How a DOT with no transit history, no appetite for risk, and a skeptical public built a microtransit system that works ?

Arlington, Texas with 400,000 people, 99 square miles, 3 failed transit votes over 25 years— built citywide public transit for a fraction of the cost of conventional fixed-route transit. A ride is now available within a two-block walk of every resident.

I sits down with Daniel Ramot, CEO of Via, and Alicia Winkelblech, Director of Transportation for the City of Arlington, Texas, who lived the transition firsthand. Via now serves 800+ cities across 30+ countries, powering microtransit, paratransit, school bus, transit planning, and autonomous-vehicle networks, and went public on the NYSE in 2025.

This episode is for the practitioner staring at a bus network bleeding both ridership and budget. It walks Arlington's route from the inside: how to procure for outcomes instead of vehicles; how to de-risk a launch so a skeptical public will tolerate it; and whether on-demand transit can scale to meet the needs of growing cities, and what role it plays alongside fixed-route systems.

We also covers the role of AI in the next generation of public transit. How Via is using it to reshape planning, scheduling, and real-time decision-making for DOT and cities.

Adam Millard-Ball mapped walking and cycling across 11,587 cities in 121 countries. The results may surprise you: density and bike networks matter far more than climate, walking delivers most of the emissions gains, and your best peer city is probably one you've never studied.

If you want to join us live at Mobility Forum or receive updates, subscribe at ⁠⁠zhaojinhua.com/newsletter⁠⁠

Today’s episode is my conversations with three city leaders sitting at three different phases of AV deployment: Rachel Castignoli in Austin, Tilly Chang in San Francisco, and Stephanie Dock in Washington, D.C. We’ll walk each city in turn — the Wild West, the rulebook, and the capital.

Three cities, three phases of deployment — and the same three gaps: no data, no first-responder protocol, and no authority to fix either.

If you want to join us live at Mobility Forum or receive updates, subscribe at ⁠zhaojinhua.com/newsletter⁠