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Siemens Mobility is working with its subsidiary Bytemark to provide a common payment solution for the Smart Columbus travel app in Ohio. Smart Columbus - a joint venture with the city and Columbus Partnership - is utilising government grants and private investment from mobility projects to improve the region's transportation system. Siemens says the system allows users to pay for public and private mobility services including bicycles and scooters. Michael Stevens, chief innovation officer for the

Conduent Transportation has won two contracts to upgrade the hardware and software for the management system on hundreds of buses in Southern California. Conduent is to provide its computer-aided dispatch/automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL) solution to buses belonging to the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and North County Transit District (NCTD), as well as key portions of Orange County Transportation Authority’s (OCTA) system. John Peracchio, Conduent’s interim CEO, says: “The newer syste

Optimus Ride is operating an autonomous vehicle (AV) service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York and expects to transport more than 16,000 passengers per month. The 300-acre industrial park has more than 400 manufacturing businesses and 10,000 employees on site. Dr. Ryan Chin, Optimus co-founder, says the system will “provide access to and experience with autonomy for thousands of people, helping to increase acceptance and confidence of this new technology”. Optimus is operating six AVs between the NY

Q-Free has unveiled a product which it says could save agencies tens of thousands of dollars when they upgrade signalised intersections. The Intelight Device Manager allows transportation agencies to remotely schedule firmware updates in bulk without putting an intersection into flashing red mode, the company says. Traditionally, technicians travel to each intersection and perform the update by putting the intersection in flash, a potentially hazardous scenario for technicians and motorists. The n

Swiss software company Teralytics has raised $17.5 million to offer mobility insights to more countries. The company is building a platform to provide advanced mobility analytics powered by telecom network data. Using data science and proprietary machine learning algorithms, the solution is expected to provide actionable mobility insights to help cities improve journeys across all modes of transport and optimise the location of electric vehicle chargers. Investors included Robert Bosch Venture Capital,

All Traffic Solutions (ATS) has launched a flood detection and warning product which it says can be used by transit authorities, municipalities and law enforcement agencies. ATS CEO Andy Souders says: “The FloodAlert detection and notification system leverages the latest advancements in technology to keep the public informed 24/7 in the event of flooding, and provides a holistic view of environmental, road and facility conditions.” ATS says the cloud-based system uses its ultrasonic sensor, existing infr

Here technologies has partnered with Citi Logik to help cities in the UK manage their environments without relying on hardware infrastructure. Here is to integrate its real-time traffic and speed data with the mobility company’s CitiAnalytics tool, which helps cities better understand traffic jams, air quality and people movement. Dieter Lange, director sales, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia, says City Lojik’s analytics can help cities “improve urban planning, relieve congestion and curb pollution

Electrify America has joined forces with Stable Auto to deploy a robotic charging solution for self-driving electric vehicles (EVs) at a demonstration site in San Francisco. The partners are hoping to charge autonomous EVs without human intervention using a robotic solution attached to a 150kW DC fast charger. The site is expected to open in early 2020. Electrify America will evaluate the hardware, network, operations and billing of its charging systems to best suit autonomous charging fleets. It has pro

Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority and the city’s police say they will use traffic solutions to secure the movement of participants and visitors for the Dubai World Expo 2020. The announcement came following a meeting on a five-year plan aimed at improving road safety and public transport, where they also discussed improving traffic safety in school districts and raising awareness through programmes for the academic year 2019-2020. Both parties agreed that the seizure of trucks and vehicles parked in t

ViaVan and public transport company Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) have launched a last-mile service that connects people to railway stations in rural areas outside the German capital. ViaVan says each vehicle operating under the ‘BerlKönig BC’ service will be able to carry up to 18 passengers to U-Bahn railway stations, which are traditionally underserved by fixed-route services. Riders will be able to pre-book rides via the BerlKönig BC mobile app up to one month in advance, and the fleet includes whe

Tata Power is working with Tata Motors to install 300 fast-charging electric vehicle (EV) stations across five cities in India by 2020. Praveer Sinha, CEO Tata Power, says: “We are committed to making India EV ready in line with the government’s ambition of providing green technology solutions and Tata group’s vision of reducing India’s carbon footprint.” The partners inaugurated the first seven charging stations in the city of Pune and will install 45 more in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. These

Ford Smart Mobility (FSM) has acquired technology company Journey Holding to help cities deliver more accessible transportation systems. Journey Holding will integrate its software solutions with FSM's TransLoc, a provider of technology solutions for on-demand and fixed route systems for public and private transit operations. Brett Wheatley, vice president of FSM marketing and growth, says: “It also will be key to connecting customers with the other mobility solutions in our portfolio, such as Spin e

The government of Canada is investing CAN$2.5 million over five years to tackle drug-impaired driving in the province of Prince Edward Island. The move is part of a CAN$81 million package to support public and road safety activities. Funding will help train more police officers in standardised field sobriety testing and drug recognition expert evaluation. The money will also be used to purchase approved drug screening devices and develop standardised data collection and reporting practices to analyse

Wayne State University in Michigan is to open a centre for advanced mobility to offer more degrees and certificates in autonomous driving, smart infrastructure and electrification. Farshad Fotouhi, dean of the Wayne State College of Engineering and Computer Science professor, says: “The Center for Advanced Mobility will be the epicenter for academic and start-up activity in the mobility sector for students, researchers, and global corporate partners in Detroit.” The Center for Advanced Mobility will utili

Micromobility firm GetCharged has unveiled a charging and docking station for electric scooters in New York City. Andrew Fox, GetCharged co-founder, says cities continue to use micromobility as an option to “ease pressures on public transportation and congestion”. "However, significant pitfalls remain with the dockless model, such as cluttered streets and sidewalks and the risk of fire when charging multiple scooters in residential buildings, he continues. “Charge provides vital infrastructure for riders