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Current by GE is partnering with Nokia to bring smart city technology to Canada. The firms say cities will have access to digital technology to improve challenges such as parking, traffic management, public safety enhancements and monitor air quality. Through the agreement, Nokia will have access to Current by GE’s open data CityIQ platform, which will repurpose outdoor street lighting to collect data and distribute insights to cities. The combined digital solution is also expected to enable app develop

Connected autonomous vehicle software company Cohda Wireless has appointed Andrew McLean sales director for the Asia Pacific region and Joseph Pullin sales director covering the US. McLean will work at the company’s headquarters in Adelaide, Australia. He has over 20 years’ experience in the wireless and software industries and has worked for companies such as MediaTek, Digi and Ubinetics. Pullin will be located in Ann Arbour, Michigan. He has developed and implemented sales and marketing strategies f

London has the most electric vehicle (EV) charging points compared to 89 major global cities, says Spotahome. The home rental company has standardised data available for charging points and awarded the highest index score of 10 to the UK capital. The cities that came after London include Amsterdam (9.63), Rotterdam, (8.73), Berlin, (8.24) and Hamburg (7.2). However, Spotahome rated other cities in the UK such as Manchester in 18th place (1.76), Edinburgh 31st (1.1) and Leeds 35th (0.88). At to th

Uber’s self-driving cars are being manually driven on public roads in Pittsburgh after a fatal crash which prompted the company to pull out of its testing programme in North America. The company is trialling new safeguards which it says will improve vehicle fleet safety and performance. According to a report by Medium, Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies, says: “While we are eager to resume testing of our self-driving system, we see manual driving as an important first step in piloting thes

International Road Dynamics (IRD) will provide weigh-in-motion and data collection equipment to Total Innovative Security Solutions (TISSI) in the Philippines, in a contract valued $1m. The equipment will be used in vehicle control and road monitoring projects. Randy Hanson, IRD’s president and CEO, says the contracts underline the company's commitment and positive relationship with TISSI. The equipment includes portable weigh-in-motion axle weighers and high speed virtual weigh-in-motion systems. Th

Stagecoach will trial a single-decker autonomous bus at an unnamed depot in the UK by the end of the year. The vehicle’s sensor system could also help bus drivers operating the vehicle manually to detect cyclists and pedestrians in blind spots. The project is part of an agreement with bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis (ADL) and technology company Fusion Processing. Called ADL Enviro200, the bus will park and move into the fuelling station and bus wash at the depot in autonomous mode.

The Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) will deploy a two- and four-wheeler rental and ride sharing solutions to help improve access to six metro stations in Bengaluru, India. The service is also intended to alleviate congestion and will be available from August. This project stems from an agreement with the World Resources Institute (WRI) and will take place at Mysore Road, Yelchenahalli, Banashankar, MG Road, Indiranagar and Mantri Square stations. The partnership will present findings from the trial to t

Swarco subsidiary McCain has appointed former US Department of Transportation (US DoT) ITS Joint Program Office (JPO) leader, Mike Schagrin, program manager, connected and autonomous vehicles. He will direct the company’s connected and automated vehicle (CAV) effort. The CAV programme also includes vehicle to infrastructure and intelligent infrastructure offerings for business, academic and deployment activities. Greg McKhann, McCain’s chief operating officer, says Schagrin will help the company take

PTV has opened an office in Warsaw, Poland, with the stated aim of providing a local port of call for customers in transportation and logistics. The central and eastern Europe office will be run by newly appointed managing directors Peter Möhl and Martyna Abendrot. Möhl says: “We see a lot of potential in the Eastern European market for the development of master plans for smart cities with innovative mobility stations and services for the mobility of the future.” Möhl has worked for PTV at its German

BMW subsidiary ReachNow has integrated car sharing and ride hailing within its app in a bid to provide members in Seattle with an alternative to car ownership. The app allows users to access the company’s free-floating car sharing service ‘Drive’ and its ‘Ride’ ride-hailing option. For Drive, members can choose from a fleet of BMW, BMW I and Mini vehicles while paying by the minute, hour or day. Meanwhile, Ride offers a choice between an immediate, on-demand service or a scheduled pick up from 20 min

Chinese bike sharing company Ofo is scaling back its US operations and has laid off employees from multiple departments. The move, according to a report by Quartz, will allow the company to refocus on markets in a bid to become profitable. The start-up plans to continue operating in US cities such as Seattle, San Diego and New York. According to Quartz, the company is also leaving Australia and Israel and reducing operations in the UK. The company operates yellow bicycles which riders can rent thro