Britain’s TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) and German automotive consultancy FKA have won a joint contract from the European Commission to study the need for technical harmonisation to improve safety for micromobility. The micromobility market has seen exponential growth in recent years, prompting the incorporation of electric motors into bicycle designs and the emergence of novel electric personal mobility devices like e-scooters, hoverboards, and electric unicycles. However, the rapid expansion has outpaced regulation, prompting concerns about the appropriateness of the current regulatory ..read more

Two of the best-known names in mircomobility, Tier and Dott have announced a preliminary agreement to bring the two companies together to form Europe’s leading micro-mobility operator. The joint entity will continue to operate under the Tier and Dott brands, combining expertise to provide riders and cities with a safe and reliable service as the champion shared mobility provider in Europe. The transaction is subject to several conditions, and will be only effective upon their fulfilment and closing, expected within the next two months. Together, the companies generate combined revenues of €25 ..read more

Estonian mobility technology company Bolt, the largest scooter operator in Europe, has been announced as one of three companies awarded the license to operate scooters, e-bikes and cargo bikes in Milan, Italy, until 2026. As a result, more than 2,000 Bolt scooters will continue to be available in Milan, and 2,000 e-bikes and 15 cargo bikes will be added to the operator’s micromobility fleet. Bolt has provided scooter operations in Milan since 2022. The firm has launched a number of features to improve safety standards, such as a cognitive reaction test to address drunk riding, a tandem ri ..read more

Transport for London (TfL) has published new data from its  Travel in London 2023 Annual Overview which shows that there have been continued increases in the levels of walking and cycling in London. TfL points to investment in high-quality infrastructure that allows more people to walk and cycle more often as one of the reasons for this trend. The new data shows that the number of daily cycle journeys increased in 2023 to hit an estimated 1.26 million journeys per day, up by 6.3 per cent from 1.19 million in 2022, and up by 20% since 2019.  This represents a level of growth not seen in the yea ..read more

On November 13, 2023 Volocopter completed its first flight test at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport (DMH) in New York City (NYC) with its crewed Volocopter 2X. Hosted by the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), the Volocopter 2X participated in the world’s largest and first public event showcasing multiple electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in a city. Volocopter has now successfully and safely conducted flights in the heart of two of the busiest metropolitan hubs of the world, NYC and Singapore. The success of t ..read more

Transportation analytics specialist StreetLight Data has published new data showing that there has been a huge increase cycling in the USA, but also a big decrease in walking The information, published in a new eBook Walking In America: Metro & Statewide Pedestrian & Mode Share Trends, delves into recent data regarding walking and active mode share across the Top 100 largest US metros, and will be of immense interest to transportation planners nationwide. Nationally, active transportation, encompassing walking and biking trips, accounted for 10% of trips in 2022, down from 14% in 2019 ..read more

Vianova, a collaborative mobility data platform in Europe, is teaming up with the City of Berlin in a project that aims to make the German capital’s streets greener, safer and more efficient by leveraging shared micro-mobility data. Vianova was selected by the Senate Department for Urban Mobility, Transport, Climate Action and the Environment (SenUMVK) as part of a competitive tender process designed to help take SenUMVK another step toward data-driven mobility management. In cooperation with Vianova, data from Berlin’s 60,000 rental vehicles will now flow into the urban mobility management pl ..read more

Volocopter and Tampa International Airport (TPA) in Florida, USA, have successfully undertaken the first-ever flight test of an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in an operational and large international airport in the US, and the first eVTOL test in the state of Florida. The flight marks the start of a multilayered flight test campaign with a crewed Volocopter 2X, which could one day lead to these electric ‘passenger drones’ being used to take travelers from the airport to the city center – a new revolution in transportation known as urban air mobility (UAM). The flight t ..read more

PTV Group’s consulting division has been chosen to develop an integrated, multimodal transport model for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Over the next two years, PTV Transport Consult will build a comprehensive demand model for both passenger and commercial transport, focusing on the analysis year 2023. This will provide the Authority for Transport and Mobility Transition with a data-driven planning tool to guide the strategic evolution of Hamburg’s mobility landscape. “This new traffic model will equip the metropolis with a critical digital tool for informed decision-making in support ..read more

Commsignia has announced the OBU Lite vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device for electric bicycles and micromobility to improve the visibility and safety of vulnerable road users in traffic. With the OBU Lite, Commsignia is now offering solutions for the complete V2X-based digital transport ecosystem. Road deaths among cyclists are rising at an alarming rate, with fatalities increased by 11% in 2022 according to NHTSA statistics. V2X-enabled cars, bicycles and other road users are aware of each other without being in each other’s line of sight, and this mutual awareness means people can make bette ..read more