129: A Modicum of Transport with Horace Dediu

This week Oliver joins Horace to talk about his latest blogpost about his new transport metric - A Modicum of Transport. Developing new metrics is in some ways a provocation to remap how we thinks of new things, and change the framework for how the incumbents are viewed. This is no different. Like the horsepower before it, or the byte or Monthly Active User, we are trying to develop new nomenclature, metrics and ratios that sit around this phenomenon called Micromobility. They discuss the name, and would love your feedback on the concept, especially if there’s a name that you feel might be easier or more intuitive to understand. Specifically they dig into: - The historical importance of James Watt’s Horsepower and generally industrial measurements - Why new words and metrics can help us reframe the conversations - What the implications of a low MoTz score is in a city context (hint, it’s like free flowing water vs. sewage) - The next steps for adoption