South Los Angeles Locally Manufactured Micro Transit

Public Transit

South LA

Applying a proven model or solution to a new issue or sector (e.g., using a job recruiting software or strategy to match clients to supportive housing sites, applying demonstrated strategies from advocating for college affordability to advocating for housing affordability and homelessness, etc.)

South LA's Greater Leimert Park Village Crenshaw Corridor (GLPVCC) suffers from a lack of multimodal connectivity and shared mobility services, high incidence of pedestrian/cyclist injuries/fatalities due to vehicle collisions, cost-burdened households with above-average housing/transportation expenses, poor air quality, and low vehicle-ownership rates. Sankofacity transportation needs assessment reports, based on extensive community engagement with GLPVCC stakeholders, indicate significant gaps in the availability of affordable and safe transportation options, which residents of all ages need to access jobs, education, and other essential services. GLPVCC community stakeholders also indicated concerns regarding parking, traffic congestion, and adverse health effect due to poor air quality issues.

SankofaCity seeks to address systemic transportation, employment, education, and health care inequities suffered by disadvantaged South LA communities of color, by developing a community-owned and operated Zero Emissions Multimodal Transportation Ecosystem (ZEMTE) within GLPVCC neighborhoods. Grant funding will be used for regional job creation via local manufacturing, skills training, and the incremental implementation of mobility services, both passenger and delivery, within a GLPVCC ZEMTE. More specifically the SankofaCity project will engage in an exploration of the viability and implementation of regional manufacturing to serve as a platform for the rapid production of driverless EVs within a community tailored ZEMTE. A near term focus on the co-design and fabrication of L4- L5 driverless Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) fleets, utilizing rapid prototyping techniques for local manufacturing, will create opportunities for regional economic development, jobs, and skills training, as well as intellectual property and systems level best practices for implementation, maintenance, and operation of an ZEMTE owned and operated by the community served. The end goal is to organically grow a distributed network of integrated ZEMTE modules along designated LA transportation corridors each with a branded identity that meet the exacting mobility needs of the various stakeholders participating in neighborhood specific community design development exercises.

SankofaCity empowers South LA communities to self-sufficiently maintain ZEMTEs with CBOs and local Mobility Providers, collaboratively offering operational oversight and technical expertise; providing unique local economic development, intellectual property, jobs, and skills-training opportunities that socialize innovative mobility futures and track operational best practices. The goal is to sustainably operate zero-emission transportation-as-a-service while developing value add opportunities via cultural tourism, mixed reality experiences, online user experiences, and network marketing POS transactions. Utilizing revenue-sharing business models SankofaCity redistributes profits back into under-served Angeleno communities while providing community stakeholders with clean mobility options that mitigate dependencies on personal transportation, improve access to local resources, ease parking scarcities, minimize pedestrian fatalities, and proportionally alleviate environmental concerns.

The SankofaCity, ZEMTE application is based on a Community Needs Assessment formulated with extensive engagement with GLPVCC community stakeholders; desktop research on safety, infrastructure, and accessibility; and initial results of a quick-start pilot program that successfully expanded into a 2-year LACI ZEMCP sponsored Leimert Park Multimodal Transportation effort. Our proposal builds upon LACI ZEMCP best practices, directly responding to the GLPVCC community engagement with demand responsive shuttle service, and will measure successes based on local economic development, intellectual property generated, jobs created, and skills-training opportunities provided all stemming from mobility innovation exploration, in parallel with recently secured Clean Mobility Options grant 5-year funding.

CEDC/IMHP provides fiscal sponsorship for the SankofaCIty project. KAOS Network offers a way for the artistically talented and art enthusiasts of South Los Angeles to enjoy trans-media and multimedia art disciplines being offered in this vibrant community. KAOS Network creates a warm and open environment where everyone can participate and engage the material outcome of the work being presented. Often, at some basic level, this can be credited to the art and artist being a cultural asset to the community.