Collection: The Future of Mobility
EV revolution, green aviation, high-speed rail, car-free neighborhoods
The Earth Action Index is a platform (coming soon!) to explore stories, discover ideas, and take action to shape climate futures. Before launch, we are sharing glimpses through this newsletter—longform reflections, curated collections, and project updates. You’re invited to skim, click out, or stay a while.
Tuning into the climate discourse, the loudest voices are a chorus of experts and entrepreneurs, scientists and activists. As it should be. The space is crowded—with a high PhD-per-capita—and enough armchair experts to fill many stadiums. It’s intimidating, and it can imply that expertise is a prerequisite for participation. But I always remind myself of the value of being a beginner: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few” (Shunryu Suzuki).
I brought the beginner’s mind to Mobility & Transportation—the theme of last week’s Climatebase Fellowship. The multiplicity of means to move people and goods around the world account for 23% of global carbon emissions. We explored solutions ranging from hyperlocal urban planning and individual purchase decisions to speculative technologies and continent-wide infrastructure projects. Here’s a rough map of the solutions landscape that’s been on my mind this week:
Low Emission Zones: Urban policy that restricts polluting cars from certain areas (see: NYC congestion pricing).
15 Minute Cities: Cities designed so that everything you need is within a 15-minute walk.
Electric Mobility: Of course, battery-powered cars, bikes, trains, and eventually: planes. Two weeks ago, BYD unveiled a car battery that charges in 5 minutes. Meanwhile, I visited a Rivian charging station outside Joshua Tree: a luxury lounge with aesthetic tchotchkes to pass the time of their slower 25min charge.
Bike and EV Infrastructure: Bike lanes and bike sharing systems, plus electric vehicle charging stations. Twice last week, I listened to Laura Fox from Streetlife Ventures who stood up the Citi Bike business and grew it to serve 1.5M riders. I also heard a pitch from the founder of it’s electric, who is building curbside EV chargers in cities.
Efficient Aviation: The most promising solution today is Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which remains too expensive and needs to be scaled rapidly. One of the most interesting companies I found is AIRCO, who once created vodka and perfume from captured CO2 and now uses a similar method to make SAF.
High Speed Rail: All public transit is preferable, but high-speed rail (186mph+) is coveted as an efficient alternative to short-haul aviation. Last month, France unveiled yet another beautiful high-speed rail car: the TGV Inoui.
All of these solutions (and more) will be necessary. This is a full-court, all-angles approach. Thinking about transportation, I gathered a collection of links that excite me about the many possibilities ahead. What follows is a menu of offerings to choose from, go deeper, and take action.
Watch
Read
Imagine
Advocate
Support
Appreciate your attention! Please leave a comment if you have insights or resources to share about the future of mobility—and how we can co-create it together. More soon!
Really Great- RJ's video and the actual actions you can take by joining the HSRA and so much more- action is immediate, compelling and impactful