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

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.

Shaun Abreu, City Council Majority Leader and Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

They’re conning congestion pricing!

An unlicensed rideshare company may be ditching tens of millions of dollars worth of Manhattan congestion tolls — and it’s time for the MTA to do something about it, a top city official said.

City Council Democratic Majority Leader Shaun Abreu is calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to investigate discount rideshare company Empower, which has been skirting the toll to enter Midtown Manhattan that competitors like Uber and Lyft have to pay and bake into the cost of a trip.

Taxis and livery vehicles have to pay for each trip into the congestion zone, while regular vehicles only pay once — and Empower has allegedly been ditching tolls because it’s operating without a city license.

“Yellow taxis and licensed for‑hire vehicle companies collect these charges from their passengers,” Abreu wrote in a letter to MTA Chair Janno Lieber on Tuesday.

“Empower, however, appears to be offering rides without collecting either the state congestion surcharge or the MTA’s Congestion Relief Zone toll,” said Abreu, who chairs the council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. “This allows Empower to advertise artificially lower prices while other transportation providers and their drivers continue to follow the law.”

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber claimed the MTA has been trying to recoup the lost fees from Empower.

“They’re ripping off the public,” Lieber said at an unrelated press conference Wednesday. “We have to find a way to make sure if they found a loophole it has to be closed.”

Source: New York Post

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Rogue Delivery App Motoclick Is ‘Subverting’ Minimum Pay Law — And Admitting It

New Y0rk City sued the business-to-business app, Motoclick in federal court in January for failing to pay the delivery worker minimum wage. The app, according to its own court filings, does not think it should have to pay workers for “on call time,” and therefore doesn’t. But city rules have required app companies to pay workers for on call time since 2023. Apps must pay workers $22.13 per hour for the time between pickup and delivery, plus an additional amount for on-call time that’s calculated based the total time workers spend waiting for orders.

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Mass Transit, Bike Lanes, EV Infrastructure Face Substantial Cuts in DOT Proposal

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy proposed eliminating the Highway Trust Fund’s mass transit account, which provides funding for public transportation, in a July 22 letter outlining the administration’s priorities that was sent to six senators serving on committees with influence over the next surface transportation legislation. Duffy also proposed cutting funding for Complete Streets activities that focus on safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, bicycle lanes and grants for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. A competitive grant program to fund solutions to traffic congestion in U.S. cities would eliminate public transit system improvements and tolling programs from eligibility. 

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NYC Sees a 70% Increase in Lithium-Ion Battery Fires in 2026

FDNY officials are imploring the public to store lithium-ion batteries outside as the number of fires sparked by the devices continues to grow. The plea came from FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Flynn and Chief Fire Marshal Michael Kavanagh, who charged during a July 22 press conference that 2026 has seen more fires caused by lithium-ion batteries than any year before during the same period. “So far this year, the FDNY has investigated 235 lithium-ion battery fires. That is compared to 138 at the same time last year, an increase of more than 70%,” Kavanagh said. “The biggest change is where we’re seeing these fires happening through this point last year, we had 48 non-structural lithium-ion battery fires. This year, we’ve already had 137, nearly three times as many.”

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How the Passenger Train Is Bringing Uber to the North

The Northlander Rideshare Pilot Program is now in effect, which means the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has taken responsibility for regulating rideshare operators, drivers, and vehicles in designated northern communities. The one-year pilot program, which began May 19, was created to support transportation options for residents travelling to and from Northlander passenger train stops and establishes a single set of provincial requirements for rideshare services operating along the Northlander corridor.

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Blue Bird Recalls 2,000+ School Buses in Canada over Risk of Brake Line Damage

Blue Bird has recalled more than 2,000 school buses because an exhaust hanger could damage the brake line, which could increase the risk of a crash and fire. “On certain school buses, a brake line could become damaged by contact with an exhaust hanger cotter pin. This could lead to a brake fluid leak and cause reduced braking,” explains the recall notice published by Transport Canada. “Reduced braking can cause extended stopping distances and increase the risk of a crash. Additionally, brake fluid that leaks onto hot exhaust components could create a fire risk.”

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Opinion: The Dangerous Distraction of Alberta’s Bike Lane Debate

Why is the province trying to fuel a cars-versus-bikes debate? Transportation planners are asking, after Premier Danielle Smith's government launched an online portal wanting Albertans to find time in their busy lives to complain about bike lanes. Road fatalities in Calgary hit a record high in 2025. They have been rising for years here and in Edmonton. Rising fatalities suggest a transportation system under stress. The data clearly shows that roads in Alberta's cities are becoming more dangerous. The provincial government's actions suggest officials are not trying to understand why or how to reverse them.

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London Cabbies Question TfL’s Proposed Salvage Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Ban As Consultation Gathers Pace

Transport for London’s consultation on banning salvage vehicles from the licensed taxi and private hire fleet has prompted a lively debate among taxi drivers, with many arguing that the proposal risks removing safe, professionally repaired vehicles from the market while adding further pressure to an already constrained fleet. The consultation proposes preventing any vehicle that has ever been recorded as salvage from obtaining a London taxi or private hire licence, regardless of whether it falls into Category S or Category N. TfL says the aim is to ensure “only structurally sound, safe vehicles are operating across London” and ultimately to have no salvage vehicles operating in its licensed fleet.

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Electric Air Taxis Set for Málaga-Marbella Test Flights in 2028

Málaga Airport is set to become one of Europe’s leading test sites for urban air mobility, with electric air taxis expected to begin trial flights between Málaga and Marbella in 2028 as part of a major EU-funded research project.

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Drivers Trust Road Safety Tech More Than Experts, Study Finds

New research from Economist Enterprise, the B2B arm of London-based The Economist Group, supported by Italy-headquartered mobility technology group Brembo, has found a significant gap between how safe drivers feel on the road and how safe transport professionals believe the roads actually are. The study, Safety in Motion: Driving Trust in Modern Mobility, found that 90% of everyday road users say they feel safe in their day-to-day travel, compared with only 45% of the transport professionals who design, build and operate mobility systems.

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Waymo Establishes South Korean Subsidiary 'Waymo Korea,' Signaling Entry into Autonomous Driving Market

U.S. autonomous driving company Waymo has formalized its entry into the South Korean market by establishing a local subsidiary, Waymo Korea. Waymo, the world's largest operator currently providing commercial driverless robotaxi services in 11 U.S. cities, has surpassed 354 million kilometers in cumulative autonomous driving distance. However, significant regulatory hurdles in South Korea—including temporary operation permits, performance certification, and a taxi quota system—mean actual service launch is expected to take considerable time.

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Research Shows SA Drivers Spend 23 Days Per Year in Their Cars

Worldwide research by Autotrader in the United Kingdom shows that South African drivers spend on average over 23 days in their cars every year, by far the most across the 15 countries who participated. Drivers in Mzansi spend more than 10 hours and 38 minutes in their cars every week, which is more than double the British average and nearly three hours more than second-placed Ireland.

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Uber’s Africa EV Pilot Pioneer Says Iran Conflict Is Driving Demand

Uber Technologies Inc.’s partner in its first African low-cost electric vehicle offering said the war between the US and Iran and resulting fuel price increases is igniting demand for its branded vehicles. Valternative, the Durban-based fleet manager working with the ride-hailing giant, is in the process of deploying 360 cars in Johannesburg in a pilot that’s set to expand in the country’s biggest city before offering its services in other metropolitan areas.

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Kay Woo, the chief executive of TADA, personally tries to recruit drivers, including Anwar Hossen, left, to use his ride-sharing app, Throo.

Image: Angelina Katsanis

Kay Woo, a Korean tech executive, wants to break into New York City’s multibillion-dollar ride-share industry.

So, naturally, in a city of 8.5 million potential customers, he’s courting his most valuable prospects: cabbies.

For the past few months, Mr. Woo has made recurring trips to a shadeless parking lot at LaGuardia Airport, recruiting drivers for his company, TADA. His efforts have paid off: He says he has persuaded about 50,000 drivers since March to install the company’s ride-hailing app.



The goal of the new app, called Throo, is to offer an alternative to the higher-commission model that drivers are used to when working with companies like Uber and Lyft. By charging drivers a smaller fixed fee per ride, and reducing charges that otherwise get passed onto passengers, Mr. Woo’s company promises better pay for drivers and cheaper fares for riders.

So far, Throo, which started offering rides in June and is authorized to operate in New York, is undercutting the bigger apps on some fares. A standard trip from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan to Kennedy International Airport was $80 with Throo; a similar ride with Uber would have cost about $136, and Lyft asked for $134.

TADA, based in Singapore, is among a small number of upstarts offering discounted rates and using slick marketing techniques to try to cut into what is effectively a ride-share duopoly. Uber and Lyft make about 80 percent of all for-hire and taxi trips in the city, with Uber completing roughly 70 percent of that share, according to the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Source: New York Times

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