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IATR Technology & Innovation Committee Meeting

Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 02:00 PM ET / 11:00 am PT

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After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. If you are interested in attending and/or joining the Technology & Innovation Committee, please email Kim at info@iatr.global by EOD Monday, February 23, 2026. Please note this meeting is open to all REGULATOR & ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

Image: John Penney

A new report flags how the shortfall of wheelchair-accessible vehicles from the app-based ride-hailing giants subjects New Yorkers with disabilities to longer wait times.

The “Left Behind Across New York” report from New York Lawyers for the Public Interest notes that just 7% of nearly 106,000 for-hire vehicles licensed by the city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission are wheelchair accessible — a figure they say highlights disparities faced by customers with limited mobility who book rides through Uber and Lyft.

“It honestly feels disrespectful,” said Stefan Henry, a quadriplegic customer who uses a large powered wheelchair. “It just feels like they don’t think that people with disabilities need to go to work.”

Meanwhile, the city’s yellow taxi fleet last summer met a years-overdue legal mandate to make 50% of the in-service cabs wheelchair-accessible by equipping vehicles with ramps. It came years after the city blew a 2020 deadline that came about as part of a landmark settlement of a class-action lawsuit approved in 2014.

TLC data shows that of the 10,694 licensed yellow taxis in service in November, 56% were wheelchair accessible.

Source: The City

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Image: Cab Drivers United

Chicago needs to raise taxicab fares for the first time since 2016 to save a once-thriving industry decimated by ridesharing and the pandemic, a top mayoral aide said Thursday.

“The taxi industry is very dear to us. It has a lot of value in Chicago. It was here before” Uber and Lyft, Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Ivan Capifali told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We want to make sure that they survive.”

Capifali essentially urged the City Council to approve the cab fare hike that Mayor Brandon Johnson introduced without fanfare in late September while public attention was focused on the battle over his 2026 budget.

The mayor’s plan would maintain the cost of entering a cab, known as the “flag pull” at $3.25 for the first one-ninth of a mile, but provide substantial relief for cab drivers in other ways. That includes a $2.50 rush hour fee for rides between 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., a $1 overnight fee for rides between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m and increased charges for both time and distance.

Instead of 25 cents for each additional one-ninth mile, passengers would pay 31 cents. Another 25 cents would be tacked on to the fare for every 36 seconds instead of 20 cents.

The ordinance has languished in committee for months, but Capifali said that needs to change to accommodate the “high cost of everything,” including fuel, insurance and maintenance.

Source: Chicago Sun Times

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Digital Isn’t Enough: Why Interoperability Must Be the New Standard for NEMT

According to a global survey of healthcare leaders conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights, 96% of executives say they are ready and resourced to adopt digital solutions, yet more than 90% acknowledge that interoperability remains a significant challenge to realizing their full value. This contrast highlights a growing consensus across the industry—strategy and investment alone are not enough if systems remain disconnected.

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Congress Wants FAA to Speed Up Electric Air Taxi Certification

A bipartisan bill introduced Friday in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives would require the FAA to “streamline” its type certification process for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis and other advanced air mobility (AAM) aircraft. That could include the use of standards agreed upon by the developers themselves to prove the aircraft are fit to carry passengers.

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NYC’s Richest ‘Super Speeders’ Rack Up $10M in Speed Camera Fines over 12 Months: Report

Wealthy “super speeders” in luxury cars racked up more than $10 million in speed-camera tickets last year — with one brat still driving despite owing $90,000, a new analysis said. The spoiled super speeders, who earn the title by getting hit with at least 16 camera tickets in a single year, are more likely to be driving pricey, late-model cars, according to the analysis by Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets.

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Quebec Auto Board Officials Lied to Hide Costs of Botched SAAQclic Launch, Report Concludes

Top officials at Quebec's automobile insurance board, known as the SAAQ, deliberately lied to the provincial government for years to conceal colossal cost overruns and issues with its digital transition, according to a report tabled by Judge Denis Gallant in Quebec City Monday.

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Air Traffic Controllers Brace for FIFA

A long-running air traffic controllers shortage is expected to slow air travel at Canadian airports this summer. The industry has been short-staffed for decades. But when air travel tanked during the COVID-19 pandemic, employer Nav Canada encouraged many air traffic controllers to retire and reduced training for new recruits from 2020 to 2021.

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Road to Ruin: Montreal's Pothole Problems Have Solutions — But the City Lacks Money

Montrealer Marianick Baril says she's had eight flat tires since Christmas. Now, she plans her daily commute less on travel time and more by choosing the streets that have the fewest craters that threaten to send her vehicle back to the mechanic. This winter has been particularly perilous for Baril and other Montreal drivers, with officials reporting 3,824 pothole-related complaints between Jan. 1-27, nearly five times the 796 logged over the same period last year.

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Uber Boat by Thames Clippers: Blazing a Trail with Orbit Clipper  

The UK’s first fully electric cross-river passenger ferry has been delivered – and owner Uber Boat by Thames Clippers commemorated its first passenger crossing with a ceremony that included the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, among attendees.  

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U.S. and China Lead Robotaxi Boom as Europe Lags

The expansion of robotaxi services is taking place rapidly in the US and China, while Europe lags behind due to fragmented regulations and higher operating costs. According to the analysis of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) "It has finally arrived: the evolution of robotaxis", by 2035 there could be around 850 thousand in China, 350 thousand in the USA, and only approximately 120 thousand in Europe.

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The City Where Free Buses Changed Everything

The open-air central bus station in Dunkirk feels like a Formula 1 pit lane. In the space of a few minutes, a dozen pink, green and blue buses speed in and out, with passengers descending and mounting through all available doors. The arrivals board, displaying destinations such as Grande-Synthe, Cappelle-la-Grande and Malo-les-Bains, ticks over so quickly it’s as if drivers are vying for a podium spot.

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Faster but Not Fairer: Shared E-Mopeds Save Time in Underserved Areas while Draining Wallets

Shared electric mopeds (e-mopeds) have emerged as a new form of micromobility well suited for trips that are too long for walking but not long enough to justify using public transit. A study published in the Journal of Transport Geography in October 2025 shows that shared e-mopeds offer significant time savings over buses and rail, though high costs may prevent the people who need them most from fully benefiting.

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A New Case for Cheaper Ride Hailing Prices in South Africa

New research from global economic advisory Oxford Economics may suggest a new way for South African ehailing drivers and passengers to make the most of their money. The study, in collaboration with American ehailing platform inDrive, says that in-app fare negotations represent “a new stage in the evolution of ride-hailing.” This is an in-app process, where the rider and driver negotiation on a fair price for both, taking into account distance travelled.

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Disability Advocates Call for Reform of Transport Subsidy Scheme after Rideshare Trial

Disability advocates are calling to have rideshare services included in state-based taxi subsidy schemes with 98 per cent of participants in a national trial saying they'd back the reform. Currently, Victoria is the only state to include rideshare in its transport subsidy scheme for people with eligible disabilities.

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St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie

Sponsor of SB 632

Legislation to reduce the amount of liability insurance companies like Uber and Lyft must carry when their drivers accept a trip but haven’t yet picked up a rider just cleared its first Senate stop. The bill (SB 632) advanced on a 6-3 vote, with no discussion by members of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. St. Petersburg Republican Senator Nick DiCeglie, the measure’s sponsor, explained the proposed changes but offered no personal comments.

SB 632 would revise landmark legislation former Republican lawmakers Jeff Brandes, Chris Sprowls and Jamie Grant passed in 2017 that created statewide regulations for rideshare companies operating in the Sunshine State. It’s a potential cost-saver for the companies and their drivers, which have become even more ubiquitous in Florida and across the country since.

Currently, rideshares and their drivers must carry at least $1 million in coverage for death, bodily injury and property damage.

SB 632 would replace that with a new requirement for the “in-between” period after a driver and rider confirm a trip but before the passenger enters the vehicle. It would match the existing insurance requirements imposed nine years ago for when drivers are logged into a rideshare app but not on a ride: $25,000 for property damage, $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for bodily injury, and personal injury protection (PIP) at Florida minimums, along with uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

The bill keeps the $1 million insurance requirement once a passenger is in the vehicle, along with PIP at limousine-level minimums. It also allows the required coverage to be provided by the driver or vehicle owner, the rideshare company, or a combination of the two, and clarifies that if a driver’s policy lapses or fails to meet requirements, the rideshare company’s policy must step in from the first dollar and defend the claim.

Further, the measure updates proof-of-insurance provisions, requiring drivers to carry and provide coverage information after an accident and disclose whether they were logged on or engaged in a prearranged ride at the time.

Source: Florida Politics.com

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Click Here to Read SB 632

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