Hub | Jamey Tesler
Jamey Tesler recognizes the tension of being a founder in the mobility space: the juxtaposition of a grand vision with the pragmatic demands of early traction. He moves quickly to make introductions among the broad industry network Mass Mobility Hub is pulling together — connecting people at similar stages who are working on wildly different, but complementary, ideas. The bet Mass Mobility Hub is making, in a nutshell, is that the Massachusetts transportation and mobility sector can be built with the same intentionality and ecosystem thinking that turned the Commonwealth into a global biotech powerhouse.
After decades in public service — across the MBTA, MassDOT, and nearly every transportation mode in Massachusetts — he now leads Mass Mobility Hub, a new public-benefit corporation designed to create the conditions for a world-class mobility ecosystem. Tesler sees clear parallels to the life-sciences playbook: shared R&D infrastructure, coordinated public–private support, and early policy choices that give founders a predictable path to test, build, and scale.
In this conversation, he reflects on the lessons of that model, the public-health and climate stakes of mobility innovation, and what it will take for Massachusetts to become the top place in the country to build the next generation of transportation companies.
Can you start by explaining what the Mass Mobility Hub is and what drew you to lead it?
My background has been a mix, but mostly public service in Massachusetts — law, public policy, and a lot of transportation. I’ve worked across almost every mode here: MBTA, highways, rail, aviation, even the motor vehicle registry.
The lesson I took from my experience is: government has real limits on how much it can innovate on its own. We can make big infrastructure investments, but solving the harder problems — and really moving the needle — also depends on catalyzing private-sector innovation.
That’s what Mass Mobility Hub is built for. It’s part of a model Massachusetts has used successfully before — in life sciences, climate tech, robotics, fintech — where an organization is formed specifically to help entrepreneurs in a sector grow, connect, and get access to the resources they need. We’re now applying that model to mobility and transportation.
The idea that the Mobility Hub is modeled on life sciences is compelling. Can you walk through what actually happened there — what Massachusetts got right with biotech, and what you’re trying to replicate?
There’s a narrow version of that story and a broader one.
The narrow version is that Massachusetts built Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) that could help founders with early-stage R&D and connections. LabCentral is the best-known example. It gave early biotech companies access to shared lab space, expertise, and a pathway to scale.
The broader story is about how Massachusetts intentionally built that ecosystem. It started with world-class universities and a strong medical community. Over decades, those pieces combined with smart policy and targeted investment to create what’s now a best-in-class global life sciences sector.
There were key decisions along the way — like Cambridge’s ordinance that made it possible to build lab space safely. It wasn’t easy, but it created a predictable path to permit and operate those labs. That choice opened the door to everything you see now when you travel through Kendall Square.
For mobility, we’re asking: what’s the equivalent? What are the early-stage investments and policy decisions that can allow companies here to build, test, and commercialize new technologies?
Give me an example — a concrete parallel between biotech’s lab ecosystem and mobility.
Take batteries. They’re essential — for cars, aviation, bikes, even the grid. But to innovate in that space, you need to build and test prototypes. You need facilities where you can safely test to failure — and that means managing fire risk and safety.
It’s a lot of work and capital for an individual startup to build this on its own. So we need shared R&D infrastructure — the mobility version of LabCentral. Places where testing can happen safely and predictably.
That’s the lesson from biotech: you don’t make it “easy,” but you make it possible. You define the rules, create confidence, and build trust between innovators, regulators, and the community. That’s what unlocked biotech in the ’70s and ’80s, and we can apply that same principle to batteries, materials, and other technologies that power the mobility sector.
You’ve mentioned the environmental and health dimensions of this work. Why is innovation in mobility important beyond just economic growth?
Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. It’s also a major source of particulate pollution and noise — things that directly affect people’s health and quality of life, especially if you live near a highway or major corridor.
So when we innovate in mobility — when we make transportation cleaner, safer, and more efficient — we’re also improving public health.
There’s a safety dimension too. Forty thousand people died on U.S. roads last year. That number is staggering. Innovation — whether it’s in vehicle design, infrastructure, or data tools — can make a real difference there.
And then there’s choice: more options for how people move — bikes, e-bikes, shared mobility — all of which contribute to better wellness and sustainability outcomes.
Why Massachusetts, specifically? Does this have to happen in Boston or Cambridge?
We think of it as an ecosystem, not a geography. Massachusetts as a whole has what we need — universities, an existing industrial base, public agencies that are willing to partner, and a culture of innovation.
If you look at life sciences, yes, Cambridge is the epicenter, but Worcester has built its own thriving biotech cluster. We want that same distributed growth. Different kinds of companies need different spaces — some urban, some suburban, some rural. The goal is to make Massachusetts as a whole the best place to build and scale in mobility.
What’s the Mass Mobility Hub’s structure?
We’re a public benefit corporation. It’s a Massachusetts legal structure that allows us to operate like a nonprofit with a public mission — in our case, to support the growth of the mobility sector. We can’t generate profit, but we have flexibility to partner with both public and private entities.
We collaborate closely with others in the ecosystem — the MIT Mobility Initiative, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, Zipcar, SparkCharge, and more.
Our board includes leaders from each of those spaces. We also co-host events and workshops with universities and private partners. The goal isn’t to compete — it’s to complement and connect.
How are you navigating the current political and funding climate?
Like any sector, there are cycles — shifts in federal funding, changes in venture capital, evolving policies. There’s definitely been volatility this past year, especially in EVs and charging, while autonomy and AI are having a moment.
But our focus is on the longer arc, not the short-term weather. Down cycles can actually be great times for strong companies to emerge. Some of the most iconic startups were built during challenging periods.
So our job is to help founders stay connected — to resources, to each other, and to the broader picture — and to keep building through those cycles.
For founders who are just entering the space, what’s your advice?
Two things. First, make sure your passion is real. You’re going to get told “no” a lot. You’ll face resistance. The thing that carries you through that is conviction.
Second, find allies who aren’t in your exact lane — near peers. People building different but related things. It’s easy to get stuck in your vertical and go to all the same conferences as your competitors. But real breakthroughs often come from lateral thinking and from relationships outside your bubble.
We try to help with that — connecting founders who can learn from one another even if they’re in different corners of the mobility space.
Can you give an example of a current project the Mobility Hub is supporting?
A good one is Uberbinder — a startup from Oxford, England that’s developed a new process for mixing asphalt that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 25%.
They were looking for a place to conduct their first-of-a-kind field trial. Mass Mobility Hub attracted them to Massachusetts by helping them make it happen quickly — by engaging our network and bringing in our partners at BXP and the City of Waltham to identify a site, connect contractors, and coordinate the pilot.
The field trial took place in August, and now it’s being monitored for durability and performance. It’s exactly the kind of thing that takes time and collaboration, but if it proves out, it could have huge implications for sustainability in public infrastructure.
Imagine a perfect scenario. Ten or twenty years from now, Mass Mobility Hub achieves everything it set out to do. What does success look like?
In the next few years, we want to see companies break through — grow to meaningful scale, create jobs, and anchor the sector here. That’s what starts the flywheel.
Over time, we want a true ecosystem — founders, investors, engineers, manufacturers — all rooted in Massachusetts, creating their own network effects. That’s what happened in the life sciences. People built great companies, then left to start new ones, and the whole system became self-sustaining.
If we do this right, Massachusetts will have a mobility sector that’s not only an economic driver, but one that measurably improves safety, health, and climate outcomes locally and globally. That’s the vision.
Jamey Tesler is currently the executive director of the Mass Mobility Hub, a public benefit corporation with a mission to support mobility and transportation companies in their growth and accelerate change in this sector. Previously, Jamey served as Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, where he was responsible for a fully multimodal state transportation department, oversaw the leadership of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and served on the board of the Massachusetts Port Authority.
The Mass Mobility Hub was created in late 2023 with a mission to bring together leading mobility companies, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and thought leaders to advance sustainable transportation solutions. Mass Mobility Hub seeks to create a dynamic ecosystem that fosters collaboration, innovation, and economic growth in the Commonwealth and beyond.
Written by Chessin Gertler with Jamey Tesler