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Local Motors is trialling a free autonomous shuttle called Olli at a business park of 1,600 employees in the city of Rancho Cordova, California. During the three-month trial at the White Rock Corporate Campus, data will be gathered via rider surveys to understand the public’s sentiment around autonomous shuttles and their potential for easing congestion. The project is funded by a $90,000 grant from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments and a further $10,000 from the city Olli is available to camp

Engineering firm Parsons and its partners have launched a global smart cities challenge called Transforming Intersections aimed at reducing the time drivers spend at red lights. Chuck Harrington, chairman of Parsons, says: “Our goal is to give cities the opportunity to increase their mobility, reduce their carbon footprint through reduced idling of vehicles, and keep their city moving." Parsons says the winner will receive a one-year free trial of its Intelligent Intersection product, which allows ci

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) has presented its road safety awards to two individuals and four programmes in the US. Candace Lightner, president of We Save Lives - a non-profit organisation which focuses on reducing drunk, drugged and distracted driving - won the James J. Howard Highway Safety Trailblazer Award. She is also the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Ford Driving Skills for Life (Ford DSFL) global programme manager Jim Graham received the Kathryn J.R. Swanson Publi

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

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

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