BBSP’s Guide To The 2021 NABSA Conference

Our top picks for the virtual sessions, taking place on October 27 and 28. Plus, get the details on the dedicated BBSP social room.

On October 27 and 28, the North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association (NABSA) is hosting its annual conference, “Rolling With It: Empowering Shared Micromobility.” The event, which will take place virtually, is a place to learn, network, and chart the future of shared micromobility. Participants will have access to keynote presentations, breakout sessions on topics ranging from transit integration to climate impact, a virtual exhibitor booth, and several social hours. 

This year’s conference is stacked with amazing speakers and thoughtful sessions, many with a specific equity focus. We went through the schedule and made some hard decisions so you don’t have to. What follows is our top picks for sessions to attend, from “New Ways to Engage with the Community” to “Shared Micromobility Impacts on Social Equity.” And definitely don’t miss the virtual social hour on October 28 at 4 pm, where BBSP will have its own room. Please stop by and say hello — we can’t wait to see you there.

 

October 27

11-11:45 am MT
“Welcome Plenary and Keynote”

You’re not going to want to miss keynote speaker Veronica Davis kicking off the conference. A self-described transportation nerd, Davis serves as the director of transportation and drainage operations for the City of Houston. Her resume is stacked with planning experience and as a co-founder of Black Women Bike, she’s been recognized as a Champion of Change by the White House.

 

11:45 am – 1 pm MT
“Blip, Bubble or Boom: Examining the Effect of COVID-19 on Micromobility”

In the face of the pandemic, micromobility has done relatively well. We think this session will better help systems prepare for the future and sustain post-pandemic growth. Plus, one of our 2021 Transportation Justice Fellows, William Walker, is serving as moderator, all but guaranteeing it’ll be an engaging panel discussion.

 

1:30-2:45 pm MT
“Balancing the Equation: Bodily Benefits vs. Bodily Risk”

David Rojas’ research is the focus of one of our most-read articles, “Bike Share is a Boon for Public Health.” In this panel, he’ll join Michael Kelly of BikeWalkKC, Alice Friedman of Spin, and Amanda Woodall of Divvy bike share in discussing the ways to address safety when using shared micromobility and better understand the health benefits these systems provide.

 

3 pm MT
Rapid Fire Slide Show + Virtual Happy Hour

A regular event at every NABSA conference, the “Rapid Fire Slide Show” is a crowd favorite, in which every NABSA member gets a slide to showcase their work. The conference chat is sure to be lit and the platform NABSA uses for virtual networking makes the experience of doing so through a screen easy and enjoyable.

 

October 28

11:45 am – 12:30 pm MT
“Keynote Panel”

Jamie Stuckless will moderate this all-star keynote panel featuring Amanda O’Rourke, the executive director of 8 80 Cities, Mariana Orozco Camacho, general director of comprehensive management for the City of La Paz, Mexico, and Charles T. Brown, the founder of Equitable Cities. This is sure to be a thought-provoking conversation around shared micromobility’s role in addressing the climate crisis and issues related to transportation equity, as well as job creation and access.

 

1-2:15 pm MT
“Seamless: Making Transit Integration Real” + “Shared Micromobility Impacts on Social Equity”

For this time slot, we couldn’t choose a single session. On the one hand, promoting social equity is BBSP’s whole mission, and “Shared Micromobility Impacts on Social Equity” will showcase how systems can integrate equity into the core of their operations, building community and expanding ridership (plus, it features Kay Cheng of Spin, who we interviewed for this recent piece).

On the other hand, micromobility is public transportation, and its integration with other forms of transit should be a standard. We firmly believe that integrating transit and shared micromobility is a crucial step in creating more equitable and sustainable systems (it’s one of the reasons we’re so stoked about our Detroit Living Lab). 

 

2:30-3:45 pm MT
“Am I on Mute: New Ways to Engage with the Community”

BBSP’s own Waffiyyah Murray is featured on this panel, which will provide case studies on what successful community engagement looks like and how systems can leverage it for success. Murray will be speaking about the work she’s done with Indego, Philadelphia’s bike share system. 

 

4 pm MT
Closing Virtual Social

Come mingle with the BBSP team at this, the last networking event of the conference. We’ll have our own “Better Bike Share Partnership Room” and look forward to bumping virtual elbows with past (and future) grantees, as well as anyone who’s interested in making shared micromobility more equitable.

 

Not registered for the conference yet? You can do so here. 

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The Better Bike Share Partnership is funded by The JPB Foundation as a collaboration between the City of Philadelphia, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the PeopleForBikes Foundation to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or sign up for our weekly newsletter. Got a question or a story idea? Email kiran@peopleforbikes.org.