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

Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill

IATR President Matt Daus said, “We are pleased to welcome Las Vegas Sheriff Kevin McMahill as the keynote speaker opening the 39^th Annual IATR Conference on Tuesday, September 15^th, at 9:30 a.m. A veteran and leader in law enforcement and community affairs for more than 35 years, Sheriff McMahill understands the importance of safe multimodal mobility in supporting economic growth and thriving neighborhoods.”

Sheriff Kevin McMahill became the eighth sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Jan. 2, 2023.

McMahill has built a distinguished law enforcement career over more than three decades, serving at every level of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD). During his six years as undersheriff, he provided steady leadership through some of the community’s most significant challenges.

After three years in the United States Army, McMahill joined Metro in 1990 as a patrol officer and later served as a field training officer and academy training staff member. He was promoted to sergeant in 2001, with assignments in Patrol, Training, and Internal Affairs, and to lieutenant in 2006, serving in Patrol, Narcotics, and the Homeland Security Bureau.

In 2010, McMahill became captain of the Bolden Area Command in West Las Vegas. Building on the Safe Village initiative, he formed nontraditional partnerships with the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, faith leaders, nonprofit organizations, activists, and other community stakeholders. These efforts reduced crime in every category, including a 40% drop in overall violence, and marked the first time an area command ended the year with reductions across all categories. LVMPD later received the prestigious Webber-Seavey Award, the highest honor for excellence in community policing, in recognition of the program’s success.

In 2011, McMahill was appointed deputy chief of the Patrol Division, overseeing eight area commands. He helped expand the community policing programs he began at Bolden Area Command across the valley, which led to the creation of the Office of Community Engagement in 2015 to strengthen community relationships.

McMahill was promoted to assistant sheriff in 2013 and in 2014, former Sheriff Doug Gillespie promoted McMahill to undersheriff, where he served for six years as second-in-command under former Sheriff Joe Lombardo.

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

Click Here to Read More

Doordash Launches Own Drone Airline After FAA Approval

The company has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 135 air carrier certification, allowing it to launch DoorDash Air, an in-house drone programme developed by its robotics division, DoorDash Labs. Alongside operating the service, DoorDash is also developing its own aircraft for local deliveries. The approval makes DoorDash one of only a handful of drone operators in the US authorised to run commercial delivery services under its own certificate.

Click Here to Read More

Driverless Cars Have Touched Down in Tampa

Fleets of autonomous, unmanned cars have descended upon Tampa. Elon Musk’s robotaxis hit the streets last week, and curious passengers are already hitching rides in the self-driving vehicles. But Tesla – which touted the technology as the next best thing to its investors – isn’t the only company launching driverless cars in the city. Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, dispatched vehicles to scour and map the streets of Tampa late last year and is expected to open a competing service soon.

Click Here to Read More

Inside the Luxury Robotaxi Uber, Lucid and Nuro Are Testing

Nuro is conducting tests on public roads with safety operators behind the wheel in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Houston. The company is also using closed-course testing and simulations to prepare its self-driving technology for a public rollout. Lucid is manufacturing the robotaxis at its factory in Arizona. Once the service becomes available, riders will be able to hail an autonomous ride in the Uber app.

Click Here to Read More

CAVI Cancels Cross-Canada Automated Truck Project after Transport Canada Declines Endorsement

The Canadian Automated Vehicle Initiative (CAVI) has cancelled its proposed TransCanada Automated Truck Project after Transport Canada declined to endorse the initiative, saying the lack of federal support made it impossible to secure partners and funding. Launched in May 2025, the project aimed to demonstrate an automated tractor-trailer operating from Halifax to Vancouver as a way to support interprovincial trade and help address the long-haul driver shortage.

Click Here to Read More

Most Ottawa WestJet Flights Remain Cancelled Monday, after Tentative Deal Reached

People in Ottawa travelling with WestJet may still face cancellations, even though the airline has reached a tentative agreement with the union representing its flight attendants. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and WestJet announced early Aug. 3 that they had reached a tentative contract agreement, ending a strike that began Aug. 2 and prompted the airline to temporarily suspend its operations.

Click Here to Read More

WSP Canada Appoints New Chief Growth Officer and Executive VP for Transportation and Infrastructure

WSP Canada has announced David Sauvé has joined the company as executive vice-president, transportation and infrastructure, Canada and Corina Moore has been appointed to the role of Chief Growth Officer (CGO). Sauvé will be responsible for leading WSP’s transportation and infrastructure business in Canada, working with teams across the country. He succeeds Moore, who will assume her CGO role on Aug. 17.

Click Here to Read More

Should Licensed Taxis Be Exempt from Pay-Per-Mile Charging?

The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association’s (LTDA) latest campaign for London’s black cabs to be exempt from the Government’s planned pay-per-mile charging scheme may appear, at first glance, to be a London issue. In reality, it raises a much bigger question about how professional drivers should be treated as the UK enters a new era of road taxation. If ministers agree that licensed taxis deserve different treatment because they provide an essential public transport service, the decision could influence policy far beyond the capital. If they refuse, the consequences are likely to be felt by taxi and private hire drivers in every part of the country.

Click Here to Read More

EU Announces Electrification Plan with Proposal for V2G Mandate for New E-Cars

Traffic accounts for around 25 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the EU. Between 90 and 95 percent of the energy used in the sector comes from fossil sources. Decarbonization in the sense of climate effectiveness is a pressing goal. In addition, there is a fatal economic dependence on fossil energy, as the current scarcity caused by the conflict between the USA and Iran clearly shows. The “Electrification Action Plan” announced by the EU Commission aims to change this and make Europe the “first electrified continent”. To this end, it proposes far-reaching measures for the transport sector.

Click Here to Read More

France, Germany Seek Grand Bargain on Cars and ‘Made in Europe’

Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz are trying to jump-start the Franco-German engine one final time. After joint ministerial meetings in Germany last week, the leaders of the European Union’s two biggest economies have tasked their governments with striking a grand bargain that they say would strengthen Europe’s industrial defenses and revive the bloc’s automotive industry — key priorities for the two countries.

Click Here to Read More

Hong Kong: New Driver Test Marks Start of Ride-Hailing Regulation

Most provisions governing ride-hailing services in Hong Kong came into effect Monday, as applications opened for a new combined written test for taxi and ride-hailing drivers. The Taxi and Ride-hailing Vehicle Combined Written Test replaces the existing taxi written test, with the first group of candidates expected to sit the examination from mid-September.

Click Here to Read More

Zimbabwe’s Rural E-Mobility Innovation Takes Centre Stage in Global IP Battle

A home grown rural mobility solution developed in Zimbabwe to help smallholder farmers access markets has emerged at the centre of an international intellectual property dispute, placing Zimbabwean innovation firmly in the global spotlight. Mobility for Africa (MFA), the social enterprise behind the Hamba electric cargo tricycle, has filed legal proceedings in the United States against the Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) and several consultants, alleging that proprietary technology developed and tested in Zimbabwe was used without its authorisation to support similar rural mobility initiatives elsewhere in Africa.

Click Here to Read More

Mexico Unveils $8,500 Olinia EV to Challenge Market Dominated by Chinese-Made Cars

Mexico is aiming to carve out a place in one of the fastest-growing segments of its auto market with a tiny, low-cost electric vehicle designed for crowded city streets. Rather than chasing Tesla-level speed or range, the people behind the Olinia 1 said the car is meant to serve everyday driving needs at a price more buyers can reach. With Chinese-made models rapidly taking over Mexico's EV market, the government is using Olinia to try to establish a domestic electric car brand, according to IEEE Spectrum. About 90% of the EVs sold in Mexico in 2025 were built in China.

Click Here to Read More

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

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!