Robin Chase

Change Agent, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Idea generator, Parent, World traveler, Writer/Editor

Robin Chase is a transportation entrepreneur. She is co-founder and former CEO of Zipcar, the world’s leading carsharing network; as well as less successful P2P carsharing, ridesharing, vehicle networking companies. Her recent book is Peers Inc: How People and Platforms are Inventing the Collaborative Economy and Reinventing Capitalism. She sat on the Boards of the World Resources Institute (12 years) Tucows (Chair for 6 years), the Dutch multinational DSM’s Sustainability Advisory Board (6 years). In the past, as well as on the boards of Veniam, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the French National Digital Agency, the National Advisory Council for Innovation & Entrepreneurship for the US Department of Commerce, the Intelligent Transportations Systems Program Advisory Committee for the US Department of Transportation, the OECD’s International Transport Forum Advisory Board, the Massachusetts Governor’s Transportation Transition Working Group, and Boston Mayor’s Wireless Task Force. Robin lectures widely, has been frequently featured in the major media, and has received many awards in the areas of innovation, design, and environment, including the prestigious Urban Land Institute’s Nicols Prize as Urban Visionary, Time 100 Most Influential People, Fast Company Fast 50 Innovators, and BusinessWeek Top 10 Designers. Robin graduated from Wellesley College and MIT's Sloan School of Management, was a Harvard University Loeb Fellow, and received an honorary Doctorate of Design from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

climate change, transportation, cities, wireless networks, income equality and evolving our current economies to become more democratic, sustainable and more just.

As cities become more dense, they are actively reducing the space allocated to personal private cars. In addition to walking, public transit, and shared taxis/cars, the rise of very small electric vehicles (preferably 1-, 2-, 3-wheels and less than 100kgs) can give everyone cheap, small footprint, zero pollution autonomous transport. Personal electric cars are NOT the future. Let's talk about it.

Climate Change, entrepreneurship, Transportation, wireless networks

I've spoken at TED twice before. Once on the promise of mesh networking ( April 2008, 500k views http://www.ted.com/talks/robin_chase_on_zipcar_and_her_next_big_idea.html) and since then I've co-founded a company that delivers on that (www.veniam.com). And again in April 2012, on the promise and realities of the sharing economy (1 million views, https://www.ted.com/talks/robin_chase_excuse_me_may_i_rent_your_car?language=en)

knitting, color, gardening