When people talk about affordability and economic opportunity,
they're usually talking about things like housing or jobs or education.
But there's another factor that quietly shapes all of those things.
“How people move. How would you describe that typical transit riders and seefalls?”
They're not riding it because they're tree huggers and they don't want to use their car. This is a quality of life issue for them. It's their only way to navigate our city. It's not just an amenity, you know, it's like a necessity. Transportation determines whether someone can reach a job across town. Or whether a business can access the workers' needs.
In other words, it helps determine who participates in the economy. And who doesn't.
“Being able to get to the grocery store or your job or your school”
in a way that is safe, affordable and clean, all of those things are really determinants of healthy outcomes and transportation plays such a huge role in making that possible. I'm Andre Greenawalt, Chief Policy Officer at VIA. And I'm the host of Mochef, a show about the past, present, and future of how we move.
And we're back for a second season.
For decades transportation policy in America has revolved around one dominant technology, the private car. But this system we've designed, it comes with economic limits. Why is it so hard to get to job, to get to class, to see your friends, to go out on the town, without owning a car, and why have we designed a city in a way where a down payment
“on a vehicle becomes the entry ticket that you need to participate in society?”
Across the country, cities are beginning to rethink how that system works. Or it doesn't work. Excess traffic was reducing our productivity and reducing our competitive edge and every business leader saw that. They're investing in systems designed not just to move vehicles, but to expand opportunity.
The link us was always part of this region's growth strategy. So recognizing that they'll have
750,000 to a million more individuals by 2050, they know we either need to get ahead of this and plan for it. Or we will just get bombarded and then we're always going to be playing catch-up. We know that when transit service provides a high-level access to destinations. All the places I want to go, excellent transit service leads to excellent or improved on being a booster here at economic outcomes.
This season will explore the idea of reshaping how cities move from congestion pricing and safer streets to new technologies like AI that are beginning to transform transit itself. Because when mobility works, it does more than just move people. It becomes an engine of prosperity. New episodes are coming soon. Subscribe to Mochift anywhere you get your podcasts.
