UTC

Swedish company Voi has launched its electric scooters in Lisbon as part of a wider ambition to expand in Europe. In addition to Portugal, the company says it plans to bring its e-scooters to Italy and France over the coming months. Frederico Venâncio, general manager of Voi Portugal, says Voi riders in Sweden have travelled more than 450,000km in Stockholm, and the company expects to see similar growth in Portugal. “Although we want to expand rapidly, we want to do it in a sustainable way and in line

Ride-hailing platform Karhoo says that the number of taxis and private hire (PH) vehicles in London is set to decline as demographic and financial pressures bite. Taxis can be hailed in the street while PH vehicles can only be booked in advance, but both are struggling, Karhoo says in its submission to the Greater London Authority (GLA)’s investigation into the sector. The headline figures of a large increase in PH numbers in London - and claims of this being the cause of congestion - have obscured

McCain is to upgrade San Francisco’s traffic signal infrastructure through the introduction of 400 M advanced transportation controller (ATC) cabinets over the next three years. Reza Roozitalab, McCain’s vice president of hardware engineering, says: “Our M ATC cabinet features two front side-by-side doors, ideal for areas with narrow sidewalks so maintenance teams can work inside without completely blocking the walkway.” Also, the M ATC cabinets feature a ‘lamp out monitoring algorithm’ which identifies

Antaira Technologies has launched its ARS-7234-AC-T industrial wireless unit which is designed for indoor wireless access applications. ARS-7234-AC-T allows users to position the wireless antenna in a better signal-broadcasting location for improved wireless coverage and signal strength, the company says. The wireless unit has been released alongside the ARX-7234-AC-PD-T and ARY-7234-AC-PD wireless units for outdoor wireless applications. According to Antaira, all three units are embedded with Qualcomm

InDriver has launched its ride-hailing app in New York City (NYC) which allows the driver and passenger to negotiate lower fares. The app allows users to set a fare for a selected route. Nearby drivers receive the destination and fare and can either accept or bargain for more money. The passenger receives multiple offers from drivers, allowing them to make a choice based on fare amount, driver ratings, estimated time of arrival and vehicle make/model. The service is available to communities in Brooklyn,

VTT’s Technical Research Centre in Finland has carried out an experiment using the 5G mobile network to help improve road safety, control self-driving cars and assist road maintenance providers. The company says 5G networks and fast data transmission solutions can collect sensor, video and radar data from vehicles. Public funding agency Business Finland subsidised the VTT's 5G-Safe project. It is part of the Challenge Finland competition, an initiative which explores the use of augmented reality an

WSP USA has appointed Patrick McGowan, former head of ITS World Congress 2011, as mobility operations director. Based in the company’s Virginia office, McGowan will oversee the marketing, management and development of mobility operations such as ITS and tolling. McGowan has three decades of experience in leading national programmes, teams and major initiatives in the ITS industry. He designed and led the operation of TransGuide – the Texas Department of Transportation’s advanced traffic management operat

Luxembourg is to become the first country in the world to allow free travel for everyone on public transport.

Waymo has launched a driverless taxi service in Phoenix, Arizona, where riders will be charged for the journeys they take. In a blog post, CEO John Krafcik says the commercial self-driving service – called Waymo One - is available to early riders who have already been using Waymo’s technology. The company hopes to make the service available to more members of the public as it adds more vehicles and drives in more places, he writes. “Self-driving technology is new to many, so we’re proceeding carefully wi