Building a mobility operating system requires leadership of cities, says LADoT

A mobility operating system cannot be privately built, it must be open and governed by cities, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADoT). Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas, LADoT general manager Seleta Reynolds described how the authority had published specifications to manage scooters following what she described as an “explosion of private companies”. She explained that the first bucket of application programming interfaces (API) provides consistent
January 10, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
A mobility operating system cannot be privately built, it must be open and governed by cities, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADoT).


Speaking at the Consumer Electronics Show 2019 in Las Vegas, LADoT general manager Seleta Reynolds described how the authority had published specifications to manage scooters following what she described as an “explosion of private companies”.

She explained that the first bucket of application programming interfaces (API) provides consistent ways for companies to talk to cities and share information with them. The second bucket of that code puts the LADoT into the product workflow of those communities.

“We are not tapping them on the shoulders and asking them for more data sets; instead we are delivering services that we already deliver today. Eventually, it would be great if we had a creative set of pricing tools, but we can start at the kerb,” Reynolds added.

At the same CES session, ‘Creating Seamlessly Integrated, Connected Mobility Operating Systems’, Scott Corwin, future of mobility practice leader at 1979 Deloitte, warned that a completely open system where people contribute on their own would attract small players over big ones - which leaves the question of how to get to scale.

“The dialogue is really about investment funding as the kind of money it’s going to take is going to be pretty significant - as well as the technical capabilities to do what needs to be done,” Corwin added.

Leon Kalvaria, chairman, institutional clients group at Citi, stated: “We are at the dawn of the age of autonomous. There will be some very significant private investors in autonomous as they can see what kind of business model they want whether a fleet model, goods delivery model, and that may provide the opening for that kind of dialogue.”

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • When caring about sharing is good business for US automakers
    October 28, 2015
    Although car-sharing and ride-sharing could drastically reduce car sales, David Crawford finds some US automakers are keen to participate in the sharing economy. Growing consumer interest in car- and ride-sharing, as opposed to outright ownership, and ride-sharer Uber’s recently stated intention to make its brand competitive with ownership on cost, are making the major US automotive manufacturers think seriously about their future sales prospects. Some have already begun exploring ways of entering the field
    Read More
  • Mature solutions for emerging economies
    June 8, 2015
    Siemens’ Marcus Welz talks to David Crawford about suitable ITS solutions for emerging economies. Be bold in vision - and output - and user-oriented in practice,” Marcus Welz advises emerging economies planning ITS investments. Says the Siemens Group senior vice president and global sales director for ITS: “Their road users need better, more reliable and safer trips – but without costs increasing too much. The good news is that many countries are already tackling the big issues of traffic and the environmen
    Read More
  • Inclusiveness remains 'elephant in the room', says Ertico chairman
    May 19, 2025
    Accessibility of transport discussed at ITS European Congress 2025
    Read More
  • Consumer telematics driving automotive electronics
    February 3, 2012
    This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was characterised by consumer telematics solutions, writes Dave McNamara
    Read More

Highlighted Content