Mobility Innovation Lab Launched in Miami-Dade County
June 30, 2020
CoMotion LAB MIAMI to Pilot Innovative New Mobility Solutions throughout County to Spur Growth and Job Creation
HNTB, INRIX, Joby Aviation, Lacuna, Via, Uber and NewCities Foundation among founding members of new initiative
Miami, FL – Miami-Dade County and CoMotion today announced the launch of CoMotion LAB MIAMI, an unprecedented consortium of international, national and regional public and private stakeholders whose goal is improving mobility and transit in Miami-Dade County and Southern Florida. C-LAB MIAMI aims to source and attract innovative ideas and technologies from around the world and test them through local proof of concepts and then develop policy recommendations in each particular focus area. C-LAB MIAMI activities are also designed to help spur economic growth and job creation as Miami-Dade and Florida begin to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez announced C-LAB MIAMI in keynote remarks opening the first edition of CoMotion MIAMI LIVE, a new annual gathering of global mobility and transit leaders. “CoMotion LAB MIAMI is designed to make our county a vibrant living lab of new mobility in order to create new services for our residents and thus jobs and economic activity,” said Mayor Gimenez in his remarks to several thousand mobility and urban leaders participating virtually from North America, Latin America and around the world.
C-LAB is designed as an advanced and connected urban playground for mobility innovation in which public rights of way in the County and in adjacent geographies are used to develop and validate new and commercially-viable transport technologies. Miami-Dade County, with its 5,500 miles of public roads, its airspace and its maritime channels, provides a complex and variegated testing geography, representative of different kinds of urban geographies throughout the United States and beyond: dense urban center, exurban sprawl, developer-led communities.
C-LAB is empowered by the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works and other key public sector stakeholders in the county and the state to oversee mobility pilot zones and streamline administrative processes to test new mobility technologies and solutions. The first areas to be focused on in 2020/2021 are:
- Urban Air Mobility for EMS
- Smart curb management + smart infrastructure
- Decarbonizing maritime mobility in maritime and riverine cities
- New frameworks for public/private partnerships in transit (including data management and data governance)
Among the first founding members of C-LAB are some of the most important companies leading mobility and transportation innovation: Uber, HNTB, Lacuna, Joby Aviation, Via and INRIX. The NewCities Foundation, a leading global non-profit focused on city-building around the world, is also backing the initiative.
About C-LAB
CoMotion LAB MIAMI (C-LAB) is an advanced and connected urban playground for mobility innovation in which public rights of way in Miami-Dade County and in adjacent geographies are used to develop and validate new and commercially-viable transport technologies. Miami-Dade County, with its 5,500 miles of public roads, its airspace and its maritime channels, provides a complex and variegated testing geography, representative of different kinds of urban geographies throughout the United States and beyond: dense urban center, exurban sprawl, and developer-led communities.
About CoMotion
CoMotion is a global platform where leaders of the most innovative transportation and technology companies around the world meet with urban policymakers to share ideas, do business and plan the new mobility future. CoMotion organizes exclusive world-class events such as CoMotion LIVE, CoMotion LA and CoMotion MIAMI, and is the new mobility industry’s premiere source for news, insights, and analysis.
About Miami-Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida is the most populous county in the southeastern United States. Miami-Dade County is often referred to as the “Gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean.” Led by Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez, Miami-Dade County encompasses more than 2,000 square miles.