Autonomy Summer Series - Part 2

Welcome to the second edition of the Autonomy Weekly Summer Special. To save you time during the holiday season we bring you headlines from the industry. Relax and enjoy the emissions-free ride.?

The Autonomy Weekly Summer Special is an Urban Mobility Weekly limited edition series featuring the latest news on mobility, in an all you need to know format.

Highlights of the Week -?Featured Content???

Uber Under Kalanick ??

One of the biggest headlines this week deals with the international investigation into Uber's business under its co-founder Travis Kalanick. Reports suggest that under Kalanick Uber had a ‘kill switch’ to obstruct justice, that they exploited the French taxi protests, and did a secret deal with Macron while he was the Minister of the Economy.

Macron’s opposition in France is already capitalising on this narrative by claiming he is against workers’ rights.

Thankfully, current CEO Khosrowshahi cleaned up after Kalanick. Regardless, Uber was instrumental in breaking the close relationship between city authorities and taxi fleets; which one would have seemed like an impossible undertaking.?

We pose the question: was it worth the illegal actions of Uber to break up the taxi monopolies?

Welcoming Driverless Machines ???

Shenzhen, China, is in the headlines for green lighting fully autonomous vehicles on certain roads designated by the traffic management department. The measures, which remove all human oversight over these AVs, take effect on August 1st.

To feed this demand, Mercedes teams up with Tencent Cloud Computing to develop AVs for the Chinese market.

Europe is not far behind. Last week, the European Commission applied the new Vehicle General Safety Regulation throughout the EU. This Framework is aimed at improving road safety and providing clarity on driverless vehicles.

Margrethe Vestager, Executive VP of the EU, and driving force behind the EU’s political priority Europe Fit for the Digital Age said, "Technology helps us to increase the level of safety of our cars. The new advanced and mandatory safety features will further help reduce the number of casualties. Today, we are also making sure that our rules enable us to safely introduce autonomous and driverless vehicles in the EU in a framework that puts the safety of people at the centre.”

Turkish bus manufacturer Karsan and the Norwegian transport authority, Kolumbus, have reached level 4 autonomy on the public roads of Stravanger, which is in south-western Norway. Policymakers might be ready for these vehicles, but this pedestrian certainly isn’t.?

In Short, industry news summed up for you ??

1. Active Mobility

• New data published this week by CONEBI reveals that European electric bike sales topped 5 million in 2021, with total bike sales (including both electric and non-electric) at a record 22 million, boosting job-creation.?
• POC announces a partnership with Autoliv, to develop airbag helmet technology.
• French retailer Decathlon has revealed a futuristic e-bike concept titled the 'magic bike'.
• Aike, an e-scooter startup, is putting sustainability first, announcing they will design and assemble units entirely in Europe using renewable energy and USB-C charging capabilities, with a 10 year guarantee.
• Hourbike partners with Fifteen to expand its operations in the UK.
• Momentum continues to build for a pan-European cycling plan as MEPs such as Karima Delli hint at a major announcement on an EU-wide cycling declaration and inclusion of cycling in the EU's industrial strategy.

2. Mass Transit

• The world's lowest energy per kilometre rail vehicle has recently been unveiled in Nancy.
• America’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued a notice for states to track and reduce GHG emissions, requiring state departments of transportation & metropolitan planning organisations to establish a declining carbon dioxide target.
• Last week, we discussed Deutsche Bahn’s 9-Euro-Ticket and some of its weaknesses, but Tomtom data suggests the initiative has led to a decrease in rush hour traffic in 23 German cities.?

3. Smart Mobility Cities

• Plymouth wants its residents to go green, hence the city council is investing in over 50 mobility hubs. Could Plymouth become the world’s capital of mobility hubs?
• Taiwan is leveraging its expertise in IT hardware and manufacturing to become a leader in competitive smart city solutions such as IoT.
• Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) has opened a mobility hub in Berlin, partnering with Tier, Voi, Lime, Bird, Sigo, Miles Mobility and Mobileeee.??

4. Green Fleets

• Volkswagen and its partners will invest over €20 billion into battery cells.

5. Shared Mobility

• Go sharing will expand its fleet in Milan with an extra 500 e-mopeds.
• RideMovi has partnered with Free Now, and now their fleet of 8,000 e-bikes are available via the Free Now app.
• Voi expands their offering to Birmingham, just before the Commonwealth Games starts there in late July.
• Motul, a producer of oils and lubricants, invests €10 million into Troopy.

6. Urban Logistic

• As petrol prices surge throughout the UK, cargo bike sales soar.
• Rising sea levels and intense rain may present challenges for charging station infrastructure. In America, new federal regulations would require charging networks funded under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program to consider the risks of locating chargers in areas subject to 100-year floods.
• Daimler Truck, TRATON & Volvo coordinate to kickstart their European Charging infrastructure project.
• A series of flight demonstrations will test how drones and manned aircraft can operate safely within cities.
• Via launches shared rides in a limited area of Chandler, Arizona.
• Yoshinoya, a Japanese fast food chain has partnered with Zeek, an on-demand logistics tech platform to expand their business offering into Hong Kong.
• Stratio, a software company specialising in AI and machine learning models, has signed a framework agreement with Keolis to enable predictive fleet maintenance and remote diagnostics across its fleet, which operates in 14 countries.

That's all for this week, if you want to keep these weekly updates, you can subscribe here.