Fast Forward

Hosted by CoMotion

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Episodes

177

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Fast Forward is a bi-weekly podcast covering the revolution in urban mobility. Hosted by urban researcher Nick Perloff-Giles, each episode features a guest on the front lines of the transformation in transportation, along with fun and incisive commentary on that week’s news. Visit www.comotionla.com to find out more about our flagship gathering convening the top players shaping the future of mobility.

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60 recent

August 13, 202631 min

The Future of Batteries is Shared with David Hammer

Battery fires are a nagging (and growing) problem in New York City: while they've fueled the e-mobility-enabled rise of delivery apps like Doordash, they often exist in black market, underregulated spaces, where fires are common. But what if you disintermediated the system, by offering shared batteries swappable at a moment's notice? That's the model of PopWheels. Fast Forward host Nick Perloff-Giles sat down with co-founder David Hammer to discuss the company's success in moving towards a shared, safer battery future.

July 28, 202613 min

10 Years of CoMotion with former Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti

CoMotion has been in downtown Los Angeles for 10 years - in that time, self-driving cars have filled the roads, delivery robots crawl the sidewalks, and slowly but surely, a subway network is emerging. In this special retrospective conversation, founder and chief curator John Rossant sits down with former Mayor of Los Angeles and Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti for a discussion on what's changed in the last decade in the city, and what lies ahead.

July 16, 202637 min

The Future of Financing in the Gulf with Michael Mueller

On this episode, CoMotion founder and CEO John Rossant sits down with Michael Mueller of TASARU Mobility Investments, a Saudi Arabian fund looking at the future of mobility in the Gulf and beyond. They discuss current bottlenecks for new mobility deployment, what's specific about the regional context of Saudi Arabia, and how the country and fund are adapting strategies from around the world to innovate.

July 2, 202652 min

The World Cup is Here, the Olympics are Coming... is LA Prepared?

Imagine 7 super bowls in your city, every day, for sixteen days. That's what LA is poised to deal with when the Olympics arrive in 2028. How is the World Cup helping them prepare? On this special miniseries episode of the Fast Forward podcast, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with experts, advocates, and researchers Alissa Walker, Eli Lipmen, and Juan Matute to discuss everything that's gone right (and wrong) with the transportation planning of the World Cup, and everything to come for the Olympics.

June 17, 202626 min

Building at the Neighborhood Level with Vanessa Velasco

What if our urban planning started not with a metro stop or apartment, but with a neighborhood as the unit of analysis? On this episode, guest host and CoMotion co-founder Tim Gribaudi sits down with Vanessa Velasco, Habitat Chief Secretary of Bogota, to talk about her efforts to address Bogota's affordable housing through acquisition, home improvement, and rental housing programs. The ambitious plan aims to allocate 75,000 affordable housing subsidies and provide financing incentives to address the substantial housing deficit in Bogota.

June 4, 202634 min

Where the Smart Money is Moving with Reilly Brennan

On this episode of Fast Forward, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Trucks VC co-founder Reilly Brennan, for a conversation about where capital is going in mobility after the frothy days of the SPAC-heavy 2010s.

May 7, 202653 min

CoMotion MIAMI 2026 Retrospective with Mobility Matters

Take a look back at some of the most interesting conversations at CoMotion MIAMI 2026 on this special episode of Fast Forward, hosted this time by Javier Bettancourt of Mobility Matters!

April 21, 202624 min

CoMotion Miami 2026 Preview

A sneak peek of what's to come next week at CoMotion Miami 2026, plus a few standout moments from last year's panels.

April 7, 202630 min

Women Changing Cities with Melissa Bruntlett

For more than a century, conventional urban planning has prioritized the efficient movement of passengers from the core to the periphery. But what if this system ignores the transportation needs of most people? In this episode, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Melissa Bruntlett, author of "Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation", a book that showcases how female leaders are transforming cities through people-focused, sustainable, and inclusive urban design, using case studies from cities like Paris, Bogotá, and Manila to highlight their success in creating safer, more livable spaces.

March 24, 202622 min

What Do Sustainable Supply Chains Look Like? with Abhilasha Bhola

On this episode, host Nick Perloff-Giles sits down with Abhilasha Bhola, Director of the Auto Supply Chain Campaign at Public Citizen, to discuss their newest report, which identifies the leaders (and losers) in the race for transparency and sustainability in the electric vehicle supply chain.