Connect LA: Mobilizing L.A.’s Transportation Future
A human-centered mobility project, featured in Pando Days '22 at Caltech, California.
Role:
User & Site Research, Future Casting, Design Development
Tools:
Blender, TwinMotion, Figma, Photoshop, After Effects
Date:
2022-2023
Timeline:
14 Weeks Research + 14 Weeks Concept Development
Context
Connect LA is part of a student initiative aimed at transforming the transportation landscape of Los Angeles by 2050, using the LA28 Olympics as a launch platform. The project envisions a holistic system that eliminates traffic congestion, conserves energy, and provides equitable point-to-point access for all residents. By reimagining urban spaces on a human scale through a bottom-up approach, Connect LA seeks to shift Angelenos away from extreme car dependency towards equitable mobility solutions.
Research & Strategy
Our research took us all over Los Angeles, Inglewood, Downtown, Leimert Park, Venice, the Arts District, Westwood, and Exposition Park. We experienced firsthand how unique and diverse the city is.
We found that imagining a better future for LA does not lie in understanding how parts of the city are different, but how they all share the same problem. That problem is an auto-centric culture, with built environments completely dictated by the car system. The unintended consequences are everywhere, and it was clear to us that a system of any kind should not be dominated by one player.
Access to a car, which originally promised freedom for all, has over time become increasingly tied to wealth and not accessible by all.
By examining the 28 by 28 plan which is LA’s strategy for hosting the games in 2028, certain aspects of LA’s plan like utilizing existing infrastructure, leveraging autonomous technology and encouraging alternatives to car use inspired us to build upon this foundation and take it into a more desirable future.
We used observational research as our primary tool. We visited the sites listed here which includes proposed 2028 Olympic event venues and new transit projects under development. Suburban sprawl and the automobile-dominated urban landscape were a consistent theme throughout the trips.
Decoupling Freedom from Wealth, through Mobility
Our vision takes back assets previously owned by the car and gives them back to the public, showing how a transportation system that prioritizes health, sustainability, and equitable access completely changes the space that supports it.
The automobile system’s meaning of efficiency is one that strictly prioritizes speed.
In our system, the meaning of efficiency is tied to choice, access and speed equally
System Strategy
The system reimagines movement through five components. that directly address major mobility problems in LA.
Accessway addresses car-dominant freeways by repurposing infrastructure.
Connect LA addresses public transit decline by introducing flexibility to mass transit.
Slow Mobility addresses hostile streets to pedestrians by localizing movement.
Flex Flats addresses the high cost of ownership by co-locating mobility with housing.
The River Corridor addresses paving over nature by rewilding along the LA River.
Connect LA
Connect LA is an on-demand transit service that expands on the existing Metro Micro system. It adapts to people's travel patterns, efficiently uses parking lots and other spaces lost to cars, and operates on a capacity on-demand model.
In LA, owning a car is key to take part in the economy and to access opportunities. But, cars are not accessible by everyone. On average, owning a car costs around $800 per month. There are also other major problems that limit the accessibility of cars. For example, racial discrimination. Auto financing companies charge people of color upto 600% more markups on loans compared to white consumers. The root of this inequity and discrimination lies in the automobile market’s very structure.
What about other structures and business models? Rideshare services are available for everyone, but they operate on a concept called Surge pricing. The trip cost increases based on driver availability and ride demand. For example, A trip from Pasadena to LAX which usually costs 40$ can cost upto 100$ or more during peak hours. For a person from a low income household or for students like me, this is not affordable.
What about public transit? Public transport costs much less than a car per trip. On average it costs $50 per month for someone using it everyday. However, it is much slower and not point to point. We took a 14 mile trip from Pasadena to the Coliseum in USC which is an LA28 olympic venue. The trip involves 3 metro transfers, no first mile solution and it takes 1 and half hours. But in a car it takes around 20 minutes So the main issues with public transit in LA are transfers, Idle time and its not point to point. Metro is trying to address these issue with Metro micro which is an ondemand rideshare service. But, this is also not point to point.
Connect LA fills this gap between present day public transit and cars by being faster and more efficient than a public transit and more affordable than a car.
This system operates on the basis of capacity on demand where the space is provided based on requirement. If it is just one person travelling, the mobility device has the space for that single person and so on.
It can be used for single person trips, single group trips, shared trips and trips shared by more than one group.
The role of technology here is that it is used to assist the humans when needed. For single person and single group trips, the mobility device has assisted driving to support meandering and give people agency in determining routes but can also function fully autonomous as per necessity. For shared trips and shared group trips, the system is fully autonomous.
And to align with LAs plan of utilizing existing infrastructure for the Olympics, this system uses existing stadium and event venue parking infrastructure that are spread across the city.
Pictured above is a short user journey to explain the concept. This person is travelling from Pasadena to the Sofi stadium in Inglewood for an Olympic event during the 2028 games. He requests a trip using connect LA and as he is in Pasadena, the connect LA device departs from the Rose Bowl parking lot and picks him up. Once the trip has been completed, the device parks at the Sofi Stadium parking lot where it waits for its next trip.
This will make it easier to get to and from Olympic events but it is not just limited to sporting events. It can also be used for regular trips from its inception.
And as the system scales and people start to use it more, it detects demand and organizes itself in nearby parking structures and parking lots to satisfy that demand by creating Flexible hubs. This will ensure that people have close to immediate access to a connect LA mobility device.
As this system utilizes only existing parking structures and not street parking, once people transition from cars to Connect LA, the street parking space can be repurposed.
The system is introduced for the 2028 Olympics to stadiums, event venues and airports as they are heavily used during this period. Existing parking infrastructure at these places are used as stations. The system soon expands to educational institutions, offices, movie theaters and so on.
