What's New in City Design

New Mobility Playbook



Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) issued its New Mobility Playbook in September 2017 to state overarching priorities and near term next steps related to transportation technology, with a focus on driverless (or automated vehicles)


Benefits & Problems Addressed

Proactive planning: A Playbook allows a community to examine and plan for technology with practical next steps

Setting a Vision: Developing a playbook consolidates opinions and statements on priorities before widespread deployment of potentially disruptive transportation technology


Tips & Techniques

Getting Started: Determine local readiness for developing "next steps" for new mobility in your community.  Research national level and local trends

Seattle's Approach: Seattle is well known for technology and innovation, including multi-modal transportation.  In the Playbook, they track the history and looming changes.

Vision and Values for Transportation: SDOT is focused on creating a safe, interconnected, vibrant, affordable, and innovative city for all that includes the following values:

  • A Safe City - eliminate serious and fatal crashes in Seattle & being prepared for earthquakes
  • An Interconnected City - As travel options grow, make sure they are easy-to-use & interconnected
  • A Vibrant City - Our goal is to use Seattle’s streets and sidewalks to improve the city’s health, prosperity, and happiness
  • An Affordable City - Give all people high-quality and low-cost transportation options that allow them to spend their money on things other than transportation
  • An Innovative City - Understand and plan for the changes of tomorrow, while delivering great service today, even with demographic and technological changes. This includes newer, more nimble approaches to delivering projects and programs to our customers

Benefits - Potential Benefits (Upsides) include: (1) The ability to accommodate growth without increasing congestion; (2) Enable more transportation options; (3) A more responsive transportation system; (4) A more equitable transportation system; (5) A safer and greener transportation system

Risks: Potential Risks (Downsides) include: (1) More congestion and more pollution; (2) Greater inequity; (3) Eroded the support and resources for public transit; (4) A disrupted economy and job loss faster than innovation creates new ones; (5) New systems the city doesn't understand, can’t manage, and can’t protect.

Principles for New Mobility: (1) Put People and Safety First; (2) Design for Customer Dignity and Happiness; (3) Advance Race and Social Justice; (4) Forge a Clean Mobility Future; (5) Keep an Even Playing Field

Five Plays: (1) Ensure new mobility delivers a fair and just transportation system for all; (2) Enable a safer, more active, and people-first uses of the public right of way; (3) Reorganize and retool SDOT to manage innovation and data; (4) Build new information and data infrastructure so new services can “plug-and-play;” (5) Anticipate, adapt to, and leverage innovative and disruptive transportation technologies

Our First Moves: The Playbook includes 3 pages of near term action (18 month time frame), including new policies, program elements, research and pilot opportunities.