A Decade of Disruption: What’s Next for LA?

Dear Friends and CoMotion community,

This is a moment of epochal change for our cities.

Ten years ago, CoMotion gave a name to the deep shifts underway in the technologies, policies, and systems that move people through cities: the Mobility Revolution. And we made a bet — that Los Angeles, the birthplace and global exporter of Car Culture, would become Ground Zero of that revolution. Ridehail was ascendant. E-scooters were just appearing on streets and sidewalks. Electric vehicles that actually drove like sports cars had suddenly arrived. And the first hints of vehicular autonomy, from drones to sedans, were starting to show up.

Ten years later, the Mobility Revolution is shifting into high gear in ways few could have predicted. Urban air mobility is about to take off — literally — while robotaxis become an everyday fixture of city life. The Revolution is far more solid, far more real, than it was back in 2017. And once again, Southern California is where there is real excitement again. The Olympics are now around the corner in the City of Angels, bringing with them unprecedented opportunity: new metro lines opening, the planned launch of the first commercial eVTOL services in the United States, and Los Angeles cementing itself as one of the country’s largest robotaxi markets.

And in the South Bay, an entirely new but related revolution is underway — one built on American re-industrialization and the extension of the Mobility Revolution into new frontiers like space and defense. Around Long Beach, the southern flank of LA County, industrial activity is running at record levels, billions of dollars are pouring into deep-tech companies, tens of thousands of aerospace jobs are being created, and the Port of Long Beach is undertaking a massive electrification effort aimed at becoming the world’s first zero-emission port.

That’s why this November, we’re incredibly excited to celebrate a decade of CoMotion at our home base in Downtown LA, but to launch something new — CoMotion NXT — in Long Beach itself, in partnership with Mayor Rex Richardson and his team. And running through both will be the tenth edition of the LA New Mobility Challenge, our startup competition that has spotted and propelled some of the industry’s most promising young companies — itselectric, now scaling curbside EV charging in cities across the country, among them. Finalists will pitch at CoMotion NXT with the winner announced at CoMotion LA on November 19 — a fitting way to bookend our tenth anniversary, and this year’s Challenge promises to be the most exciting yet.

The invitation-only CoMotion NXT gathering on November 17 will be the first of its kind, bringing together leaders in venture capital, early- and growth-stage mobility companies, and the public sector to talk deep-tech and the future of the industry. This won’t just be where the future arrives — it’s where it gets made.

We hope you’ll join us, and be part of what comes…NXT.

See you in November! Register here — use code mobilityrevolution for an extra 10% off.