Transportation

A new state law will do away with physical vehicle registration tags — though registering is still required. The move coincides with the rise of automated license plate readers nationwide.

With so many new, transformative forms of transportation tech, mobility experts caution, don’t forget about the basics like a fast, frequent and comprehensive bus system, or finished sidewalks.

Autonomous vehicles, sidewalk robots and other technologies in the urban landscape are scooping up new caches of data. Cities, in turn, are using this information in novel ways.

Residents with Samsung smartphones are now able to access their mobile driver’s licenses (mDL) or IDs via their phone’s wallet app. More than 1.8 million mobile IDs are now active in the state.

A flood swept away an empty Waymo robotaxi April 20, and the ride-hailing service has been shut down citywide since. The company is reviewing its operations in the city to refine flood monitoring mitigations.

Procurement rules and a lack of enthusiasm for cybersecurity training are two significant obstacles they face, technology leaders in city and county government said at the CoMotion Miami conference this week.

After a 2024 pilot, Merrimack Valley Transit in northeastern Massachusetts has piloted so-called mirrorless camera technology on 60 percent of its bus fleet. The three-camera system joins existing mirrors.

Morgan State University in Maryland is helping to develop new technology to provide a range of alerts for workers on highway construction crews, alerting them to dangerous drivers.

Nearly six months after announcing it was expanding to New Orleans, autonomous ride-hailing company Waymo has yet to debut its signature driverless vehicles on the city’s streets.

Transportation departments in the two states are using intelligent technology from Quarterhill Inc. to improve data collection and analysis of heavy-duty trucking activity at weigh-in-motion locations.

Following a shutdown to upgrade technology earlier this year, the New York Department of Motor Vehicles continues to address system issues and delays, to ensure it is functioning as intended.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping state departments of transportation, enabling them to create new processes and workflows around data governance — and make better use of information collected.

A new security feature is being added to California driver’s licenses and ID cards, while QR codes are intended to reduce waiting at Department of Motor Vehicles field offices.

A new measure could establish a regulatory framework for electric bicycles, motorcycles and scooters, responding to the growing popularity of the devices and the safety concerns they have raised.

The Washington EV Instant Rebate Program made direct cash rebates available to qualified car buyers at the point of sale. Its popularity proved that the appetite for new and used EVs is there — when buyers can afford them.

A coalition of unions representing everyone from bus drivers to construction workers lobbied at the Statehouse against legislation that would pilot driverless vehicles in Chicago and elsewhere in the state.

The bill seeks to address critical surveillance gaps exposed by a January 2025 midair collision of an American Airlines plane with an Army helicopter near the nation's capital that killed 67 people.

The city will work with a technology company to identify roads and sidewalks that are unsafe or failing, and to boost accessibility. Its software will create a 3D map capable of spotting potholes.