Swyft Cities

We're excited to announce that 5 Dallas-area cities – Dallas, Plano, Arlington, Frisco & DeSoto – have expressed interest in being the site of the first U.S. installations of the Whoosh® transportation system, which uses electric vehicles that resemble conventional aerial gondolas but use advanced autonomous technologies to move independently along an elevated network of fixed cables and rails. Vehicles are on-demand like an Uber, and systems can be built at a cost far below conventional transit projects. All trips are fast and nonstop with no stops at intermediate stations. Swyft Cities is working with NCTCOG Transportation (North Central Texas Council of Governments) to evaluate potential sites in some of the cities and potential partnership conversations to decide which of the five cities will be the first to move forward with a pilot system and more detailed discussions on potential timelines, routes, planning, etc. NCTCOG’s Certification of Emerging and Reliable Transportation Technology (CERTT) program is looking to bring advanced transportation technologies to North Texas. Safety and reliability are important considerations of transportation planners since North Texas is one of the fastest-growing regions of the country. NCTCOG’s Mobility 2045 Update, the region’s long-range transportation plan, forecasts that more corridors will become significantly congested by 2045. “We’re excited to be working with these five cities to bring advanced transportation to cities in North Texas,” said Jeral Poskey, Swyft Cities CEO. “Whoosh provides the ’perfect Uber’ – fast, on-demand, nonstop trips with a great view. Vehicles are waiting for you at stations, instead of the other way around. Whoosh can connect places across North Texas in new ways that will get you there quickly and conveniently, enabling you to glide over street traffic with zero emissions.” “The North Central Texas Council of Governments and Regional Transportation Council have a history of meeting transportation challenges with innovative technologies,” said Michael Morris, P.E., NCTCOG director of transportation. “Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, adding more than 1 million residents every 7 years. We look forward to working with our public- and private-sector partners to advance the types of transportation solutions that will help us manage this growth and enhance quality of life. These solutions are perfect for urban areas where at-grade space is limited.” Swyft Cities implements the Whoosh® autonomous elevated cable & rail system. Multiple prototypes of this technology demonstrated low cost, an excellent user experience with great views & environmental sustainability with zero emissions. Swyft Cities was spun out from Google into a separate business to help bring the technology to market.

Accelerating clean energy projects! Our CEO Jeral Poskey talked about Future of Transportation at Symbium's Climate Lightning Talks, part of TECH WEEK by a16z. Jeral had a thought-provoking fireside chat with Leila Banijamali, Symbium CEO. It was energizing and inspiring to be part of the discussion with other innovators who are leading the change tackling the hardest challenges to scaling decarbonization across industries, including Bedrock Energy, Diagon, and Sunrun. The conversations spanned key topics in transportation, heating, home energy, and manufacturing marketplaces, highlighting adoption trends in electrification, and visionary takes on the future of clean tech. #a16z #ClimateTech #Decarbonization #Electrification #CleanEnergy #Innovation #TechWeek2024 Will Drewery, Laura Fingal-Surma, Pilar Carvajo Lucena, Joselyn Lai, RMI, Cheryl Webster, Jeff St. John, Lucas Toffoli, Maura Mooney, Melanie Sirisoma, Autodesk, Abhijeet Mohapatra

A wonderfully succinct explanation of the "Spiral of Sprawl": car infrastructure moves destinations further apart, which necessitates more car usage to get there, which means more car infrastructure, which moves everything even further apart, which means....you get the idea. 😨 Transportation Dictates Urban Form. Better urban density is nearly impossible to achieve until we reverse the Spiral of Sprawl: better non-car mobility options=less need for car infrastructure(i.e., roadways, parking)=more developable land=Better Cities=more housing, retail, restaurants=more jobs, economic activity, tax revenue. More green public spaces+more density=more vibrant, dynamic, walkable, livable cities.

Great study by Norman Garrick and others at University of Connecticut on the literal toll on cities from car infrastructure such as downtown freeways and parking. The study found that the city of Bridgeport, CT: - Lost 4 million square feet of taxable land - Property taxes shrank by THREE-QUARTERS(!) in constant dollars - Downtown became less resilient and diverse - Repurposing land by removing freeways and surface parking would increase housing & retail activity, and DOUBLE the property tax base It's overdue for cities to re-consider how much value (GDP, jobs, housing, taxes) they're losing from excess car infrastructure. #transportation #urbanplanning https://lnkd.in/g55h5jxb

Whoosh® transportation technology is officially unveiled! #transportation #urbanmobility

Great article on initiatives in Dallas, Plano & Fort Worth encouraging more parks & green spaces. In addition to public health & environment benefits, a new study by HR&A Advisors found “a strong correlation between park investment and economic vitality.” Plano is adopting a data-driven approach noting that parks can confer significant real estate benefits to nearby properties. Plano, home to several Fortune 500 headquarters, even provides grants to corporations to add more green space and connections to walking & bike trails. Plano, Dallas & Fort Worth have all passed propositions to improve park development & maintenance. Public-private partnerships are becoming a common way for cities to expand both park systems and the tax base with developers providing parkland to cities as part of a larger negotiation around developing a large piece of property.  "Cities that promote this kind of development, and make it easier to do public-private partnerships to add more park space, help themselves, by making projects more successful and more valuable, thereby increasing local tax revenue," noted John Hardaway, Tristan Real Estate Partners.

"Good News" indeed! Thanks, Matthew Yglesias for the shoutout. We agree Whoosh®transportation technology is cool 🚠 and we have some exciting announcements coming soon. Thanks also, Laura Fingal-Surma for spotting.

A whirlwind of media coverage for the Whoosh®transportation technology launch event. The upcoming pilot project in Queenstown, New Zealand will demonstrate to the world how Whoosh is transforming transportation and cities. And the Whoosh team continues to make amazing progress on development towards production. Watch the video below 📺for details from Whoosh and our CEO Jeral Poskey #transportation #mobility #15MinuteCities

Great build up to our Whoosh® launch event tomorrow. Spent the afternoon being interviewed by Seven Sharp for their 7pm News slot - great to be able to finally show the world what we have been working on.