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Drivewyze is extending its safety notification service by adding mountain corridor safety alerts to more than 100 locations in 20 US states. The technology company says drivers receive in-cab alerts on safe locations to pull over to inspect brakes and prompts to change to a lower gear while showing suggested maximum speeds down steep grades. Product manager Charlie Mohn says: “All of the mountain passes included feature grades of 5% or higher. With our mountain safety alerts, our goal is to help drivers

A collaboration led by Nokia Bells is extending smart poles beyond the LuxTurrim5G project in the Finnish city of Espoo to a nearby residential area called Kera. The LuxTurrim5G project seeks to develop and demonstrate a fast 5G network based on smart light poles at Nokia’s campus. The new smart poles will support Sensible4’s autonomous bus Gatcha operating between this area and Kerra railway station. Juha Salmelin, LuxTurrim5G project coordinator from Nokia, says: “During the project, we have learned a

Connected vehicle data specialist Wejo and traffic management firm Waycare are to collaborate on a deal in Nevada. Part of an existing programme in the US state, Waycare will use the data “for more accurate traffic management solutions” and there are plans to extend the arrangement to other areas of the US. The companies say Wejo’s data will supplement Waycare’s existing traffic data sources, providing agencies with a comprehensive overview of conditions on the roads. The theory is that this will allo

Ride-share firm Lyft is seeking to head off concerns over passenger safety by requiring its drivers to take a ‘community safety’ course. Lyft has partnered with non-profit anti-sexual assault organisation Rainn, and drivers will be required to complete an education course designed by both parties. Riders and drivers must agree to Lyft’s community guidelines on behaving with care and respect. Passengers reported for violating these will be removed from the platform while drivers will be required to take add

Sleeping while a driverless car speeds you to your destination has long been touted as the dream of the new technology – and something of a nightmare for safety campaigners. A new video from the BBC shows exactly what happens if a driver falls asleep in an autonomous vehicle (AV). In the filmed test, the AV prompts the driver to resume control when approaching roadworks on a motorway. When the driver fails to act, the vehicle comes to a halt and automatically parks in a lay-by. Motor industry research

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) in Australia has chosen Unisys to provide facial image processing technology for the state’s smart card driver licences.

Microsoft is inviting autonomous vehicle (AV) start-ups to take part in a programme which offers access up to $120,000 of free Azure cloud computing platform. The Microsoft for Startups: Autonomous Driving programme will provide participants with access to Azure’s autonomous driving capabilities and one-to-one sessions with Microsoft cloud engineers. The company says members will have opportunities to expand their network by joining Microsoft’s autonomous driving ecosystem. Microsoft says current partner

Business life may be about to get trickier for transportation network companies following the passing of a new law in California which aims to give gig economy workers more rights. Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which is due to come into effect in January next year, says that “a person providing labour or services for remuneration shall be considered an employee rather than an independent contractor” - unless three points are proved. One, that “the hiring entity demonstrates that the person is free from the con

Swedish telematics company TelliQ has acquired part of GPS tech firm Axtech in a move which it says increases its customer base by 20%.

TelliQ will take over the Axtech’s RedKnow Driver Log, which documents vehicle routes, and a fleet management solution called Live Pro Fleet.

Åsa Eklund, CEO of Axtech, says TelliQ’s “product range and industry knowledge in the fields of Internet of Things and connected vehicles will provide our customers with good and modern solutions and products”.

StreetLight Data is making annual average hourly traffic (AAHT) counts and monthly annual daily traffic (MADT) counts available to transportation planners via its cloud-based software platform InSight. The company says AAHT and MADT help identify and forecast traffic conditions for specific days or months of the year. StreetLight co-founder Laura Schewel says: “Transportation planners have always found it difficult to deliver accurate monthly and daily traffic data due to technological constraints, increa

Ertico – ITS Europe has announced it is to hold the first-ever Central Eastern European Congress next year. Hosted by the city of Kazan, in south-west Russia, the event will focus on cooperation with Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (which comprises a number of countries formed after the break-up of the Soviet Union) and Central Eastern countries, says Ertico. It will take place in Kazan, Tatarstan on 21-24 September 2020 and there is a preview of the event in the city next month, on 3-4 Oct

The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) has updated a guide which it says helps US cities regulate and manage micromobility companies. NACTO president Seleta Reynolds says: “NACTO’s guidance provides crucial steps for cities to ensure that new mobility options benefit the public good, from best-practice data management to real-world examples on coordinating across neighbouring municipalities.” Guidelines for Regulating Shared Micromobility covers options for regulation for microm

A connected vehicle project in the US state of Wyoming has developed an open-source application to allow third parties to monitor safety along the I-80 highway. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDoT) Connected Vehicle Pilot includes the deployment of 75 roadside units (RSUs) along 400 miles of I-80. WYDoT’s app allows authorised transportation management centre (TMC) operators to monitor and manage each RSU on the route – and can also be used to let the travelling public know what is happening.

Volocopter has raised €50 million to help commercially launch its VoloCity air taxi within the next few years. Automotive company Zhejiang Geely Holding led the funding round and is partnering with Volocopter to develop urban air mobility in China. Li Shufu, Geely Holding chairman, says: “Geely is transitioning from being an automotive manufacturer to a mobility technology group, investing in and developing a wide range of next-generation technologies.” Looking ahead, Volocopter expects to close

BlackBerry has extended its agreement with Jaguar Land Rover to provide artificial intelligence and machine learning technology for the automakers connected vehicles.