IATR 39th Annual Conference Early Bird Pricing Until Aug 15!

AV City: Autonomous Mobility

Las Vegas, Nevada | September 14–17, 2026

Vdara Hotel at ARIA | 2600 W Harmon Ave, Las Vegas, NV

Early-bird pricing extended until August 15

Hotel room block available through August 14 – availability limited

Sponsorship opportunities available until August 14

Image: Patrick T. Fallon

Amazon's Zoox unit has won U.S. approval for limited commercial deployment of its novel steering-wheel-free robotaxis, a first for the autonomous ride industry, the U.S. auto safety agency said on Thursday.

Zoox said that the National Highway Traffic Safety ‌Administration's decision gives the company federal approval to begin charging for rides, and that it will soon begin charging for service, first in Las Vegas, with additional markets to follow as it completes various state requirements.

The exemption granted by the agency from federal rules requiring human controls, first reported by Reuters, marks a milestone for companies developing robotaxis from the ground up, ​rather than modifying conventional cars under safety regulations written long before self-driving technology emerged.

As part of the exemption, NHTSA is placing additional reporting requirements on Zoox for issues such as crashes or stopping inappropriately on roads, and the regulatory agency will adjust the conditions based on ‌how the ⁠vehicles behave.

Source: Reuters

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Image: Alejandro A. Alvarez

Last month, Boston became the latest city where drivers of licensed taxicabs can respond to rideshare trip requests, using apps that are integrated with the Uber and Lyft platforms. But don’t expect to see this change in Philadelphia, even as the city’s taxi business continues its free fall.

Curb, the leading app company for cabs, and Uber petitioned the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which regulates taxis in the city, to allow coordination of rides on a pilot basis but eventually withdrew the proposal.

Pennsylvania law strictly separates licensed cabs and transportation network companies like Uber, said Christine Kirlin, deputy general counsel for the PPA and former head of its Taxi and Limo Division.

“It was a handful of regulations that just couldn’t be integrated,” Kirlin said, adding that state law would need changes for it to work.

For instance, she said, taxi fares in the city are set by the PPA and cab operators are not allowed to flex prices, as rideshare companies do during periods of high demand. Drivers also need a commercial license, and taxi vehicles are subject to safety inspections — and regulatory fees — that rideshare is not.

In other cities, referrals from rideshare companies account for 30% to 60% of total taxi trips, said Dorel Tamam, vice president for mobile business at Curb.

He is in charge of Curb Flow, an open API platform that aggregates available rides from multiple sources, including Uber and Lyft, direct hails from taxi apps, fleet dispatches, and taxi ranks.

“This program is helping actually reduce idle time, increase the overall trips, giving drivers the add-on opportunity to earn more,” Tamam said.

Curb Flow is being used in 17 U.S. cities, including Newark, N.J.; Seattle; Los Angeles; New York; Reno, Nev.; and Charlotte, N.C.

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Florida Plans to Build Air Taxi Pads Using $200M Intended for EV Chargers

Only one state boasts more EVs than Florida, but the state has fewer chargers per vehicle than the national average. Despite that, state officials have decided to redirect federal funding intended for EV charging to build out an electric air taxi network, according to a report from the Miami Herald. Florida was awarded nearly $200 million under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program that is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

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Op-Ed: Public Transit Is a Lifeline for Countless Americans. Trump Is Derailing Our Protections

As the first congenitally blind member of Congress and a former president of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) board, I know that the ability to move – to get to work, to school, to the doctor – is a freedom our nation’s civil rights laws have long promised to protect. Last month, the Trump administration derailed that promise. Through a regulatory maneuver designed to evade public scrutiny, the Department of Transportation announced it will no longer hold transportation agencies accountable when their decisions produce discriminatory outcomes – no matter how severe – so long as the discrimination was unintentional. As a result, decades of civil rights protection were erased by regulatory fiat.

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Attorney General James to Act on Illegal E-Motos after Latest Fatal Crash

State Attorney General Letitia James is slated to issue a crucial warning against illegal motorbikes after yet another rider was killed in a crash and a slate of local politicians and activists demanded she issue the overdue alert to consumers about the illicit vehicles that resemble legal e-bikes. James’s office said the forthcoming alert will seek to stop the proliferation of illegal e-motos and e-scooters, her staff confirmed on Wednesday evening — hours after the death of teenager Gabriel Nacato and after politicians and advocates rallied near the crash site to point out that a similar consumer warning by her California counterpart led to success in the Golden State’s fight against illegal two-wheelers.

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‘Risk of Injury’: Mercedes-Benz Recalls Thousands of Vehicles Because of Defect

Mercedes-Benz is recalling nearly 37,000 vehicles in Canada because of a defect that could cause a parked vehicle to roll away. According to a recall triggered by the automaker and published by Transport Canada, certain vehicles from the 2019-26 models of the A-Class, C-Class, CLA-Class, CLE-Class, GLA-Class, GLB-Class and GLC-Class contain a flaw with the driver-side lock microswitch, as moisture could enter and cause it to corrode.

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Oxford Town Council Votes to Allow ATVs on All Streets

ATVs and similar vehicles will soon be allowed on all roads within the town of Oxford in northern Nova Scotia, a move that comes after it opened up select streets two years ago. On Wednesday, Oxford town council voted 6-1 to update a bylaw under the Nova Scotia Road Trails Act, allowing off-highway vehicles to travel along all town roads. It is a one-year pilot to start.  

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How Ottawa's Missing Bus Terminal Exposes Transit Failures

Passengers seeking to travel between Canada's capital and Montreal are met not with a bustling transit hub, but a barren sidewalk corner completely devoid of basic amenities. Three years after the city formally integrated a new intercity bus terminal into its Transportation Master Plan, Ottawa remains glaringly deficient in basic transit infrastructure. For urban planners worldwide, and specifically in rapidly modernizing East African metropolises like Nairobi, Ottawa's logistical paralysis serves as a masterclass in how bureaucratic inertia actively strangles economic mobility.

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Toyota and Uber Are Expanding Their Collaboration – Will the Taxi Industry Be Left Behind?

Toyota announces in a recent press release that it intends to intensify its partnership with Uber. The offering is targeted at central European markets and builds on the high popularity of Toyota models in the European ride-hailing segment, according to the automaker.

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Freenow Is Scooping Up Dublin’s Lynk and Limerick Taxi Firm Swift

Taxi app Freenow is expanding its B2B business in Ireland with the acquisition of taxi dispatchers Lynk and Swift. Dublin-based Lynk has been in operation for more than a decade, while Swift is a 35-year-old business in Limerick, servicing the county and surrounding areas.

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GoShorty Launches Upgrades to Taxi Insurance Product

GoShorty, the award-winning insurtech business behind one of the UK’s fastest-growing temporary insurance platforms, has shaken up the specialist motor market once again. The temporary insurance experts have unveiled a brand-new temporary taxi insurance product and have deployed a named-driver upgrade across the entire impound release insurance range. This double milestone further accelerates GoShorty’s expansion into complex, traditionally rigid commercial and vehicle insurance options.

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Goa Digitises Historic Motorcycle Taxis with State-Backed Mhaje Driver App

The government of Goa has officially launched the 'Mhaje Driver App', marking a definitive technological evolution for the Indian state’s iconic motorcycle taxi sector. Unveiled by Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant, the digital platform brings Goa’s unique, Portuguese-era "motorcycle pilots" into the modern gig economy, providing commuters with the ability to locate and book rides via smartphone while preserving the distinct cultural heritage of the service.

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Green SM Launches Green SM Limo, a Fully Electric Taxi Service in India

Green SM leaders, joined by representatives from Indian government agencies, the Vietnamese Embassy in India, and distinguished guests, ceremonially pressed the launch button to officially mark the debut of Green SM's fully electric taxi services in India.

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Uber Faces Licence Suspension As New Y-Plate Rules Take Effect

Transport Malta has warned ride-hailing giant Uber that its operating licence could be suspended unless it complies with new regulations governing Malta’s Y-plate taxi sector. The warning came as a comprehensive set of legal amendments came into force on Wednesday, introducing sweeping changes to the light passenger transport industry.

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Ian Grossman, President of AAMVA

IATR is pleased to welcome Ian Grossman and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) as its newest advisory board member.

Ian Grossman, President of AAMVA said upon accepting his selection to the IATR board, “I am excited to strengthen the partnership between AAMVA and IATR to collaborate on emerging transportation issues. The collective work of motor vehicle administrators with members of the IATR will enable safe and reliable transportation for our shared community.”

Matt Daus, President of IATR, said, “I am delighted that Ian Grossman and AAMVA have accepted our invitation to join the IATR advisory board. We look forward to their guidance on best practices for emerging mobility, including autonomous vehicles and food delivery robots. AAMVA has long been at the forefront of saving lives on our roads by promoting safer drivers and vehicles, and we are pleased to support those efforts together.”

Ian Grossman is President and CEO of AAMVA, where he leads the international nonprofit association representing motor vehicle and law enforcement agencies across the United States and Canada. In his role, Grossman oversees AAMVA’s strategic initiatives, technology services, policy development, and collaborative programs focused on driver licensing, vehicle administration, identity management, roadway safety, and emerging transportation technologies.

Grossman brings extensive experience in public policy, communications, and association leadership spanning both the public and private sectors. Prior to becoming President and CEO, he served as AAMVA’s Vice President of Member Services and Public Affairs, where he directed programs involving driver licensing, law enforcement, strategic planning, government affairs, membership operations, and international collaboration.

Before joining AAMVA in 2009, Grossman served in senior leadership positions within the U.S. Department of Transportation, including Associate Administrator for Public Affairs at the Federal Highway Administration and roles with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Earlier in his career, he worked in government, political campaigns, and private consulting, including serving as campaign manager for Vermont Governor Jim Douglas’s successful reelection campaign.

Widely recognized as a thought leader in motor vehicle administration, digital identity, transportation safety, and mobility innovation, Grossman frequently speaks at national and international conferences on topics including mobile driver licenses, fraud prevention, biometrics, and the modernization of government services. Under his leadership, AAMVA continues to advance best practices and technology solutions that strengthen transportation safety, security, and customer service across North America.

IATR’s advisory board continues to expand, with new members from the Open Mobility Foundation, ITS America, IRF Global, the European Commission Joint Research Centre, ERITCO, and PIARC joining over the last few months. Current board members also include Together for Safer Roads, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC), and the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Accreditation Commission (NEMTAC). In the coming weeks, IATR will announce additional board members as it broadens its work in support of safe sustainable multimodal mobility leading up to our annual conference.

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