Image: South China Morning Post

The Hong Kong government should expand its planned mandate for driver-monitoring systems on public buses to other modes of transport and upgrade road infrastructure as part of a multipronged strategy to reduce traffic accidents, industry leaders have said.

The remarks followed authorities revealing in the Legislative Council on Wednesday that they planned to leverage technology to boost road safety. The Transport Department is set to study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of extending driver-monitoring systems to other types of vehicles.

“The mandatory installation of driver-monitoring systems could eventually be expanded to other private and commercial vehicles,” James Kong, chairman of the Institute of Advanced Motorists Hong Kong, said on Thursday.

He added that a phased approach should be adopted, with passenger-carrying commercial vehicles given priority. He also suggested that commercial vehicles, in particular, should be equipped with anti-rear-end collision systems to further reduce accidents.

All regulated taxi fleets have been equipped with driver-monitoring systems that issue alerts for lane drifting and tailgating, according to a Legco document on Wednesday. Authorities said they hoped these fleets would serve as a model for the rest of the transport industry. According to figures supplied by the Transport Department to legislators, the number of taxi drivers aged 70 or above involved in traffic accidents rose from 454 in 2022 to 626 in 2023, and further to 651 in 2024, an increase of 43.4 per cent.

Source: South China Morning Post

Click Here to Read More

Image: UK Parliament

The Committee’s report into the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles that is published today also calls for a “clear plan” to reduce high levels of out-of-area working.

The report comes amid concern about fragmented regulation that varies from one area of the country to another. Currently there are more than 260 licensing authorities in England, each applying its own standards.

The Government announced in November 2025 that it would legislate to introduce national minimum standards for taxis and private hire vehicles, while some in the sector have called for tougher absolute national standards. Minimum standards would establish a floor for the conditions set by every licensing authority, while preserving the ability of individual authorities to vary conditions by setting higher requirements where local circumstances warranted it.

Absolute national standards, by contrast, would impose a single set of conditions to be applied consistently by every authority, with no scope to add to or depart from them. During its inquiry, the Committee heard arguments for both minimum standards and absolute national standards.

The Committee also heard fierce opposition to routine out-of-area working, which sees drivers obtaining their licence in one area and operating mainly in another. In its written evidence, the Blackpool Taxi Association referred to out-of-area working as "the root cause to all that's wrong".

Source: UK Parliament

Click Here to Read More

States Take Larger Role in Advanced Transportation Deployment

State governments are continuing to shape the operating environment for advanced transportation technologies, with recent developments in California, Texas, Connecticut, and Washington pointing to two major areas of focus: autonomous vehicle oversight and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Click Here to Read More

ATA President & CEO Chris Spear Urges Congress to Accelerate Transportation Innovation

American Trucking Associations President & CEO Chris Spear testified before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Surface Transportation, Freight, Pipelines, and Safety, urging Congress to support policies that accelerate the deployment of proven technologies, strengthen America’s supply chain, and ensure the United States remains the global leader in transportation innovation.

Click Here to Read More

Karsan’s Autonomous e-JEST Enters Service in Atlanta

Karsan has officially begun providing passenger service with its Autonomous e-JEST bus as part of ATL Spoke – Atlanta’s first autonomous public transportation pilot project. The project will serve as part of the city’s transportation efforts during the FIFA World Cup, which is expected to increase public transportation needs to new heights as fans gather from across the world.

Click Here to Read More

Alberta Politicians Exploring Putting Taxpayers on Hook for MLA E-Scooter Rides

An Alberta legislature committee is exploring whether to put taxpayers on the hook for work-related electric scooter and bike rides taken by politicians. Currently, elected officials and caucus staff can be reimbursed for taxi rides, car rentals and some airfare if they’re travelling for work purposes. A bipartisan committee of MLAs is now studying whether to add e-scooters and e-bikes to the list and it passed a motion this week to see if corporate agreements are an option with providers such as Lime and Bird Canada. A report presented to the committee had advised against making e-scooter and e-bike trips reimbursable because of safety and insurance concerns.

Click Here to Read More

Transport Canada Proposes Drone Remote ID, Club Exemptions, and New Airspace Restriction Powers

Transport Canada published Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) 2026-005 on June 8, 2026, the biggest proposed rewrite of Canadian drone rules since Part IX of the Canadian Aviation Regulations took effect in 2019. The proposal would mandate Remote ID for most drone operations, create a formal Community-Based Organization model with permanent flying sites exempt from the requirement, and hand the regulator a purpose-built tool to restrict drone airspace below 122 meters (400 feet).

Click Here to Read More

TTC Introducing Two Safety Initiatives for 2026 FIFA World Cup

The agency is launching a bike‑based Special Constables Core Response Unit to patrol the downtown core using bicycles and trying a drone pilot program in select locations.

Click Here to Read More

Brussels to Ban Shared E-Scooters from Next Year

The move comes as a major blow to the industry from a city that was among the first in Europe to regulate free-floating e-scooters back in 2019. However, for those that have been following the government’s recent stance on shared e-scooters, it may not come as a complete surprise. In an interview with Zag Daily, Minister Van Den Brandt revealed that the Brussels government was already considering a ban last year, following the lead of cities like Paris and Madrid which have taken that step. 

Click Here to Read More

Why Billing for Patient Transport Has Become a Business Challenge for Taxi Companies

For years, patient transport has been one of the most reliable business areas for many taxi and rental car companies. While other market segments are changing, trips to doctors' offices, hospitals, dialysis centers, or rehabilitation facilities ensure a steady stream of business. For numerous companies, they now constitute a significant portion of their revenue. However, after the actual transport, every patient transport is followed by a process that often takes considerably more time than the journey itself. Billing health insurance companies and other payers is one of the most demanding administrative tasks in the industry.

Click Here to Read More

Robotaxis Are Coming to Europe — And the EU Wants to Speed Things Up

France, Germany, Italy and 14 other countries have signed a joint declaration to coordinate autonomous vehicle testing across borders, paving the way for faster adoption of the technology across Europe. Seven years behind schedule, autonomous vehicle trials are finally set to expand across Europe in the coming months. On Monday, 17 European transport ministers signed a declaration backing large-scale cross-border testing of autonomous vehicles, alongside EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas. The move aims to make testing easier by creating a common framework across participating countries. It marks a shift away from fragmented national pilot schemes towards a coordinated European approach to testing and preparing autonomous vehicles for future deployment.

Click Here to Read More

Minibus Taxis Wave Goodbye to Cash in One of South Africa’s Biggest Cities

The Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (Codeta) has officially introduced a new cashless payment system for the local minibus taxi industry. The new system was introduced on 1 June 2026 and requires commuters to use cards that are scanned when they enter the taxis. “We are introducing a new cashless system in our taxi industry.

Click Here to Read More

Hong Kong: Transport Department Approves $19.5 Million for Smart Traffic Fund Projects in Hong Kong

The Transport Department (TD) announced that three projects under the 25th batch of the Smart Traffic Fund have been approved by the Management Committee, with a total grant of around $19.5 million. The three approved projects in the latest batch cover: The development of an intelligent traffic signal control system for temporary traffic arrangements by using real-time sensing technologies; The development of an autonomous driving perception model capable of recognising road works and temporary traffic arrangements in Hong Kong by applying "vision-language-action" technologies; and The study of large-scale deployment of regional dynamic traffic signal systems in Hong Kong by leveraging microscopic simulation models and real-time traffic signal control technologies.

Click Here to Read More

Mexico’s First Homegrown EV Seats Six and Costs $8,600

Mexico builds cars for much of the world, hosting plants for several of the planet’s biggest automakers, yet almost no homegrown brands have ever come out of the country. The new Olinia Uno aims to change that. As the first model from Mexico’s inaugural EV brand, it carries the weight of shaking up the nation’s mobility scene. 

Click Here to Read More 

Image: ABC7

The Port Authority plans to flood the city's airports with police officers ahead of the World Cup to flush out unlicensed taxi scammers who notoriously overcharge tourists for illegal cab rides.

The agency’s leaders announced a new $100 million initiative called “Operation Legal Ride” on Tuesday morning, four days before MetLife Stadium hosts its first of eight World Cup matches.

Illegal taxi drivers, often known as “hustlers,” have for decades preyed on unsuspecting tourists at the city’s transportation hubs, primarily the airports. In many cases, they lure travelers into their cars, and charge them hundreds of dollars more than what is legally allowed.

Port Authority data shows the problem has been growing in recent years. The agency’s police department issued 2,602 summons for illegal taxi solicitation in 2025, almost double from the previous year.

Hustling at the city’s airports has grown more sophisticated in recent years, with scammers coordinating at terminals in a system that uses illegal dispatchers carrying walkie-talkies to funnel tourists into fake cabs waiting outside.

These enhanced enforcement efforts by the Port Authority align with the findings and recommendations of a recent report authored by Matt Daus at the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC), in collaboration with CTANJ and the Black Car Assistance Corporation (BCAC), titled Addressing Unlicensed and Illegal Ride Hailing in the NY/NJ Metro Region.

The report examines the persistent challenges of illegal ride-hailing and taxi solicitation in major transportation hubs like New York’s airports. The report highlights the safety risks, consumer protection concerns, and regulatory gaps that allow these operations to persist, while outlining a range of practical enforcement and policy solutions. As the Port Authority advances initiatives like “Operation Legal Ride,” it is clear that the agency is listening to these concerns and moving toward a more coordinated, technology-driven enforcement strategy.

Source: Gothamist

Click Here to Read More

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP FOR 2026:

Weekly news snippets

Access to the membership database

Videos and files from recent conferences

Discounted rates for future conferences, and more!

Renew your membership at http://www.iatr.global or email info@iatr.global for any questions!