2019 APA Maryland Biennial Conference Sessions: Transportation & Technology

Emerging Mobility Technologies - Where are they taking us? Is it where we want to go?

by Allysha Lorber and Angie Hernandez

For generations people have had the same mobility choices, and development patterns have been shaped by the same transportation modes. New technologies are quickly emerging and changing the way we move. Ride hailing, rapid transit, rideshare, and dock-free devices affect our mobility habits, and driverless vehicles are on the horizon. How will this affect the way we move? How different will our communities become? What should planners do now to prepare?

This session will focus on the progression of transportation trends from the past into the future and will challenge participants to consider emerging technologies and future transportation needs in the kinds of decisions planners are making today. We will review changing mobility patterns since the dawn of the industrial revolution up to today considering the impact of transportation network on land use and community development, and we will consider potential new scenarios with emerging mobility technologies. The session will also include an interactive activity using live polling software to present different scenarios involving emerging technologies and potential decisions in hypothetical situations that planners are likely to face today.

Meet Our Speakers

Allysha Lorber, PLA, AICP

Ms. Lorber is a Senior Community Planner with Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson, Inc. She has more than 21 years of experience working in the transportation industry incorporating environmental stewardship, community development, and stakeholder involvement with transportation projects. She specializes in multi-modal transportation planning, design of livable communities, and developing sustainable transportation infrastructure with green street technologies.

She lives in Towson with her husband and daughters where she loves to take weekend family bike rides.

Angie Hernandez, AICP

Ms. Hernandez is a Transportation Planner with Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson, Inc. For the past 6 years she has worked in the transportation sector focusing on multi-modal transportation planning projects and master planning efforts. She is passionate about creating sustainable, healthy, livable, communities and places where people can thrive.

She lives in Parkville, MD with her husband and two young sons who inspire her to create a future that she is proud to pass on to her children.