Two companies owned by Ford announced a new five- year agreement with UC San Diego Tuesday on sustainable transportation modes for the university’s 75,000 students, faculty and staff.
Spin, a micromobility provider, and TransLoc, a transportation software solutions company, are teaming up for the project.
“The university has a long-standing commitment to reduce our carbon footprint while also supporting healthy, efficient transit opportunities for a large and diverse campus population,” said Gary Matthews, UCSD’s vice chancellor for resource management and planning.
“With the combined services of Spin and TransLoc, the university reduces its carbon emissions, leverages our investment in transportation and makes the final leg of commutes easier for faculty, students and staff,” Matthews added. “We’re excited to watch this vision of unified transit expand and evolve in the coming years.”
Spin and UCSD began a partnership in 2017 with 50 shared pedal-bikes. The new agreement will bring 600 shared e-bikes and e-scooters to the campus, via a network of charging stations featuring digital screens that show riders data to help them better plan their journey, according to TransLoc.
The first month of the fall quarter showed riders taking over 63,000 trips, resulting in more than 53,000 miles.
“At Spin, our mission is to use micromobility to create a 15-minute city — where anyone can get to any important location within 15 minutes,” Spin CEO Ben Bear said. “College campuses such as UC San Diego truly operate like small cities, and working with TransLoc will help us advance our goal of easing the transportation journey.”
TransLoc’s software, according to the company, will support the college’s existing transit system to more efficiently dispatch and track more than 40 buses along fixed routes on campus. The software will also provide riders with real-time data on bus status, capacity and location.
TransLoc software also will power UCSD’s small buses and low-speed electric passenger vehicles next year, which will provide door-to-door service on campus for students, faculty and staff with mobility issues.
Brett Wheatley, who serves as a Ford vice president and TransLoc CEO, said the future of transportation isn’t about one-mode journeys.
Instead, “it’s about offering affordable, accessible and easy-to-use options that complement each other and improve the rider experience,” Wheatley said. “This is only the beginning of how Ford, Spin and TransLoc can help improve and future-proof mobility systems across the U.S.”
Spin and TransLoc officials said there significant opportunities to expand the mobility project to corporate campuses, municipalities, airports and other facilities.
–City News Service