Shared Use Mobility Center
2024 - 2026 - $20,000 General Operating Support
SUMC’s vision is that ALL people have access to equitable, safe, reliable, and affordable transportation options, even if they don’t own a car. (This is regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, sexual identity, education, national origin, or any other distinguishing characteristic or trait.)
SUMC’s mission is to connect and equip change leaders advancing people-centered shared mobility systems to fight climate change, advance equity, and strengthen communities.
Current transportation systems prioritize cars over people, creating systems that are unjust, unsafe, and unsustainable. Car-centric infrastructure contributes to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and causes nearly 1.2 million deaths worldwide each year — disproportionately affecting people of color, older adults, and youth.
Across the country, mobility change leaders are working to build safer, more inclusive, and climate-resilient communities. But to scale their work and shift entire systems, these leaders often lack the capacity, resources, and connections they need.
This is where the Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) comes in.
Founded in 2014, SUMC is a 501(c)(3) public-interest nonprofit and international thought leader in equitable transportation. The organization connects and empowers changemakers building people-centered mobility systems that reduce emissions, advance equity, and strengthen communities.
Through applied research, SUMC deepens the field’s collective understanding of how shared mobility can advance equity and sustainability and maintains several high-impact dissemination platforms to ensure these insights reach the sector.
As a capacity builder, SUMC delivers tools, training, technical assistance, and consulting services to help practitioners implement people-first transportation solutions. Pilots and projects supported by SUMC include innovative approaches to paratransit challenges; first/last-mile solutions; jobs access pilots; mobility hubs in affordable housing; EV carsharing in disadvantaged communities; and more.
As a trusted convener, SUMC brings together leaders from the public, private, nonprofit, philanthropic, and academic sectors to drive innovation and systems change.
Since its founding, SUMC has helped secure over $90 million for mobility innovation and served as a technical advisor on nearly 150 pilot projects nationwide. The organization has supported both public agencies and community-based organizations in transforming transportation from the ground up. Its body of work includes over 1,500 publicly available resources and tools aimed at empowering the sector.
SUMC is a long-term partner of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and has worked with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and many public, private, and nonprofit clients.
SUMC’s vision is a future where everyone has access to safe, sustainable, reliable, and affordable transportation — even without owning a car.