The Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities developed in 2017 by Robin Chase, co-founder, Zipcar and a consortium of leading city and transport organisations including – the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, Natural Resources Defence Council, Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT), Transportation for America (T4America), Rocky Mountain Institute, Shared-Use Mobility Center, and WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities – has announced 15 transport and technology companies have come on board for working for future mobility.

The companies signed the 'Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities' on February 1, 2018, and have pledged to prioritise people over vehicles, lower emissions, promote equity and encourage data sharing, among other goals.

The companies include: BlaBlaCar, Citymapper, Didi, Keolis, LimeBike, Lyft, Mobike, Motivate, Ofo, Ola, Scoot Networks, Transit, Uber, Via and Zipcar.

The companies together account for 77 million passenger trips per day and inform the travel decisions of 10 million people each day. With new technologies and modes of transport already disrupting the status quo and changing the way people move. Along with the pace of innovation rapidly filling the opportunity, as well as risk, as decisions made today will lock in infrastructure for decades to come, the Shared Mobility Principles aims to provide a clear vision for the future of cities and create alignment between the city governments, private companies and NGOs working to make them more livable.

The Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities

The partners will aim to plan cities and their mobility together, prioritise people over vehicles, support the shared and efficient use of vehicles, lanes, curbs, and land, engage with stakeholders, promote equity, lead the transition towards a zero-emission future and renewable energy, support fair user fees across all modes, aim for public benefits via open data, work towards integration and seamless connectivity, and support autonomous vehicles in dense urban areas by operating only in shared fleets.

"Ola, India's most popular mobility platform, shares and supports the vision of Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities. At Ola, we are committed to always building solutions that are smart and sustainable for our cities. We are on the mission of building mobility for a billion people and strongly believe that the future of mobility is shared, connected, and electric," said an Ola spokesperson.

Robin Chase, co-founder, Zipcar said, "For most cities, urban planners, legislators and residents, there is a cacophony of advice. Our goal is to align cities, the private sector and civil society around a shared vision to ensure we harness the good and avoid the bad of new business models and technologies. These companies represent some of the biggest players and we are thrilled to see we share common goals, like a commitment to zero-emission vehicles and efficient use of urban roads."

Nicolas Brusson, co-founder and CEO, BlaBlaCar said, "The company was founded on the belief that shared mobility can help meet travel aspirations in a resource-efficient way, whilst bringing people together. We are committed to the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities, and to its group of stakeholders. It will take all of us thinking creatively and collaboratively together to transition to smarter mobility at-scale."

Wensong Zhang, senior vice president and chief scientist, Didi Chuxing said, "Didi is committed to working with communities and partners to solve the world’s transportation, environmental and employment challenges using big data-driven deep-learning algorithms that optimise resource allocation. By continuously improving the user experience and creating social value, we strive to build an open, efficient, collaborative and sustainable transportation ecosystem."

Bernard Tabary, CEO International, Keolis, said: "As a leader in public transport, Keolis has a solid foundation for the mobility of the future, which we see as being connected, autonomous, shared and electric. These elements are the key to address the world’s rapid urbanisation, as we all strive to make life in cities more pleasant and liveable. Through our diverse portfolio of mass transit solutions and on-demand transport services, our innovative approach is already benefiting many communities. This partnership with its guiding vision of more liveable cities comes at the perfect time."

Gabriel Scheer, director of strategic development, LimeBike said: “LimeBike is beyond excited to support the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities; they map to our objectives as a company and our passion and mission as people.

Joseph Okpaku, vice president of Public Policy, Lyft said: "At Lyft, we believe our cities should be built around people not cars. That's why we've committed to the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities and are excited to join them in supporting policies that encourage shared rides, fair use fees, and truly multi-modal communities. Working together we can have a real impact on congestion, making our cities easier to get around and more enjoyable to live in." 

Davis Wang, CEO and co-founder, Mobike:"In cities around the world, people's lives improve significantly from the responsible expansion of shared transportation options including bikes, rides and cars . As a group, we all have the same goal of improving quality of life in cities, and now, united, we have a framework for how our systems can collectively work toward this goal."

Jay Walder, CEO of Motivate International: "At Motivate, we have always worked in close collaboration with cities to design bike share solutions that work for them and that reflect the priorities enshrined in the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities. No two cities — or even two neighbourhoods — are exactly alike, and mobility providers need to understand the unique needs of distinct communities. But everyone can unite around the idea that cities need to move quickly to become more sustainable, more equitable, and more livable. The mobility sector has a key role to play in enabling that revolution, and we’re proud to be at the forefront and to support this new partnership."

Chris Taylor, head of North America, ofo said, "At our core, ofo is committed to creating a more equitable, accessible world, and we know our greener, more affordable bike-sharing platform can have a significant and lasting effect, greatly transforming cities for the best."

Michael Keating, founder and CEO, Scoot Networks said: "Scoot was created as a model of principled transportation and with the mission of offering Electric Vehicles for Everyone. Before launching the first mass-affordable, urban electric vehicle service, I was an urban planner, environmentalist, and advocate for open transportation data. I am proud that Scoot is joining with other new mobility services, local governments, and communities to make life in cities more livable."

Jake Sion, COO of Transit: "From the start, Transit has promoted sustainable, equitable, open and connected transportation. Our mission is to make it easy to get around without your own car, so we integrate not only public transportation, but also the latest bikeshare, carshare and ridehail options. At a time when technology is evolving quickly, it's important to have a foundational set of values and a clear vision for the future. The Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities articulate that vision, and we are proud to endorse them."

Andrew Salzberg, head of Transportation Policy and Research, Uber: "We’re proud to support the Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities. At Uber, we believe the goal of reducing private car ownership is one we share with people and cities around the world. On its own, technology is not a solution for urban problems. But done right—and in partnership with others—we believe shared mobility has the potential to contribute to a better world for all."

Andrei Greenawalt, vice president for Public Policy, Via: "As a leading technology developer and provider of on-demand, dynamically routed shared rides, Via is thrilled to endorse these principles. We support policies that discourage the use of vehicles with only one passenger, and that incentivise true sharing. We also believe that to most effectively reduce congestion, free up space for better uses, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve livability, cities should only allow the operation of autonomous vehicles as part of shared fleets. We look forward to working with this group to ensure that advances in technology help transform our communities for the better."

Justin Holmes, director of corporate communications and public policy, Zipcar said: "As a category-defining leader in shared mobility, supporting the principles is a natural fit for Zipcar. We have nearly two decades of experience managing a distributed, shared fleet and a seamless, integrated member experience that provides access to sustainable mobility. We have routinely partnered with both public and private entities to further our vision of a shared mobility future. At Zipcar, we are driven by a mission—to enable simple and responsible urban living—and we believe that by joining together with this coalition, we can better realise our common goal of shared, autonomous, sustainable and equitable mobility for all."