After a good weekend in Las Vegas, MassDOT Secretary Richard Davey purchased a 1999 red Ford Explorer.
Matthew George, the 23-year-old founder of Bridj traded in his 2006 green Ford Escape for a gray hybrid model.
A rusty Volkswagen Beetle was current General Catalyst partner and former Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith’s first buggy.
Back in the day, the president of Magellan Jet, Anthony Tivnan, totaled his 1989 Plymouth Colt the first time he ever drove it to school.
And Thomas Glynn, the former general manager of the MBTA and current Massport CEO was behind the wheel of a 1961 Fiat, when it broke down in the middle of Storrow Drive at 4:30 in the afternoon.
These are the first-car experiences of the five panelists who participated in BostInno’s State of Innovation transportation panel Thursday afternoon, at the Westin Boston Waterfront. For 45 minutes, Davey, George, Griffith, Tivnan and Glynn – thought-leaders and innovators in local, statewide and national transportation – shared their takes on topics, ranging from the nation’s interstate highway system to the future of mass-transit.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m., the SOI transportation panel kicked-off. The panelists talked about the first cars they owned, then fittingly segued into a discussion about the highway system.
“Interstate highways have ruined cities,” Griffith said.
And “politics," Davey said, are preventing transportation policy talks from advancing.
Across the board, panelist agreed that the cost of owning a car makes investments in mass-transit necessary. “The time of everyone owning 1.5 cars is dying,” George said.
But to say, 10 years from now, cars will only be for the rich is “maybe an ambitious statement,” said Glynn.
Is Massachusetts – is the country – on track to solve its transit related energy problems?
“We are,” according to Davey, “but we’ve got a lot of work to do."
“We’re not doomed,” George added.
While innovations in transportation – like on-demand ride-sharing and pop-up bus services – may be spearheading a reduction in the amount of cars on the road, Griffith wasn’t convinced these alone would change the way the nation travels.
“Until gas prices double, we won’t see a change,” Griffith said.
None of the panelists feel the country is transitioning from a personal transportation society to a mass transit-oriented population. “I don’t see a shift nationally at all,” said Davey.
Tivnan believes innovations are happening in the mass-transit industry itself. “More personal” options like Bridj, Tivnan said, are making mass-transit more appealing to customers.
The panelists only had time to answer one question from the audience; it was the one many wanted to hear: What’s your take on uberX?
The panelists are big fans.
Image via MassDOT
