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Google is improving its SOS alerts by adding visual information about natural disasters and a navigation system on Google Maps. Google says the upgrade will extend the capabilities of the SOS alerts to provide crisis information via relevant news stories and Twitter updates from local authorities to include detailed visualisations about hurricanes, earthquakes and floods. In the days leading up to a hurricane, users will receive a crisis notification card on Google Maps warning them if they are in its p

Rekor Systems is to launch a camera recognition solution which it says is designed to read the vehicle make, model, number plate, colour and body type. The Rekor Edge solution comes with an accuracy rate exceeding 99% and is suitable for parking and law enforcement, the company adds. Rod Hillman, chief operating officer of Rekor, says: “With Rekor Edge, we’re democratising vehicle recognition solutions by bringing a cost-efficient and user-friendly solution to potential markets.” According to Rekor, the

Perfect Data has launched a ride-hailing app across the UK which it says will provide local authorities with a map of all vehicles operating in their areas. Darren Tenney, founder of Perfect Data, says Xooox [pronounced ‘Zooks’] will allow regulators to see what’s happening at street level. “At last they will have the power to take action against unlicensed, banned or out of jurisdiction drivers,” he continues. “This will not only help keep passengers safe, it will help protect the income of the hundred

Getting vision tech to ‘off-grid’ areas is a challenge - but Hikvision has come up with an answer in China, while also handling some rather more conventional smart cities work in Germany

Alerts for natural disasters are ones that most of us would rather do without, writes Adam Hill. But the ITS industry still needs help to deal with more common meteorological issues Google Maps has added SOS alerts to its service. For those of us more used to using the phone app to navigate from a metro station to an unfamiliar restaurant, this may seem extreme. But this is not what Google has in mind. Its SOS messages are for “hurricane forecast cones, earthquake shake-maps and flood forecasts”. That

Cycling is good for us for any number of reasons. David Crawford finds that it is now possible to access basic, low-cost data which will help make the economic case for improving infrastructure Cycling is enjoying a favourable press the world over as a ‘good thing’ in the economic, environmental and social spheres. A recent study on the Value of Cycling from the UK’s University of Birmingham, for example, shows that cycle-friendly urban settings can deliver annualised transport infrastructural support co

Autonomous vehicles are changing a lot of things: Aptiv’s Christian Schäfer suggests that we need to look again at traditional approaches to vehicle architecture to find viable options for the future

Wayne State University in Michigan is to open a centre for advanced mobility to offer more degrees and certificates in autonomous driving, smart infrastructure and electrification. Farshad Fotouhi, dean of the Wayne State College of Engineering and Computer Science professor, says: “The Center for Advanced Mobility will be the epicenter for academic and start-up activity in the mobility sector for students, researchers, and global corporate partners in Detroit.” The Center for Advanced Mobility will utili

Micromobility firm GetCharged has unveiled a charging and docking station for electric scooters in New York City. Andrew Fox, GetCharged co-founder, says cities continue to use micromobility as an option to “ease pressures on public transportation and congestion”. "However, significant pitfalls remain with the dockless model, such as cluttered streets and sidewalks and the risk of fire when charging multiple scooters in residential buildings, he continues. “Charge provides vital infrastructure for riders

The evidence base for distracted driving has failed to keep up with technological developments, argue TRL’s Neale Kinnear and Paul Jackson. New research is urgently needed

The Toyota Mobility Foundation is to carry out a study on using connected car data to inform road maintenance in Akaiwa City, Japan. The study will combine connected car data and image data from vehicle video cameras to help local governments shorten lead time to uncover dangerous road infrastructure issues. As part of the study, Toyota held a conference with Okayama University and the city’s police to develop a sustainable low-cost system for road maintenance. Other topics included traffic safety, tr

EHang, an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) company, is to carry out an urban air mobility pilot in the city of Guangzhou, China. Hu Huazhi, founder of Ehang, says the pilot will explore “the various meaningful ways in which AAVs can solve some of the stressors our congested cities face.” EHang will help the Guangzhou government establish a command centre to help ensure that multiple AAVs can fly safely. In addition, the company intends to help the city build up the basic infrastructure to support u

The future of mobility…sounds exciting, doesn’t it? But try to define it and you soon find it’s like putting a fence round a cloud. What will it look like? When will we get there? Who decides? And why are we still not wearing jetpacks? Maybe next year. The Royal College of Art in London does not seem like the most obvious place to look for hard-headed thinking on these things. But it has a long heritage in designing beautiful cars – and it is also home to the Intelligent Mobility Design Centre, which is lo

ADN Mobile Solutions has developed Bled, a technical solution which – in conjunction with bespoke training and gamification tools – is designed to help bus drivers improve their driving efficiency. The goal is to reduce public transit emissions and provide cost savings, monitoring the way that vehicles are driven, and picking up on activities such as sharp braking or acceleration, giving personalised recommendations based on driving context. Electronic and mechanical data from buses is analysed and pres

ChargeWheel has secured $1 million in funding to launch a mobile electric vehicle (EV) charging network in the San Francisco Bay Area. The network will be based on ChargeWheel’s mobile Energy Trailers, which don’t require a connection to the grid, and can therefore operate in any car park. The company says they offer a combined solar-powered generation and energy storage solution, and plans to deploy 100 in the Bay Area by the end of 2019. The units can simultaneously charge four EVs or up to 400 elec

EVgo has deployed Autocharge technology in North America in a bid to allow customers to charge electric vehicles (EVs) without using apps or credit cards. Autocharge instantly recognises the EV and begins charging automatically, the company says. It is being launched on EVgo’s dedicated Maven Gig network – which offers rental cars for drivers who need a car to work for ride-share and delivery services. The technology will be rolled out across the US by the end of 2019 to all EVgo account holders with

Bolt, the ride-share company which was formerly called Taxify, has launched electric kick scooters in central Madrid. The firm piloted the vehicles in Paris last year – making it the first to combine scooter-sharing and ride-hailing together in one mobile app, Bolt claims. “Beating the traffic is a big issue in cities like Madrid and a lot of trips are much more efficiently covered with an electric scooter rather than a car with a driver,” says Markus Villig, CEO and co-founder of Bolt. He says t

Flowbird has deployed touchscreen terminals at three park and ride sites in the UK city of Durham, allowing users to pay for multiple tickets in a single transaction. The company says its Cale Web Terminal Touch product, installed by scheme operator NSL, is reducing queues at Belmont, Howlands Farm and Sniperley sites. The terminals, installed by scheme operator NSL, allow users to pay via coin, credit/debit card as well as Apple Pay and the Android equivalent. The system’s back office allows users to in

Connected vehicle company Geotab has announced the availability of GeoTach by Evestel on its Marketplace to help fleets remotely manage driver and vehicle tachograph data. A vehicle’s tachograph automatically records speed, distance travelled and driver activity. Developed by technology company Evestel, the solution provides a remote data downloading system for European Tachographs which integrates with Geotab’s telematics solution. Geotab says this integration allows fleets to host intelligence from

Family-owned business Feiring Bruk, which operates primarily in eastern Norway where it has 10 sites extracting and producing crushed stone, gravel and asphalt, has announced an 88% reduction in fines as a result of its wet processing plant commissioned with CDE.