Transportation

In recent months, global auto manufacturers have released plans to electrify their vehicle fleets by 2030 or 2035, setting up a race to see who can most quickly shift entirely away from producing vehicles powered by gasoline.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg addressed the opening session of the Forth Roadmap Conference this week, stressing the need to transform the transportation sector as a central effort to combat climate change.

By slowing down drivers 2 miles per hour in strategic areas during high-risk times of day, the startup and its government partners found they could reduce highway crashes in Southern Nevada.

Relay, an autonomous shuttle program launched in Fairfax County, Va., in October 2020, is offering officials a better understanding of how driverless shuttles navigate live traffic and how to improve work zone safety.

A report released this week by the California Energy Commission found that charging infrastructure isn't being built fast enough in the state to meet its lofty transportation and climate change goals.

The newly approved legislation would require any business that seeks to operate an on-demand electric scooter program within city limits to first enter into an Electric Scooter Use agreement.

Expect to see more low-speed, autonomous shuttle projects developing into full-scale integrated transit services. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority in Florida plans to launch the first phase of AV shuttles into its transit mix by 2023.

The state program aimed at encouraging drivers to buy electric vehicles with $5,000 rebates expired in December, falling short of its intended goal. Now, some are wondering if the program will come back.

Through a partnership with Waze, NJ Transit is working to alert drivers as they approach railroad crossings. Since 1975, 187 people have been killed at railroad crossings in the state, according to federal data.

Although researchers have consistently found that electric vehicles emit less carbon than traditional automobiles, the state of the overall electric grid may determine whether the environment will be cleaner.

The Los Angeles Metro Board voted to move forward with developing a pilot project that would make transit free for students and low-income riders on one of the nation’s largest transit systems.

Earlier this week, city council members in Waterloo, Iowa, changed a number of local ordinances so that residents can start renting e-scooters from California-based company Bird. The scooters will arrive next week.

Peachtree Corners, Ga., is partnering with Qualcomm Technologies and Jacobs to deploy direct vehicle-to-everything communications in two city vehicles as a development to improve safety and traffic management.

The provision would expand the $7,500 tax credit for vehicles costing less than $80,000, eliminate the cap for automakers and add $2,500 for autos built by union members and for vehicles assembled in the United States.

The Utah Department of Transportation is partnering with Blyncsy to provide dashcam imagery showing road conditions in and around Salt Lake City. The cameras will be mounted on ride-share vehicles, among others.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the organization responsible for public transportation in New York City, will buy 60 electric buses this year. The move will give MTA 85 total electric buses by the end of 2021.

Transit agencies in Maryland and Massachusetts have turned to renewable energy microgrid projects to better manage the needs of their bus fleets. The move will also help meet aggressive sustainability goals.

Sarasota County, Fla., has partnered with a subsidiary of Via Transportation to provide an on-demand public transit option. Some fixed routes of the current transit system will be eliminated.