Sep 10, 2021

Mobility & Transportation - Issue #57

Issue #57 — View online — Suggest a link

Mobility & Transportation

Insight into all things transportation and mobility, covering driverless vehicles, trends in public transportation, the rise of cycling, ride- and car-share, smart city developments, ITS, and more.

Welcome back to school and work! I hope you’ve all had a great summer! I’m back at it with this issue, bringing you a roundup of articles to help with your virtual water-cooler talk about tech & transportation. I’m excited to share some of the work that I lead while at Metrolinx hitting the street - two autonomous shuttle pilots!

Autonomous Vehicles

City of Toronto to pilot autonomous shuttle project

The City of Toronto will be testing a robo-taxi like, first- and last-mile service connecting an under-served area within Toronto to the Rouge Hill GO station, where residents can connect to travel on with the GO regional rail service or local TTC buses.

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Self-driving electric shuttle heading to Whitby GO as part of AV pilot project

Durham Region residents will soon see a self-driving, electric vehicle rolling into Whitby GO as Metrolinx partners with several agencies to help create the smart infrastructure.

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Sponsored by TECHSTARS

Techstars Industries of the Future: Investment Thesis 2022

Managing Director Tricia Martinez explains what kinds of companies she’s looking for for the Techstars Industries of the Future Accelerator: AI, cleantech, quantum information science, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, 5G, and more.

Mobile apps & payments

Transit (app) is adding a premium tier

Transit has spent a decade building an app people love. They are now introducing a premium tier where they will charge around $2/month for features such as looking up departure times far into the future and browsing lines farther away. Core Transit features remain free, and they will give you a premium subscription for free if you cannot afford one.

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Ontario prepares to launch digital ID program and here's how it works

TORONTO – Ontario is preparing to launch a digital identification program in the coming months, meaning people will no longer need to carry a physical driver’s licence or health card. I wonder if you will be able to add your drivers license to Apple Wallet or GPay, and finally be able to ditch the physical wallet?

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Practical MaaS

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is the integration of different modes of transport and transit tools into a mobility service accessible from the moment people leave their front door until they reach their destination, planning and paying seamlessly based on what and how much they use, without using a private car. Here are some ways (from Masabi’s view) that we can deploy practical MaaS in North America.

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Bird is the latest operator to integrate its e-scooters and e-bikes with Google Maps

Micromobility company Bird has officially joined the ranks of e-scooter and e-bike operators that are integrated with Google Maps, which now surfaces nearby vehicles for users in the U.S.

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Micro-transit

Transit app Integrates Los Angeles Metro’s On-demand Service, Metro Micro

Transit is the official app of LA Metro. Now, riders can plan a multi-modal trip including traditional transit and Metro’s micro-transit service powered by Waterloo, ON based RideCo.

Whenever a user opens Transit in a Metro Micro service zone, they see a prominent “request ride” button on the app’s home screen, alongside other transit options. The importance of this partnership is that it helps LA Metro introduce the Metro Micro service to new riders who might otherwise be unaware of the service.

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EVs

Ottawa about to become the (electric) bus capital of Canada

Canada’s Infrastructure Bank is lending the City of Ottawa the money to cover the higher price of buying battery-powered buses instead of diesels, to be repaid with savings from the buses’ expected lower operating costs.

I am sharing access to this article from The Logic with you - enjoy, and support them if you like it!

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Techstars Startup Digest Mobility & Transportation is curated by:

Sanathan Kassiedass
sanathan.kassiedass@startupdigestmail.com

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