News

Mercedes-Benz has supplied three fully-electric buses to German municipal transport company Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV) to help improve air quality in the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg. Dr. Peter Kurz, mayor of Mannheim, says: “The electrification of buses is now an important milestone on the way to a clean city and will make local public transport significantly more attractive.” The first eCitaro bus will operate in Heidelberg, travelling from the main train station to the Altstadt commuter rail stati

The project billed as the world’s first commercial hyperloop system is on course to open its first 10km section next year in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). In an interview Bibop Gresta, chairman of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, told Emirates News Agency that the average cost would be $20-40m per km. Despite the cost, he is confident that the scheme – which will eventually run for 150km between Abu Dhabi and Dubai – will pay for itself in “eight to 15 years”. “It will be paying for itself

A new alliance has formed to help governments and cities around the world integrate ride-hailing, dockless bikes and scooters and autonomous vehicles into communities. NUMO (New Urban Mobility Alliance) is to launch a range of pilot projects and will conduct public engagement research in cities which it hopes will serve as a guide to policy makers and the private sector. Zipcar co-founder Robin Chase, executive chair of NUMO’s steering committee, explained: “The pace of innovation and disruption on

Highways England has appointed a data specialist to advise the organisation, which manages England’s major roads. Janette Beinart, former interim chief information officer at investment business M&G Prudential, will join as a non-executive director. Colin Matthews, Highways England’s chairman, says: “Janette’s extensive knowledge and experience of applying big data and digitalisation to a changing business landscape will be tremendously valuable as we plan for the future and developments which can transfo

Vietnam’s deputy prime minister Truong Hoa Binh is calling on government ministries to better enforce traffic safety following deaths caused by drink- and drug-driving. Binh says the Ministry of Transport needs to scrutinise procedures for re-issuing driving licences, and to inspect the training and examination process for drivers at training centres nationwide. He is urging the Ministry of Public Security to direct traffic police units to increase checks and to deal with drivers who are over the blood-

Waymo, the company that began as Google’s driverless car project, has pledged to open a facility in Michigan, US, to produce advanced autonomous vehicles (AVs). In a statement, Waymo insisted: “This will be the world’s first factory 100% dedicated to the mass production of Level 4 AVs.” Level 4 automation means that no human interaction is required, and the vehicle is able to adjust in the case of things going wrong – but there is an option for manual override. This is still some way from Level 5, in

Israeli company ERM Advanced Telematics is improving its StarLink product to include add-ons which allow car-sharing companies to control and immobilise a vehicle to prevent unauthorised use. The StarLink telematics device serves as a foundation solution in which users can choose the DoorLock add-on or one of the company’s eCut immobilisation products. Called StarLink Tracker SF BT, the solution comes with Bluetooth communication as well as a driver behaviour feature. It uses sensors and Canbus integrat

Policy makers are working hard to make sense of a rapidly-changing mobility environment, according to a senior official from the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT). Ella Taylor, DfT’s head, future of mobility, Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (C/AV), says the pace of development in transportation modes, such as e-scooters (not currently allowed in the UK) and e-bikes (which are), presents difficulties for governments trying to create standards and laws. “Across the globe, different modes

Governor of Colorado Jared Polis has signed an executive order which outlines a suite of initiatives to support a transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEV) in the US state. Polis says: “Our goal is to reach 100% renewable electricity by 2040 and embrace the green energy transition already underway economy-wide” He believes the public health and environmental benefits of widespread transportation electrification will increase as the state moves towards a cleaner electric grid. The initiatives include

Tech giant Apple has cut 200 staff from its autonomous vehicle (AV) programme, Project Titan, according to US media reports. Apple is said to describe the changes to Project Titan as a restructuring move. CNBC quotes a company spokesperson as insisting: “We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever.” The Apple representative continues: “We have an incre

Ford has given no explanation for the decision to abandon its ride-sharing shuttle service Chariot, but said it came after “significant consideration”. The service will stop operating on UK shuttle commuter routes tomorrow – after just a few months - and on US routes after 1 February. All Chariot services will cease completely by the end of March. A statement from the company gave little clue as to why: “In today’s mobility landscape, the wants and needs of customers and cities are changing rapidly. We a

Bosch has received an automated driving system (ADS) permit from the Victorian government to test automated vehicle technology on high-speed rural roads in the south-eastern Australian state. Bosch is to use a $2.3 million grant from the Connected and Automated Vehicle (C/AV) Trial Grants Programme to develop the technology, which will be tested later this year. The C/AV programme funded through the government’s $1.4 million Towards Zero Action Plan – an initiative which provides guidelines on how V

The impact of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) on the taxi and private hire sector will come under close scrutiny at the 2019 MaaS Market Conference in London on 20-21 March. Lauri Suokannas, head of business development for Helsinki Taxis, will share his company’s experience in participating in the MaaS platform that has been operating in the city since November 2017. Not only are such services seen by many as the future for urban transport, globally MaaS is also predicted to replace 2.3 billion urban priv

Innovations such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS) will help to make transport more free-flowing for individuals – but that must not be done at the cost of society or the environment. That was the message from Paul Campion, CEO of the UK Transport Systems Catapult, speaking at the Westminster Energy, Environment & Transport Forum’s seminar on intelligent mobility this week. He told delegates at the London conference that innovations in the 20th century had put travel within reach of most people, and tha

More than two-thirds of people do not know what a smart city is - and around a quarter find the concept worrying due to lack of available information, says a new study. ATG Access surveyed 1,000 UK participants and found that just 24% of people in this category believe the concept would improve overall safety. Smart Cities: Turning the dream into a reality says educating the public on how smart cities can help solve challenges on traffic congestion will be key to solving consumer reservations. Of