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Grab has added a new option to its GrabShare on-demand carpooling service in Singapore which it says provides passengers with better-matched rides. The new option requires users to wait up to five minutes to be allocated a ride. GrabShare’s system matches passengers’ rides with other parties upfront to help minimise detours and lower fares. It also comes with an ‘estimated time to destination’ feature that provides passengers an approximate time that they will arrive at their drop-off points prior to

NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) is working with AutoX to deploy large-scale robo-taxi pilots in Europe by the end of 2020. AutoX is to integrate its autonomous drive technology into a vehicle being developed by NEVS in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden. Jianxiong Xiao, founder of AutoX, says the company will create an artificial intelligence driver “tailored to the specific geolocation it is in; adopting local driving styles, while also navigating in urban and dynamic conditions”. The zero-e

PTV has partnered with Tatweer to set up a system that it says will allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to manage car dispatches to respond to emergencies. Dr. Atef M Garib, CEO, Tatweer, a professional services company, says the role of the dispatcher is to direct emergency response cars to help people who have called the centre for help. “Operators play a key role in making sure cars are dispatched and reach the incident destination on time avoiding traffic congestion delays,” Garib adds. PTV sa

Canada has signed an agreement with the US state of California to collaborate on developing cleaner vehicles and fuels. Catherine McKenna, Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, says: “Working together means a bigger market for clean cars in North America, giving Canadians more choices to save on fuel costs and cut pollution.” Both governments will develop regulations to cut greenhouse gas emissions from light-duty vehicles operating in Canada, California and the 13 other US states inclu

Island Roads has replaced around 40 parking terminals with solar-powered systems from Flowbird Urban Intelligence at a variety of locations across the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of the UK. Island Roads is responsible for the island’s highways network and associated services and selected the Flowbird Strada Rapide terminals in a bidding process. Flowbird says the machines are linked to its Smartfolio, allowing Island Roads to remotely monitor its estate while also providing parking and paymen

Boeing has joined forces with California-based Kitty Hawk with the aim of advancing air urban mobility. Steve Nordlund, vice president and general manager of Boeing Next, a subsidiary focusing on exploring urban air mobility, says the partners will focus on "safely advancing the future of mobility". Kitty Hawk's range of electric transportation solutions includes Cora, a two-seated air taxi, and Flyer, a vehicle for personalised flight. In January, Boeing completed a test flight of its autonomous

Software company Renovo has launched a data management platform to aid the development of autonomous and advanced driver assistance systems products. Speaking at the TaaS (Transportation as a Service) Conference in the UK city of Birmingham this week, Dennis Hamann, head of Europe at Renovo, says the Insight platform is targeted at the developers and data scientists in charge of “bringing these fleets to fruition”. “There's benefits of faster access to AV data, minimal error rates, complete traceabi

Didi Chuxing has joined forces with China Southern Power Grid (CSPG) to develop on-demand electric vehicle (EV) charging and automobile services across South and Southwest China. Didi, a ride-hailing firm, says the deal will allow its app users to access CSPG charging spots. CSPG has more than 100,000 charging points across China's southern regions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan, including the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay area.

Careem is to provide a transportation service to patients travelling to and from Saudi German Hospitals (SGH) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SGH is a provider of healthcare services located in the Middle East and North Africa region with hospitals located in areas such as Egypt and Dubai. Makarem Sobhi Batterjee, vice chairman, SGH, told the Saudi Gazette: “This agreement will help pave the way in addressing our patient’s transportation needs.” As part of the agreement, patients will receive 20%

Micromobility must focus on safety and lowering accidents as much as possible, says technology firm Trafi. Speaking at the TaaS (Transportation as a Service) Conference in the UK city of Birmingham this week, Sigrid Dalberg-Krajewski, head of marketing and communications at Trafi, says electric scooters can be unlocked by someone who is drunk or under the age of 18. “But it is not only about restricting usage, it is also about connecting cities in the suburban areas and how to incentivise these people

Volkswagen has launched an electric ‘free-floating’ car-share service called WeShare in Berlin. The fleet comprises 1,500 e-Golfs, and they are to be followed by 500 additional e-up!vehicles in the German capital at the beginning of next year. The first units of its full-electric ID.3 are due to be deployed in mid-2020, the manufacturer says. Initially, WeShare will cover around 150 km2 – in the city centre and beyond the city train ring line. The service costs €0.19 per minute but will increase to