility Partnership

Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced the Urban Air Mobility Partnership, a first-in-the-nation initiative to make Los Angeles an unmistakable leader on urban air mobility. A product of a public-private partnership between the Mayor’s Office, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), and Urban Movement Labs (UML), this effort will educate and engage the city’s residents around a new and dynamic transportation technology — the introduction of low-noise, electric aircraft flying in our local airspace by 2023. 

“Los Angeles is where we turn today’s ideas into tomorrow’s reality — a place where a barrier-breaking concept like urban air mobility can truly get off the ground,” said Mayor Garcetti. “The Urban Air Mobility Partnership will make our city a force for cleaner skies, safer transportation, expanded prosperity, and stunning innovation, and provide a template for how other local governments can take this new technology to even greater heights.” 

The strategy rolled out today will help Los Angeles map out challenges identified by local, diverse stakeholders surrounding public airspace and property rights — and implement solutions to these issues. Working together, UML and the City will lead a multi-stakeholder effort to visualize a “vertiport,” a new piece of L.A.’s transportation network where people can go to fly on an urban air mobility aircraft. The one-year partnership will culminate in a policy toolkit that can be utilized and deployed by cities, counties, and tribal governments across the country.

With financial support from the Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group, this partnership will also see UML work hand-in-hand with Estolano Advisors to hire an Urban Air Mobility Fellow who will be charged with advancing a comprehensive public engagement strategy around urban air mobility — how it will strengthen our economy, when we might see vehicles take flight, and how it will impact and improve Angelenos’ daily lives. For more information on the fellowship and how to apply, visit urbanmovementlabs.com/careers.

“Urban Movement Labs is delighted to partner with the Mayor’s Office, LADOT, and all Angelenos to make urban air mobility work for our city,” said Lilly Shoup, Interim Executive Director of Urban Movement Labs. “This model of public-private-community partnership is foundational to UML’s mission, and will serve as an example for cities around the world on how to co-design new parts of cities’ transportation networks.”  

“Developing a scalable system to support urban air mobility will ‘take a village,’ and Hyundai is proud to work alongside the City of L.A. and Urban Movement Labs to advance this important mode of transportation,” said Pamela Cohn, chief operating officer, Urban Air Mobility Division of Hyundai Motor Group. “This partnership sets a precedent for how diverse stakeholders can collaborate on a safe, community-centered approach to integrating aerial mobility technology into existing and new multimodal platforms.”

The announcement of the Urban Air Mobility Partnership comes on the heels of the publication of the “Principles of the Urban Sky,” a collaboration between Mayor Garcetti’s office, the World Economic Forum, and a group of 50 industry, not-for-profit, academic, and public sector stakeholders. The principles establish a joint commitment to safe, low-noise, and sustainable urban air mobility operations that prioritize equity of access, connections to transit, purpose-driven data sharing, and local workforce development. 

This is tied to LADOT’s work to integrate aerial transportation with L.A.’s ground transportation systems.

"Now more than ever, with so many suffering the impacts of a devastating pandemic, Los Angeles needs a resilient transportation network that can adapt to the needs of its communities with the flip of a switch," said LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds. "As we prepare to include Urban Air Mobility as a viable option for moving goods and people across our City, it is critical that we hear from stakeholders and design a system that works for all Angelenos."

Since its launch in November 2019, UML has worked with Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) to modernize its LAX FlyAway shuttle service; launched two pilot projects on sustainable, last-mile delivery services; and most recently, announced the first Transportation Technology Innovation Zone in the West San Fernando Valley, where companies can apply to test their transportation solutions for the community's mobility challenges. With support from UML, Kiwibot, a delivery company, is currently testing autonomous robots in the Warner Center, with the potential for contactless delivery. For more information on Kiwibot and their pilot program, please visit kiwibot.com.

 

Our Ongoing Commitment to Health and Safety

In order to continue providing exceptional service during the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, LADOT Transit has committed itself to the health and safety of both its passengers and drivers. This commitment has resulted in a number of safety procedures being implemented and observed, which include the following:

  • Daily cleaning and disinfecting of all vehicles, with special attention given to high frequency touch points.
  • Enhanced air circulation with 20 percent fresh air constantly circulating and open windows to increase the amount of fresh air in each vehicle.
  • Face covering requirements for both passengers and drivers, with masks made available to passengers who need them. 
  • Limited passenger capacity to encourage social distancing. 
  • Installation of plexiglass barriers to protect drivers.
  • Rear door boarding on DASH vehicles with fare-free rides at the present time.

Real-time information about bus capacity is available to passengers at ladotbus.com, where riders may observe the live passenger occupancies for their desired routes.

Beyond these efforts, LADOT Transit has played an instrumental role these past months in providing transportation services for homeless individuals traveling to and from shelter facilities during the pandemic. Additionally, LADOT Transit facilitated the delivery of 95,000 meals in collaboration with third-party philanthropy groups, operating up to 10 buses per day to assist this effort.

For more information about LADOT’s COVID-19 response, please visit ladot.lacity.org/coronavirus.

 

Better Bus Boarding on Avalon Boulevard

This month, as part of a larger series of recent improvements taking place on Avalon Boulevard, LADOT crews installed raised bus platforms at the boulevard's intersections with Manchester Avenue, Slauson Avenue, and 59th, 60th, 61st, and 76th streets. Installed adjacent to bus stops, these new platforms allow easier access for passengers who board and exit buses while also providing inclined sides for use by bicyclists, who may ride up and over the platforms, which are contiguous with the Avalon Boulevard bike lanes.

For more information on LADOT’s recent work toward making Avalon Boulevard a safer and better connected street, please visit the LADOT Livable Streets Avalon Boulevard Safety Project page.

 

LADOT Enhancing Intersection of Telfair Avenue and Montague Street in Pacoima

LADOT is enhancing the intersection of Telfair Avenue and Montague Street in Pacoima with a mini-roundabout, crosswalks, curb ramps, and new sidewalks. This project is a building block in the Pacoima neighborhood network. (To view the Spanish version of the above video, please click here.)

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