This past semester, some students at the UM have been working on an app that would encourage people to walk (to work, downtown, etc).  As the Director of the getDowntown Program, I was asked to provide some feedback and support to the students.

The students have moved to the final stages of the creation of the app.  Check out the walking app and its super cute mascot Mibo here.

If you are interested in some of the other aspects of developing the app (usability testing, etc) , click on the tabs in the blog.

What I think is most exciting about this app and the others I’ve been seeing is that there appears to be a lot of potential to really make commuting easier.  Exciting times ahead for sure.

FYI this should be a really interesting conference.  I’ll be presenting at a couple of sessions.

MOVING MINDS: The Next Transportation Infrastructure

November 9 – 12, 2009

Primary Location: Michigan League, U of M Campus Ann Arbor. 911 N. University Ave. 734-764-0446.

It’s a pivotal time for transportation — in the U.S., in Southeast Michigan, and worldwide. Half the world now lives in city regions. By 2020 that figure will rise to 2/3, challenging current transportation models and policies while at the same time opening exciting new opportunities for business and innovation.

Moving Minds: The Next Transportation Infrastructure will bring top researchers together with business leaders, entrepreneurs, practitioners and policy makers from around the world and across the U.S. to advance new thinking and to accelerate implementation of systems-based New Mobility solutions and infrastructures.

Special focus: “Moving Minds” — understanding the cultural, psychological, and aspirational underpinnings of our relationship to transportation (for both users and leaders), and responding with innovative systems, policies, and business models that address these values sustainably, equitably and compellingly. Primary Sponsor: Ford Motor Company.

Highlights:

• Llew Wells, former West Wing producer – on “moving minds”
• Scott Page, world-renowned systems scholar on diversity, resilience, and national security
• Florencia Serrania, former head of Mexico City’s transit system – on connectivity
• Amit Kapoor, Chair of India Competitiveness Institute and Harvard Business School
• Joint sessions with UM Urban Land Institute on the transport & real estate revolutions
• Naveen Lamba, IBM Global Industry Leader for Intelligent Transportation Systems
• Robin Chase, Founder & Former CEO, ZipCar
• Focused sessions on: business opportunities, pilots, research, and capacity building

The SMART Summit provides a platform for collaboration among leaders from private sector, public sector, non-governmental organizations and academia, who undertake pilot projects, research, education, and global learning exchange on a range of pressing issues and opportunities related to the future of transportation in city regions around the world. For background on SMART: http://um-smart.org

Video footage of last year’s summit:    http://um-smart.org/resources/conference/video.html

2009 SMART Moving Minds Summit:    http://um-smart.org/resources/conference09/overview.html

MOVING MINDS: THE NEXT TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE is coming up fast -
 November 9 – 12 in Ann Arbor. Hotel blocks are filling up and the early-
bird rate ends October 22 (this Thursday) end of day.

For more information go to
 http://um-smart.org and click on the SMART summit link in the left margin.

Special Highlights Include:

•       The world (and the country) at your doorstep. Urban transportation thought leaders, practitioners, business leaders 
and policy makers from the U.S. and around the world

•       New Mobility Primer Salon – Mon. Nov 9, 6:30 pm – free & open to
 the public

•       New Mobility Entrepreneurs forum, also Monday night

•       Moving Minds public event – The psychology of our transportation 
choices and new visions for the next generation of transportation

•       Special working luncheon to connect SE Michigan transportation 
initiatives – Tues. Nov 10. (SMART’s Connect & Prosper Initiative
 celebrates its new supporting partner, the Mott Foundation).

•       Design in Motion Breakfast – forging the link between design, mobility
 & accessibility (at Angelo’s – delicious) – Wed. Nov. 11

•       Special working luncheon on New Mobility, resilience, and national 
security (Wed. Nov 11)

•       New Mobility Means Business – a panel focused on the emerging
 business opportunities of innovative transportation in an urbanizing world

•       Hands-on mapping session linking real estate and New Mobility – in 
partnership with the UM-ULI Real Estate Forum (see 
http://www.umuliforum.com/)

•       Policy & Research panel Wed Nov 11, setting the stage for a focused all-
afternoon collaborative research workshop geared to accelerating
 sustainable transportation implementation – Thurs. Nov. 12