Swyft Cities

We're excited to announce that 5 Dallas-area cities – Dallas, Plano, Arlington, Frisco & DeSoto – have expressed interest in being the site of the first U.S. installations of the Whoosh® transportation system, which uses electric vehicles that resemble conventional aerial gondolas but use advanced autonomous technologies to move independently along an elevated network of fixed cables and rails. Vehicles are on-demand like an Uber, and systems can be built at a cost far below conventional transit projects. All trips are fast and nonstop with no stops at intermediate stations. Swyft Cities is working with NCTCOG Transportation (North Central Texas Council of Governments) to evaluate potential sites in some of the cities and potential partnership conversations to decide which of the five cities will be the first to move forward with a pilot system and more detailed discussions on potential timelines, routes, planning, etc. NCTCOG’s Certification of Emerging and Reliable Transportation Technology (CERTT) program is looking to bring advanced transportation technologies to North Texas. Safety and reliability are important considerations of transportation planners since North Texas is one of the fastest-growing regions of the country. NCTCOG’s Mobility 2045 Update, the region’s long-range transportation plan, forecasts that more corridors will become significantly congested by 2045. “We’re excited to be working with these five cities to bring advanced transportation to cities in North Texas,” said Jeral Poskey, Swyft Cities CEO. “Whoosh provides the ’perfect Uber’ – fast, on-demand, nonstop trips with a great view. Vehicles are waiting for you at stations, instead of the other way around. Whoosh can connect places across North Texas in new ways that will get you there quickly and conveniently, enabling you to glide over street traffic with zero emissions.” “The North Central Texas Council of Governments and Regional Transportation Council have a history of meeting transportation challenges with innovative technologies,” said Michael Morris, P.E., NCTCOG director of transportation. “Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, adding more than 1 million residents every 7 years. We look forward to working with our public- and private-sector partners to advance the types of transportation solutions that will help us manage this growth and enhance quality of life. These solutions are perfect for urban areas where at-grade space is limited.” Swyft Cities implements the Whoosh® autonomous elevated cable & rail system. Multiple prototypes of this technology demonstrated low cost, an excellent user experience with great views & environmental sustainability with zero emissions. Swyft Cities was spun out from Google into a separate business to help bring the technology to market.

Great take from Andy Boenau on the role of transportation planning in building better cities. Transportation largely drives urban form: it dictates downstream choices for infrastructure & land use, impacting housing, economic development, public spaces and more. It's so much more than merely moving people. It determines the types of cities that we end up with. Walkable cities are more economically vibrant, more sustainable, and for many people, more pleasant, desirable places to live. Transportation planning is a critical part of the Bigger Picture of what we want our cities to look like. Here's what Andy had to say about it: Crosswalks & push-buttons are good things. But let's not pretend they fix the underlying problem of neighborhoods that are hostile to people walking & rolling. Local land use outlaws walk-friendly places making driving the only viable choice, and then traffic analysis prioritizes crash-friendly intersections making walking a downright deadly choice. Transportation planners & engineers are gathered right now for #ITEphilly2024. More planners have been joining ITE—A Community of Transportation Professionals recently, which is encouraging. They're best suited to connect the dots btw land use & mobility and help fix public infrastructure. (Assuming they see the connection.) One big challenge is that it's professionally risky -- especially for consultants -- to point out ways that the fundamentals are preventing human flourishing: zoning, overlay districts, set backs, clear zones, trip generation, intersection LOS, lane widths... I don't say that lightly. Job security is no joke, and the status quo is not fond of challenging the basics. (e.g. "Just give the client what they want. Stop bashing level of service, it's fine.") In any industry, policies, guidelines, and tools can be misused & abused. Transportation planners are often in a unique position to be involved early in a project: site plan review, corridor studies, environmental studies, grant applications, RFP responses, unsolicited proposals... No pressure friends, but I think you play a huge role in stopping or maintaining terrible neighborhood design.

We see Swyft Cities creating more livable, walkable, vibrant cities that are not only "Swyft Cities" but Smart Cities as well. Improved mobility will be an integral part of building connected cities that are more resilient, sustainable, safe, and prosperous environment.. SmartCitiesWorld #transportation #mobility #smartcities

Great Take on American #Urbanism: Michael Natelli https://lnkd.in/dsFtRDjX Fixing the Fugly: A Distinctly American Urbanism Alright, let's call it like it is. Most of America’s built environment is, well, pretty ugly. Strip malls, gas stations & parking lots. We took a bad idea & said, "Yeah, let’s do that everywhere" And we didn't just stop there. We exported this model globally. We may have given the world Taylor Swift & Star Wars, but we also gave them the suburban sprawl as the ultimate American dream. Not our best work. Reversing it all feels like trying to shove toothpaste back into the tube. America is the 3rd largest country by area with a huge chunk covered in these suburban patterns we’ve been developing for over 60 years. The logistics of a complete reset are mind-boggling, not to mention the astronomical costs. Perhaps we’re in too deep. But what if we’re not, and we could turn this ship around? What if we could innovate our way out of this mess & turn it into something to be proud of? What if the relics of the suburban experiment could become the raw material for a thriving, uniquely American urbanism? America’s the land of the Extreme Home Makeover. The Fixer Upper. If Chip & Jo can turn broken barn wood into a door, why can’t we make our gas stations & car washes into the proverbial kitchen tables of our next great places? Tattooing Over Our Scars The challenge in reshaping America’s built environment is not just the sprawling subdivisions we’ve built across the nation. It’s the rest of what comes with them: gas stations, parking lots, etc. Any sort of rebuild will require embracing these structures as raw material for innovation. These are the scars of our past & it’s time to get the epic tattoo that makes us wear those scars with more confidence. We’ll carry these scars with us, but they’ll just look a little different. What if we gave these places a second life & integrated them into a new chapter? Miami did with its underpass park, The Underline, 120 acres of previously undesirable & unused land is now accessible to walk, bike & more. What about sterile big box retail stores & commercial strip malls? What if in a see of sprawling subdivisions, these became the first parts of town to become truly flourishing neighborhoods? These transformations are not just about aesthetics. They bring tangible economic & social benefits. Revitalized spaces attract new businesses, create jobs & increase property values. They foster community by providing places for people to gather, relax & engage with their neighbors. And building places we can be proud of doesn't require a blank canvas. While some of what we've done should stay in the past, much of it is known for. Our current cultural moment has depressed our belief in what this nation is capable of, but the opportunity is still there for the taking. What if we could build an American urbanism that gives the playbook for undoing the suburban experiment around the world?

We couldn't agree more with John Manoochehri's great take: the key to sustainability is changing infrastructure. Point solutions -- whether electrifying vehicles, low carbon concrete, smart grids -- are all great, but by themselves won't reach sustainability goals unless we change how cities are built. Sustainability is combination of where we live & how we move around, and those must be solved together. Otherwise, squeezing one of the toothpaste tube may cause unintended 2nd & 3rd effects that offset the gains from the efforts at the other end of the tube. We named ourselves "Swyft Cities" not "Swyft Mobility" because we recognize the end goal needs to be changing our cities; simply providing a new way to move from Point A to B won't accomplish anything unless it changes infrastructure.

FRONT PAGE NEWS! Where will *you* be able to ride with Swyft Cities first? It's official: FIVE North Texas cities — Dallas, Plano, Arlington, Frisco, and DeSoto — are vying for the first US systems. And that's not all, so stay tuned for more announcements! As reported by The Dallas Morning News and WFAA: The novel transportation system known as Whoosh consists of electric vehicles that resemble conventional aerial gondolas but use autonomous technology to move along an elevated network of fixed cables and rails. Like buses, Whoosh vehicles would have predetermined stops on the ground. But unlike buses or trains, the on-demand nature means it would bypass all the existing stops to take riders directly to their designated one. Since they're elevated, they would also bypass, rather than compete, with road traffic. While each potential site has unique needs, Whoosh is a good fit for mid-density areas like the edges of a downtown — places that lack good last-mile transit solutions. North Texas is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, adding more than 1 million residents every 7 years. North Central Texas Council of Governments expects that more corridors will become significantly congested by 2045. Planners say that means they have to think beyond highway expansions. Swyft Cities has been working with the North Central Texas Council of Governments to identify potential sites. The company chose North Texas because of an North Central Texas Council of Governments program that looks to attract new transit technology to the region and connect them with local governments.

We're excited to announce that 5 Dallas-area cities – Dallas, Plano, Arlington, Frisco & DeSoto – have expressed interest in being the site of the first U.S. installations of the Whoosh® transportation system, which uses electric vehicles that resemble conventional aerial gondolas but use advanced autonomous technologies to move independently along an elevated network of fixed cables and rails. Vehicles are on-demand like an Uber, and systems can be built at a cost far below conventional transit projects. All trips are fast and nonstop with no stops at intermediate stations. Swyft Cities is working with NCTCOG Transportation (North Central Texas Council of Governments) to evaluate potential sites in some of the cities and potential partnership conversations to decide which of the five cities will be the first to move forward with a pilot system and more detailed discussions on potential timelines, routes, planning, etc. NCTCOG’s Certification of Emerging and Reliable Transportation Technology (CERTT) program is looking to bring advanced transportation technologies to North Texas. Safety and reliability are important considerations of transportation planners since North Texas is one of the fastest-growing regions of the country. NCTCOG’s Mobility 2045 Update, the region’s long-range transportation plan, forecasts that more corridors will become significantly congested by 2045. “We’re excited to be working with these five cities to bring advanced transportation to cities in North Texas,” said Jeral Poskey, Swyft Cities CEO. “Whoosh provides the ’perfect Uber’ – fast, on-demand, nonstop trips with a great view. Vehicles are waiting for you at stations, instead of the other way around. Whoosh can connect places across North Texas in new ways that will get you there quickly and conveniently, enabling you to glide over street traffic with zero emissions.” “The North Central Texas Council of Governments and Regional Transportation Council have a history of meeting transportation challenges with innovative technologies,” said Michael Morris, P.E., NCTCOG director of transportation. “Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, adding more than 1 million residents every 7 years. We look forward to working with our public- and private-sector partners to advance the types of transportation solutions that will help us manage this growth and enhance quality of life. These solutions are perfect for urban areas where at-grade space is limited.” Swyft Cities implements the Whoosh® autonomous elevated cable & rail system. Multiple prototypes of this technology demonstrated low cost, an excellent user experience with great views & environmental sustainability with zero emissions. Swyft Cities was spun out from Google into a separate business to help bring the technology to market.

Congestion cost the US $74 Billion last year from lost time & productivity, up 15%, and an average of 42 hours per person. And that figure doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of costs associated with air pollution & public health, and how car dependency & car-centric infrastructure make our cities less livable, economically vibrant, and affordable. #transportation #urbanmobility https://lnkd.in/gBaqRm3X

How to address car dependency & how it prevents more walkable, livable, thriving, sustainable and equitable cities. A great discussion with two of the most esteemed authorities Jeff Speck & Norman Garrick. Cars should be "an optional instrument of freedom and not a prosthetic device that you need to live your daily life." #transportation #urbanism https://lnkd.in/gmjqyV3t

A concise summary of the car-dependent society that we've become, and the toll it takes. "Across the country, the car is the only way to get around and not only in rural places. The car is immensely flexible and wholly coercive, promising freedom but trapping drivers into inhabiting their cars. America's car culture—glamorized in advertisements, enforced by zoning laws and enabled by taxpayer subsidies—is a choice that now comes at too high a cost, both for ourselves and for the environment. After a century of its central place in our lives, we need to rethink the American love affair with the automobile and redesign cities." #transportation https://lnkd.in/gEbdnZ7g