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US college and university students are being invited to submit their thoughts on the future of mobility in an ITS America scheme which offers a $1,000 prize. Submissions will be accepted until 14 April for the competition, which is sponsored by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). As well as the cash, the winner will get a paid trip to Washington, DC for the ITS America 2019 annual meeting on 4-7 June. They will need to write something on the topic: “How do you envision disruptive technologies impact

UK-based Swarco eVolt has named Anne Buckingham, former head of electromobility at Siemens, as head of sales – effective 11 February. Swarco eVolt, an electric vehicle (EV) charging business, also plans to launch a series of e-mobility products and services in 2019. It includes the release of new 100KW and 150KW versions of the Raption Rapid Charger, an all-in-one solution in which the power module is housed within the main unit. Justin Meyer, general manager at Swarco eVolt, says: “In 2018 we recorded a

Start-up Spark EV Technology has been chosen for the UK’s Intelligent Mobility (IM) Accelerator programme to further commercialise its artificial intelligence-based electric vehicle (EV) journey prediction software. The IM Accelerator, a partnership between Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) and Wayra UK, supports six start-ups in delivering solutions to improve the UK transport system. Each programme lasts for six months and is based in the English town of Milton Keynes. Spark’s journey prediction softwa

Traffic enforcement specialist Redflex Holdings says it expects no further legal action or new financial liabilities arising from investigations by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The action, which has rumbled on for several years, related to misconduct by former employees of US subsidiary Redflex Traffic Systems. The company signed a two-year non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the DoJ, which has now ended. Under the expired deal, the DoJ agreed not to charge the firm with any offence provided t

Traffic enforcement specialist Redflex Holdings says it expects no further legal action or new financial liabilities arising from investigations by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). The action, which has rumbled on for several years, related to misconduct by former employees of US subsidiary Redflex Traffic Systems. The company signed a two-year non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the DoJ, which has now ended. Under the expired deal, the DoJ agreed not to charge the firm with any offence provided the

Innoviz Technologies and Samsung Electronics subsidiary Harman International have teamed up to offer LiDAR solutions to car manufacturers. The companies – Innoviz the manufacturer and Harman the supplier – say their partnership will support the “unstoppable move towards semi- to fully-autonomous vehicles (AVs)”. Last year, Innoviz signed a serial production agreement with BMW. InnovizOne is a solid-state LiDAR sensor designed specifically for automotive deployments, with an emphasis on what the com

Volvo Group Venture Capital has invested in Momentum Dynamics – a company which provides wireless charging technology for commercial electric, connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs). Per Adamsson, vice president at the Volvo subsidiary, says: “High capacity charging up to 300 kW for trucks, buses, construction equipment, industrial and marine applications will support the electrified transition.” Wireless electric charging is expected to allow any vehicle to automatically connect to the electrical

Ojo Electric has launched an electric scooter which comes with a seat to serve as part of a ride-share service in Austin, Texas. The deployment stems from an agreement with Austin Commuter Scooter (ACS), a subsidiary of Bike Share of Austin. Elliott McFadden, executive director of Bike Share of Austin, says the service will link to public transportation needs while reducing carbon emissions and congestion. Ojo and ACS will share data on usage and ride trends through the scooter’s on-board telemetr

Daimler subsidiary Car2go has made its electric car rental service available to Parisian users in a 77km square area within the city’s Périphérique motorway. Drivers are charged between €0.24 to €0.34 per minute depending on the location and time of the rental, and can charge the vehicles at around 1,100 charging stations in the French capital. The details flesh out Car2go’s announcement last year of plans to deploy 400 electric Smart EQ Fortwo vehicles in the city. The company intends to add more ve

North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDoT) has won a major award for its work responding to Hurricane Florence last year. The organisation was the overall trophy winner – up against 60 other submissions - at the first annual Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) Awards, run by the US National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE). The gong was presented to Jennifer Portanova, NCDoT state systems operations engineer, at the 2019 Transportation Research Board annual meeting

The overwhelming majority of European road users want laws to protect their rights when it comes to the data their vehicle generates while driving. A new survey, by FIA Region I across 15 countries, found that 93% of motorists support the need for dedicated legislation to ensure their consumer rights and data protection. This is not to suggest that people have a problem with vehicle data per se – for example, 88% are happy to share remotely their location and vehicle status with roadside assistance provid

National mapping agency Ordnance Survey (OS) has joined forces with Mobileye, an Intel company, to deliver high precision road network location data in the UK. OS’ geospatial and technology resources will be paired with Mobileye’s automotive camera-based mapping capabilities to offer a location information service. The partnership, unveiled at Consumer Electronics show 2019 in Las Vegas, also seeks to use the data to support the rollout of connected autonomous vehicles, intelligent mobility and 5G.

Key players in the transport sector will debate the challenges faced by local authorities worldwide from new digitised platforms such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS) in a dedicated session at ITS International’s 2019 MaaS Market Conference in London this March. Taxi-hailing apps have already demonstrated the disruptive nature of new digitised transport services. As a result, some local authorities have struggled to retain control over issues such as traffic management and the vetting of taxi drivers and

US data company Streetlight Data is adding bike and pedestrian analytics to its existing StreetLight InSight platform. The move is an industry first, the firm insists, and means the movements of vulnerable road users (VRUs) can be measured along with those of vehicles. The new information will be available with a Multi Mode subscription to the product. “It is critical to develop a granular analysis of bike and pedestrian traffic to better see a complete picture of today’s complex mobility landscape