Ford Mobilize New York: Grand Final

Last week saw the conclusion of the Mobilize New York challenge. We were delighted to welcome finalists, judges, partners and members of the public to the FordHub in the Westfield World Trade Centre on Wednesday for a busy and buzzy Grand Final event.

This was the culmination of a huge amount of engagement with our online community of over 1200 people who have been sharing ideas, insights and experiences of travelling around New York City in response to two challenges:

  1. The Travel Smarter Challenge – What would encourage people to explore smarter travel choices in New York City?
  2. The Greater Access Challenge – How can transportation around New York City be more accessible to everyone?

Our 10 finalists all had a poster showcasing their idea and spent the day discussing and sharing their ideas with members of the public. And the day culminated in giving short pitches – 7 in person and 3 via video – to our judging panel of city and transport experts (from left to right in image below). Thanks to each of them for volunteering their time!

  • Pat Foye – Executive Director of the Port Authority New York New Jersey
  • Sam Schwartz – President and CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering
  • Tom Wright – President Regional Plan Association
  • Scott Corwin – Managing Director and Future of Mobility Practice Leader, Deloitte
  • Jessica Robinson – Director City Solutions at Ford Smart Mobility

And huge Congratulations to all of the winners of the various challenges and prizes, as follows:

Lastly, thanks to our amazing volunteer photographers who captured the essence of New York on a weekly basis throughout!

  • NY Character Photography 1st Place Marek Rygielski
  • NY Character Photography 2nd Place Vicente Martinez
  • NY Character Photography 3rd Place Mohammed Shumon

We would like to thank everybody who participated throughout the course of the challenge, which was delivered through a fantastic group effort from Ford, 100%Open and Sam Schwartz Engineering.

The Mobilize New York Grand Final event was a fantastic celebration of creativity and ideas of the Mobilize New York community. The energy and enthusiasm is inspiring – take a look at what one of the finalists Rafe (aka @therollingman) had to say on instagram here.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve actually been able to stand next to something that I’ve created… it’s one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me.” Rafe Alomar (aka The Rollingman)

We will work hard to make sure many of these ideas will now go on to become a reality and make it easier and better for more people to travel around this wonderful city.

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