Mobility in the Future | Part 1: The Art of the Possible | Part 2: Urban Transportation

Toyota's Mobility Strategy & Paralympic Partnership

• Toyota's core mission, originating from a loom factory founded by Sakichi Toyota, is rooted in "serving society" through "respect for people" and "kaizen" (constant improvement).
• The company is actively shifting from a pure automotive manufacturer to a comprehensive "mobility company" focused on providing freedom of movement for all demographics, including the elderly and disabled.
• Strategic partnerships with adaptive athletes, such as Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy, drive R&D by identifying real-world barriers to mobility and developing specific technological solutions.
• Toyota is applying automotive technologies, including robotics and autonomous driving, to assist individuals who have lost their driving privileges due to age or disability.
• The company collaborates with the "Hire Heroes" program to employ veterans with mobility challenges and their spouses, addressing both employment and assistive needs.
• Toyota's TRD (Toyota Racing Development) wind tunnel is utilized to test aerodynamics for adaptive athletes, applying NASCAR-derived data to improve performance for skiers and snowboarders.
• CEO Akio Toyoda was inspired by his meeting with Amy Purdy, leading to an expanded sponsorship of the entire Paralympic Games rather than just the Olympics.
• Toyota has open-sourced many of its fuel cell and mobility technologies to encourage global adoption and broader societal benefit beyond its own product lines.
• Amy Purdy, who lost both legs to meningococcal meningitis at age 19 and a kidney later in life, created her own initial prosthetic snowboard feet using industrial parts and duct tape.
• Purdy's nonprofit, Adaptive Action Sports, successfully advocated for adaptive snowboarding's inclusion in the Paralympics and integrated adaptive athletes into able-bodied events like the Dew Tour.
• Purdy recently overcame a major nerve injury in her arms, which temporarily paralyzed her limbs, by developing new strategic approaches to snowboarding that led to a Paralympic silver medal.

Future of Mass Transit & Urban Infrastructure

• Mass transit remains essential for high-density cities, with subways capable of moving 50,000 people per hour, a capacity unmatchable by private vehicles.
• Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are projected to disrupt the need for massive suburban parking lots by providing on-demand "last-mile" connectivity to transit hubs.
• In Los Angeles, specific route tweaks by AECOM resulted in a 65% increase in bus ridership and a 35% increase in average bus speed, proving that minor adjustments can yield significant results.
• Transportation projects in cities like Nashville face political hurdles due to a lack of historical reliance on mass transit and the difficulty of convincing the public to prioritize these systems.
• Existing U.S. rail infrastructure is hindered by freight companies (e.g., CSX) owning the tracks, requiring passenger trains to share rights-of-way and limiting speeds on lines like the Acela (averaging 48 mph in Rhode Island).
• Bombardier and AECOM emphasize that software upgrades, such as improved signaling systems in London, can increase train capacity by reducing headways to 30 seconds without new physical infrastructure.
• Pierre Boudouin (Bombardier) notes that future air travel efficiency will likely come from smaller, direct flights between medium-sized cities rather than expensive supersonic travel, aiming for 50% fuel reduction compared to older 737s.
• AECOM's Steve Morris advocates for flexible, resilient infrastructure planning that accounts for disruptive technologies over 20-year horizons, even if the initial physical build looks like traditional transit.
• Urban design must prioritize "seamless" travel, including bag-handling integration (as seen in Hong Kong) and high-quality interiors (as seen in modernized Belgian trams) to encourage public transit usage.
• Political timelines (4-year election cycles) often conflict with long-term infrastructure projects (50+ years), leading to stalled projects in cities like New York and Boston where disruption costs are high.
• Free bike-share programs often fail due to vandalism and poor organization, whereas paid models with locks tend to maintain better order, illustrating the need for careful operational planning.
• Governance challenges include rigid permitting processes and federal funding constraints; some experts suggest that reducing bureaucratic red tape by 30-40% could significantly accelerate project implementation.
• Private property rights in the U.S. complicate infrastructure expansion compared to countries with centralized land acquisition, often causing projects to fail if a single landowner refuses to sell.
• Future urban mobility will likely integrate sub-sized cities and next-generation transit options, moving away from rigid "hub-and-spoke" models toward more matrix-like systems.
• The panelists agreed that while challenges exist, technological advancements and leadership engagement make the goal of a seamless, accessible global mobility system within reach.