Can we position ourselves as the home base for innovation? A region that takes risks and isn’t afraid to fail, as the testing ground for our state, and our nation? The moonshot region, if you will? SACOG thinks so, and so do others. Partner agencies, local experts, national leaders, decision makers, and innovators are coming together in the Sacramento region to find creative solutions to smart mobility issues facing the region today, and in the future through Civic Lab.  

Civic Lab will focus on how can we make our transportation systems more effective, efficient, and equitable using disruptive technologies and design thinking. “Civic Lab is an experiment for us–just as much as the rest of the region. This should be the way we do business” SACOG CEO James Corless noted during the Civic Lab kickoff. 

Civic Lab teams came together for the first time on Wednesday, October 18th in West Sacramento. Equipped with projects that cover everything from autonomous vehicles to congestion in Apple Hill, the teams discussed their project issues with researchers from UC Davis, identified team commitments, and heard from Dan Sperling, PhD. He noted that, “This is a great time not just for transportation in general, but for Sacramento. A lot of things are happening: services, technology, innovation.” Sperling also discussed the difference between ride hailing services and their carpooling counterparts and ways to improve transit efficiency. 

Teams will connect each month through May 2018 to design their projects as measurable and implementable pilot projects. SACOG is working to obtain funding to launch Civic Lab’s inaugural projects. 

Project Issues: 
 

• How do you move students from the 65th Street Light Rail station to campus? Is there an opportunity for an AV shuttle pilot project? 
• How do you solve congestion in and around Apple Hill? 
• Is there a residential Transportation Demand Management solution for suburban and rural areas? 
• How do you provide Zero Emission Vehicle mobility solutions in disadvantaged communities? 
• How do you site mobility hubs that take advantage of disruptive technologies, and fit within the fabric of a city? 
• Are there new and better solutions to providing transit access in suburban areas? 
• How can you most efficiently and effectively move youth to jobs? 
• Are there new mobility solutions that can reduce parking impacts at the Amtrak station? 
• Are there new mobility solutions that can help provide better transit service in rural areas?