About the Session
2020 started off like a nightmare of biblical proportions—droughts, fires, floods, and a pandemic that has gripped the planet. The response from governments, companies, and communities to the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our way of life as well our local, regional, and global transportation systems with sudden and extraordinary speed. Transportation system providers have experienced free-fall declines in customers, revenues, and support. The resulting pressure to reduce service, delay repairs, or even shut down operations altogether has thrown these systems into worst-case scenarios and uncharted territory against a backdrop of rising social equity concerns.
In this session, Timothy Papandreou discussed how these combined forces are compelling us to reexamine the status quo. Papandreou also explored how current circumstances are offering us a once-in-a-lifetime window to reimagine the transportation system and use practical and proven innovation to move it towards a more resilient, equitable, and seamless experience.
About the Speaker
Timothy Papandreou is the founder and CEO of Emerging Transport Advisors, which provides strategic guidance to companies, investors, startups, and governments on the active, shared, electric, connected, and automated transport transition. He is a trusted thought leader in both technology and government, with extensive global experience in the movement of people and things.
As the former strategic partnerships manager at Google X and Waymo, Papandreou collaborated with teams to prepare the company’s commercialization, setting up first-in-kind partnerships to launch the world's first highly automated mobility as a service in Phoenix while being fully immersed in automation technology. As chief innovation officer for San Francisco’s transportation agency, he lead cross-functional teams to deliver high-profile initiatives, including the US Smart City Challenge, pioneering the shared, electric, connected, and automated vision and raising over $200 million in technology sector support; a strategic work plan, which met its 50 percent sustainable mode share goal three years early; major multimodal, shared mobility, and mixed-use redevelopment public/private partnership projects; the mayor’s Vision Zero traffic safety program; and City Innovate, a smart city platform matching governments, companies, and startups to accelerate innovation through the STIR (startup in residence) program. His unique insights and thought leadership draw from his varied experience and strong track record to join the dots, lead teams, build partnerships, and deliver innovation.
Related Materials
- "Is The Coronavirus The Transportation Industry’s Opportunity?" (Forbes, March 2020)
- "Transportation Business Models Are Broken. It’s Time To Fix Them" (Forbes, May 2020)