A Mini-Symposium from UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies December 2024 marks the 50th anniversary of the ciclovía in Bogotá, Colombia, the original “open streets” event. Ciclovías close streets to cars and open them to people-powered mobility, creating what co-founder Jaime Ortíz Mariño calls the “world’s largest outdoor classroom.” The ciclovía covers over 75 miles every Sunday in Bogotá, and has spread to over 450 cities around the world. In this online event, we will hear from organizers in different cities about what the model has meant for their street cultures. Scholars will share their research on the event and its participants. Experts from the fields of public health and transportation will talk about the challenges and opportunities in funding non-infrastructure programming like this. Explore what cities around the globe have learned from the model, its role as a catalyst in changing street cultures in particular cities, and how ciclovías can help shift people to sustainable transportation. Session 1: Ciclovía Legacies In the first half of the mini-symposium, we'll focus on telling the story. A moderated discussion with ciclovía creators will reflect on the goals of open streets models and how ciclovías have changed transportation culture in specific cities. Following this, [...]

Transit only works as well as the workforce behind it — those who operate vehicles; those who keep them in order, clean, and secure; and those who plan and manage the network. Frontline transit work can be especially satisfying and secure — but also stressful or unsafe. The pandemic laid bare these realities, as transit agencies across the country lacked workers, leading to canceled service in the short term and delayed service restoration in the long term. Ultimately, transit workforce issues are transit rider issues. Researchers, union organizers, and transit workers themselves will speak on the key workforce issues in the transit industry. Through both presentations and breakout discussions, speakers and participants together, from both the transportation and labor sectors, will work on ideas for how to improve transit work and secure it as a high-road job. Session 1: Introduction to Transit Labor: Current Issues and Coming Concerns Our opening conversation will explore the best practices and needed reforms to transform transit for the better. Join us in conversing with a research leader engaged in the big issues, solutions, and prospects for the future in transit labor, from operators to mechanics and white-collar employees. Session 2: Organizing to Improve [...]

Abundance is an emerging policy framework that emphasizes addressing affordability through increasing supply, overcoming regulatory burdens, and promoting innovation. Housing policy researcher Paavo Monkkonen and transportation policy researcher Juan Matute from UCLA participate in the Abundance Policy Research Consortium, a UC Berkeley-based group working to develop an evidence-based, fundamentals-first policy agenda for California focusing on expanding access to 12 human essentials. In this event, these policy experts will present frameworks for identifying scarcity problems and policy levers to improve housing and transportation affordability and supply. Nine in ten Californians live in megaregions with populations of 1 million or more. They are no strangers to the impacts of traffic congestion on their abilities to meet their areas of need: accessing jobs, education, healthcare, and other goods and services. California is in a cycle of auto-dependence that makes it hard for people to travel by car and hard to build new housing and buildings that bring people closer to their needs. Matute will present his view that escaping this scarcity trap and getting California moving again will require a targeted package of mobility abundance interventions. California built fewer housing units in the 2010s than in any decade since the 1940s, when World [...]

How can cities encourage more people to walk and cycle — and to do so safely? In this mini-symposium, we highlight success stories from cities around the world.