blog
May 2024
Conference / Cycling infrastructure / Developments / Innovation / Mobility / Urban Mobility Design
Mobility for a New Era: Mary Elbech explores how to accommodate the changes in transportation at the UNC Clean Tech Summit
From the 20 to 21 of February, the University of North Carolina will play host to the 7th annual UNC Clean Tech Summit. The largest event of its kind in the Southeast, the conference brings together over 1,000 students, academics, professionals and policy makers from around the US and from abroad to foster leadership, share new ideas, and bring growth opportunities to the Southeast’s clean tech economy. A North Carolina native and UNC alumni, Mary Elbech, Mobycon’s US lead and integrated mobility consultant, has participated in the summit for several years, sharing her perspectives as a professional working in mobility both in the US and internationally.
Mobility for a New Era
Panelists: Mary Elbech (with Julie White, head of multimodal transportation for NCDOT; Keith Benjamin, Director, Department of Traffic and Transportation for the City of Charleston)
Friday, February 21; 1:45-3:00
What’s your favorite example of ‘mobility for a new era’? Will autonomous vehicles solve transportation problems in our communities? How can the transport system increase access for all? Understanding the changing dynamic in mobility requires taking a different look at how to organize traffic as city experience growing demands on limited space. From both an increase in population as well as an increase in the ways people travel – from e-scooters, to autonomous vehicles, to modes we haven’t even thought of yet. A step back from the individual modes is needed in order to examine how they can all function together well in a way that also promotes safety and enjoyable public spaces.
For this panel, the focus will be on urban areas and exploring how to accommodate a broad range of new technologies that are entering the urban landscape like e-bikes and scooters and integrate them with other forms of mobility. Mary will provide her perspective and knowledge through the lens of the ANWB Traffic in the City methodology, examining how to approach new modes through road hierarchies and vehicles families to create safe, equitable traffic environments.