Pioneering Mayors from the C40 network welcome their city’s participation in the Bloomberg Aspen Initiative on Cities and Autonomous Vehicles.
London, UK (24 October 2016) – Five mayors, today announced they will work together to prepare their cities for the emergence of autonomous vehicles. The inaugural cities participating in the Bloomberg Aspen Initiative on Cities and Autonomous Vehicles, announced today at the CityLab conference in Miami, are Paris, France; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Austin, USA; Los Angeles, USA; and Nashville, USA.
Four of these pioneering cities, Paris, Buenos Aires, Austin and Los Angeles, are also members of C40 and therefore committed to bold leadership on tackling climate change. As mayors welcomed the initiative they also highlighted the unique opportunity that autonomous vehicles offer in accelerating cuts to greenhouse gas emissions in their cities.
Five additional cities will be announced later this year and cities across the C40 network are encouraged to participate in the initiative.
Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute will galvanize experts and data to accelerate cities’ planning efforts, and produce a set of principles and tools that participating cities, as well as cities around the world, can use to chart their own paths forward.
“In Paris we are transforming our transport system to prioritize the health and welfare of our citizens,” said C40 Chair-Elect and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. “If managed properly, the arrival of autonomous vehicles will speed up that transformation whilst also helping cities to deliver on the ambition of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The Bloomberg Aspen Initiative on Cities and Autonomous Vehicles will be key in ensuring that this shift focusses on improving the lives of citizens.”
Sustainable urban transportation is a major priority for C40 and will be a key theme of the C40 Mayors Summit, in Mexico City from November 30th– December 2nd. The Summit will bring together the world’s most influential mayors, representing 650 million citizens to present their common goals for a sustainable future, one year after COP21 in Paris.