High marriage rates ≠ high transit ridership
Save the Date
Join us for CoMotion LA ‘26 this November 18-19: Cities on the Move: Mega-events, AI & Shaping What’s Next — featuring the OMF Summit Track.
There are a bunch of metrics the Federal Transit Administration has traditionally used to evaluate local transit projects requesting federal funding. The Trump administration wants to add two new ones: marriage rates and birth rates. Communities with high rates of married couples and children will score higher. In the short-term, that is bad news for big cities.
Meanwhile, high diesel prices are creating hardship for freight trucking and opportunities for freight rail (especially autonomous freight rail), app drivers in D.C. are protesting against robotaxis, Renault is getting into drones, Brits are debating the value of AVs in rural areas and Europe has more bikes than it can fix.
Finally, if you’re a startup in the mobility space, you need to sign up for the LA New Mobility Challenge for a chance to present your company or product to a panel of industry-leading experts at CoMotion LA ‘26 next month!
What you need to know
More babies, more money for transit: The Trump administration, which hitherto has shown little interest in supporting public transit, has proposed tying federal funding for transit projects to marriage and birth rates. Under the proposed rule change, the Federal Transit Administration would cover a larger share of a local rail or bus project’s cost if it’s in a community where marriage and birth rates exceed the national average. The administration is framing this as a logical move favoring growing communities that can supply high ridership, but the reality is that communities with high marriage rates tend to be low-density suburbs that are unlikely to produce as many transit riders. Dense urban areas tend to have a higher proportion of young singles. Granted, city governments could do more to keep families from choosing the suburbs. Allowing a greater variety of (cheaper) housing types in single-family neighborhoods (duplexes, triplexes, smaller lots) would help.
The opportunity for autonomous freight…rail: You’d think that if driverless cars are becoming a thing, driverless trains would already be universal. Alas, it is perhaps because the freight rail industry still needs to pay conductors that short rail trips (under 500 miles) tend to be unprofitable. Those trips have largely been forfeited to truckers. But now truckers are struggling to contend with sky-high diesel prices, presenting an opportunity to Parallel Systems, an autonomous rail startup founded by SpaceX alums, which just raised $100 million in a Series C round.
6 weeks to go! 😎☀️
Join us on November 18-19 at CoMotion LA ‘26 and network with transit agency representatives, city leaders, CEOs, investors, VC’s, and startups from California and accross the United States, Canada, Colombia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and more.
Latest participants include:
City of Los Angeles, City of Santa Monica, City of Long Beach, City of Inglewood, LA Metro, LADOT, Southern California Association of Governments, California Department of Transportation, California State Transportation Agency, Los Angeles World Airports, NHSTA, Port of Long Beach, HNTB, Elavon by U.S. Bank, WSP, OMF, Zoox, Alstom, Red Hat, Waymo, Lime, Arup, Uber, Brompton Bicycles, LACI, Serve Robotics, Wing, DoorDash, JetZero, and many more!
Make the most out of the CoMotion LA ‘26 and get the full 3-day VIP experience with a Mobility Leader Pass and gain exclusive access to CoMotion NXT in Long Beach on Nov. 17, including VIP receptions, lounges, and networking experience, and more.
Drivers in D.C. rally against robotaxis: Legislation to authorize autonomous ride-hailing in the nation’s capital is prompting opposition from a coalition of activists and ride-hail drivers. The bill the D.C. Council is considering is quite modest, only authorizing up to 200 robotaxis until Jan. 1, 2028.
Can driverless cars help the countryside? UK Shadow Transport Minister Andrew Griffith described autonomous vehicles as a major “opportunity” in rural areas, particularly for older people who may not want or be able to drive anymore. That drew a rebuke from former race driver and motor journalist Amanda Stretton, who argued that Britain’s country roads lack the uniform dimensions and markings that autonomous vehicles rely on to safely navigate cities.
Europe’s overwhelmed bike mechanics: Efforts to encourage biking in Europe have been so successful that they’ve created a new problem: a severe shortage of bike mechanics. The continent will need an additional 105,000 mechanics by 2032, according to a new analysis by Bike Europe.
What we’re reading
Renault’s shift to drones: The Financial Times takes a look at how French automaker Renault is pivoting to military drone production, believing that it can produce the weaponry at greater scale and at a lower price than the existing drone manufacturers. Like other European OEMs, Renault is facing stiff competition from Chinese EVs. If it can’t figure out how to deliver lower-cost automobiles, it might have to find a new line of work.
