InfoHive – Transportation – Page 89 – Just another WordPress site

Scooter Rider Growth in a COVID World

2Ways scooter companies are seeing growth in the new, COVID world:

Gotcha Mobility, Charleston, S.C. Pilot Program for scooter delivery of groceries and take away. 25% increase
Spin, Portland, OR, local incentives, $0.20-$0.25 fee cut, in exchange for 1/2 ride fee cut by Spin to increase ridership

San Antonio Express News via Governing | Scooter Companies Lose Momentum During Coronavirus

COVID & Scooter Rides By the Numbers.

Where: San Antonio, Texas

How did scooter ride numbers differ after COVID?

March 2019 240,000 scooter rides
March 2020 50,000 scooter rides

COVID opportunities for scooters?

“and the companies left standing will have a technology that the cities actually want. “
When we come out of this, people will be leery of just loading into buses, trains and planes, and we will still want something other than cars.”
Sanitation requirements on the horizon- either by companies or by local governments
Local Government Official: “focus should be on providing support and reducing their expenses”

San Antonio Express News via Governing | Scooter Companies Lose Momentum During Coronavirus

COVID: Local Governments Closing Streets

Where: Seattle

How many miles of street are being closed to public traffic? 20 miles

What’s the name of the project? Stay Healthy Streets

Why is Seattle closing streets in response to COVID?

more space for people to walk and bike at a safe distance apart
in collaboration with automating street lights, limit the the need to touch traffic lights to cross streets safely
aligns with how residents use the streets

Who can continue to use the “closed” streets?

residents
delivery drivers
garbage & recycling workers
emergency response vehicles

Seattle Times | Seattle Will Keep Some Streets Closed Even After Coronavirus

CNN | Seattle to permanently close 20 miles of streets to traffic so residents can exercise and bike on them

COVID Impact: Smart City Contract

What smart city project? Toronto’s proposed sustainable community, Quayside project, a bid won by Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet Company

What smart city transportation features would the project include?

sensor-based traffic signals
dynamic curbs
underground delivery routes for trucks
self-financing light rail transit
heated pavement
pneumatic waste collection

The laundry list of contract issues:

Project is controversial from land acquisition to data privacy
COVID-19’s toll on global economies and real estate markets
The local development organization will continue with the project

Government Technology | Alphabet Calls It Quits on Toronto’s Smart Future

Wired | Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs Scraps Its Ambitious Toronto Project

Limit Airline Funding to Service Away from High Speed Rail

Where: France

What: France has added conditions to AirFrance’s COVID relief funds

What limits are being placed on AirFrance’s COVID funds?

If high speed rail services the area within 2 hours 30 minutes, AirFrance has to stop flights

Why?

To make AirFrance profitable
To benefit from the lower cost of CO₂ by train
To encourage the airline to reach a target of using 2% of its fuel from sustainable sources by 2025

What’s the big picture: Other jurisdictions have COVID relief funds to allocate and conditionally allocate

International Railway Journal | Air France ordered to curb competition with rail in France

Bonjour MOOVIT. Data + Transportation.

Who is Moovit? a startup applying AI + big data analytics to track traffic and offer transit recommendations

Who is buying Moovit? Intel “at a price believed to be in the region of $1 billion.”

What are the implications for autonomous vehicles? reliable, real-time traffic data and intelligent routing is a challenging & crucial element of AVs

What’s the big picture? This is building on Intel’s autonomous vehicle work

Tech Crunch | Intel to buy smart urban transit startup Moovit for $1B to boost its autonomous car division

Ride Share Business TREND. Requiring Masks + More

Who: Uber

Who will be required to use masks/face coverings: Riders and Drivers

How will it be implemented? Technology will detect if drivers are wearing masks/face coverings before the driver goes online & starts accepting trips

How are masks currently being provided to drivers? By the company when drivers are providing rides to essential workers

What are other ride share companies, and Uber, also considering?

that drivers should disinfect vehicles after each rider is dropped off
plastic barriers or divisions in vehicles to protect both drivers and passengers

CNN | Uber will soon require drivers and riders to wear face coverings in the US