Skip to main content

Avis launches mobility lab to test connected cars, Kansas City

Avis Budget Group (ABG) has launched a Mobility Lab to test a fleet of 5,000 connected vehicles across 20 car rental locations which include Kansas City International Airport, Nebraska’s Eppley Airfield and Lincoln Airport. The test aims to provide a seamless connection between Avis’ fleet management platform and its mobile app while creating opportunities to collaborate with municipalities on Smart City initiatives around the world. Passengers renting from airport and off-airport locations can make change
December 7, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

6454 Avis Budget Group (ABG) has launched a Mobility Lab to test a fleet of 5,000 connected vehicles across 20 car rental locations which include Kansas City International Airport, Nebraska’s Eppley Airfield and Lincoln Airport. The test aims to provide a seamless connection between Avis’ fleet management platform and its mobile app while creating opportunities to collaborate with municipalities on Smart City initiatives around the world.

Passengers renting from airport and off-airport locations can make changes, extend their rental as well as lock and unlock the car’s doors from their smartphone. 

The Mobility Lab will provide real-time inventory counts, mileage management and automated maintenance notification. The data collected aims to facilitate the enhancement of Avis’ fleet management capabilities as well as provide scalable benefits to increase the number of its connected vehicles.

Larry De Shon, president and chief executive officer, ABG, said: "Our Mobility Lab in the greater Kansas City area extends our next-generation mobility initiatives. The steps we're taking with connected car and smart technologies will increase customer satisfaction as well as reduce operational costs in the near term, while also preparing us to meet the evolving needs of consumers, entrepreneurs, corporations and governments, like the City of Kansas City, a recognized global leader for its Smart City advancements."

Related Content

  • December 3, 2018
    EVs & smart cities: Tritium keeps things moving
    Electric vehicles are widely expected to play a major role in the smarter, cleaner cities of the future. Paul Sernia explains why – and looks at the place of ultra-rapid chargers as part of a versatile public infrastructure Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely expected to play a major role in the smarter, cleaner cities of the future. With no dirty tailpipe, EVs can help improve the polluted air of inner cities. And when deployed as widely shared assets – through car clubs, ride-sharing services and taxi
  • October 11, 2016
    Mobile payment technologies for Australia
    Contactless technology, the ability to tap your bank issued card or enabled mobile device to make a payment, has brought speed and simplicity to the in-store shopping experience. Doug Howe explains how innovations, like Contactless, in the mobile and banking industries have the potential to transform public transportation. Q Why is public transportation ripe for transformation? A Today, more than half the world’s population lives in cities; that’s a figure set to increase to 70% by 2050. International
  • January 25, 2018
    Manchester seeks smart but not selective transport solutions
    Smarter transport relies on better communications both with travellers and between transport providers. Andrew Williams reports. Inrix’s prediction that the cost of traffic congestion will rise by 63% to £21bn per year by 2030 clearly illustrates that, in addition to the ongoing inconvenience and inefficiency, ongoing gridlock is a significant drain on the economy. It is against this backdrop that a Cisco-led consortium has launched CitySpire, a smart transport programme that uses location-based services a
  • November 15, 2013
    Rise of smart cities spawns market for smart vehicle technology in the US
    According to recent research by Frost & Sullivan, there is a palpable reorientation of purchasing habits among American citizens as the country continues its march toward urbanism. In the future, 85 percent of the country’s population is anticipated to live in urban areas, while North America could see the emergence of three mega cities, eleven mega regions, and seven smart cities by 2025. One of the biggest gainers of this massive-scale urbanisation is the automotive industry, particularly autonomous drivi