Thank you to everyone who came out to our New Mobility & Transit Panel Discussion Wednesday! 
It was an interesting and informative opportunity to explore the ever-changing world of mobility here in Detroit, made even better by audience questions and input.
(If you missed it and want to review it again, much of it was recorded on TRU’s Facebook page.)
Special thanks to our speakers for sharing their expertise and perspectives:
- Elliot Darvick, General Manager of Lyft Detroit, who shared his personal experience coming from more transit-robust cities and living here without a personal car
- Garry Bulluck, Deputy Director of Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation, who talked about the City’s obligation to support everyone’s mobility needs despite tough fiscal constraints
- Lisa Nuszkowski, Director of MoGo, which offers $5 low-income passes, pay-by-cash options, and bicycles that cater to differing physical abilities, all to make bike share more accessible to all Detroiters
- Moderated by Stephen Henderson, host of Detroit Today on WDET among other endeavors
TRU Board member Pamela Taylor, who is also Mobility Project Manager for Bedrock, offered a useful introduction to new mobility and what new technologies and services are operating in Detroit. She shared why TRU, as a transit advocate, cares about new mobility: our underlying goal is to make sure everyone has affordable sustainable access to the places they need and want to go. For decades, the most affordable and sustainable transportation option has been public transit, despite how this region has disinvested in it. As mobility options are changing, we’re exploring how new mobility, if done right, can compliment transit to 
provide affordable universal access.
The audience provided a great set of questions, expanding the discussion to address the special mobility needs of people with disabilities, the challenges of getting an auto-centric region, affordability of ride-hailing, and much more.
Please join me in thanking our host TechTown Detroit and our sponsors who helped make this event possible:
- McKenna Associates
- Legacy Dental Group
- Hall Render
- Anderson, Eckstein and Westrick, Inc
TRU is just beginning to explore this critical topic so stay tuned for more discussion and development of an advocacy platform, while we continue to fight for greater investment in regional transit!
And mark your calendar now for our next big event – The State of the Region’s Transit: TRU’s 2019 Annual Meeting – which will be Thursday evening January 31 also at TechTown Detroit. Details coming soon. Sponsorships available.