Image: Zag Daily

Skyports has widened its ambitions for electric air taxi services in South Korea by bringing aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies and local operator UI Helicopter into its plans for a national network.

The agreement brings together three of the main elements needed for commercial operations: aircraft, infrastructure and a local operator. It builds on UK-based vertiport developer Skyports’ earlier work with the Jeju Provincial Government, where it has already been planning the country’s first vertiport network.

Under the memorandum of understanding, South Korean helicopter operator and maintenance provider UI Helicopter has agreed to acquire up to 20 aircraft from Vermont-based electric aircraft developer BETA Technologies. The order remains non-binding and could include both the company’s conventional take-off aircraft and its vertical take-off air taxi variant, with deliveries targeted from 2029.

The partnership is expected to launch first on Jeju Island. Skyports said Jeju is the furthest advanced because it already has government backing but the long-term aim is to replicate the model in other parts of South Korea as additional locations come forward.

Source: Zag Daily

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Image: Bliq

Autonomous vehicle startup Bliq has received approval to operate its driverless cars on public roads in Finland and will begin testing in Helsinki in the coming weeks.

The approval makes Finland the second EU member state after Estonia to permit Bliq’s vehicles on public roads. The company told Zag Daily it will initially deploy “one or two vehicles” before expanding the fleet to “more than 10” by November, with plans to gradually extend operations beyond Helsinki.

Testing will begin with safety drivers behind the wheel while the company assesses how its system performs under local road conditions. After a few days of supervised driving, Bliq plans to invite early adopters who have joined its Helsinki waiting list to ride in the vehicles.

Chief Executive Officer Julian Glaab said Europe should begin introducing autonomous vehicles “step-by-step” so regulators, companies and the public can learn how the technology works in practice.

Source: Zag Daily

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Zoox Issues Software Recall after a Robotaxi Got Confused by Heavy Smoke

Zoox has issued a software recall after one of its robotaxis struggled to navigate a smoke-filled emergency fire scene in June. The Amazon-owned company said Friday that it has shipped a software update that should address the issue to its fleet of 105 vehicles.

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Speaker Menin Says Worker Safeguards in Horse Carriage Ban Bill Must Be ‘Beefed Up’

On the heels of an emotional City Council hearing on legislation to ban hansom cabs in Central Park, City Council Speaker Julie Menin on Thursday said the bill should be “beefed up” to include stronger job protections for carriage horse industry workers.

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Federal Railroad Administration Study Finds Upgrades Could Boost Penn Station Capacity by One-Third

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has released the first phase of its New York Penn Station Service Optimization Study, concluding that a series of targeted infrastructure and operational improvements could increase train capacity by roughly 33% while improving passenger circulation throughout the nation's busiest rail hub.

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Canadian Transportation Agency Approves Lac-Mégantic Bypass Construction

The Canadian Transportation Agency has approved the construction of a bypass to divert trains around downtown Lac-Mégantic, Que. Forty-seven people died there when a runaway train derailed and smashed into downtown on July 6, 2013.

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Canada to Diversify Trade and Double Exports through the Port of Vancouver Gateway Strategy

Moving $1 billion in goods every day, the Port of Vancouver (the Port) is Canada’s largest and most cargo-diverse port Connecting Canada to 170 markets, it is a critical trade gateway – handling 40% of Canada’s trade in goods beyond North America.

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Windsor City Council Temporarily Extends Lifespan of 5 Accessible Cabs

Windsor city council has voted unanimously to grant a temporary, one-year road safety by-law exemption to local taxi operators, allowing 31 aging taxicabs to stay on city streets past their legal lifecycles.

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A Plan to Make Europe the First Electro-Continent

The Commission has unveiled a new electrification action plan aimed at speeding up the shift from fossil fuels to electricity in Europe across industry, transport and buildings. The goal is to make Europe the world's first "electro-powered" continent by aiming to increase electrification from today's 23% of energy use to 46% by 2040. By reaching this goal, the EU could save €260 billion per year in fossil fuel imports.

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Europe's Congestion Is Costing Fleets Millions in Wasted Fuel, New Geotab Data Reveals

Geotab, a global leader in connected vehicle and asset management solutions, today revealed that more than 1.58 million litres of fuel were burned while Geotab-connected vehicles sat stationary in traffic across Europe's major capitals during 2025. Across the vehicles analysed, idle fuel waste reached an estimated €2.6 million over twelve months.

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Foxconn Postpones U.S. Launch of EV Crossover Because of Tariffs, Pivots to Poland, Japan

Foxconn, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker expanding into electric vehicles, has postponed its U.S. launch of a midsize EV crossover because of tariffs and will pivot to producing vehicles in Poland and pitching a new taxi for Japan as part of its international growth strategy.

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India Launches First Hydrogen-Powered Train Built in the Country to Expand Clean Energy on Railways

India rolled out its first Indigenously built, hydrogen-powered train on Friday, a move aimed at expanding the use of clean energy in its vast rail network. The train made up of two hydrogen-powered driving cars and eight passenger coaches will operate in the northern state of Haryana. It can run at speeds of up to 75 kph (47 mph) and carry a maximum of about 2,600 passengers, railway officials said.

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Japan's Maglev Project Faces Calls for a Clear Timeline amid Delays

Japan's ambitious maglev rail project is once again under the spotlight as growing delays have prompted fresh calls for a clear timeline. After more than a decade of construction challenges and missed deadlines, government officials, businesses and local communities are urging the project operator to provide greater clarity on when the country's next-generation high-speed railway will finally become a reality.

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Kawasaki Launches Collaboration with NVIDIA to Realize a “Next-Generation Digital Shipyard”

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. today announced that its collaboration with NVIDIA Corporation (headquartered in California, U.S.) has begun to realize a next-generation digital shipyard using physical AI and digital twin technology in shipbuilding.

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Image: Tesla

Tesla has told lawmakers in Washington DC that it is developing a wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle in Texas.

Speaking to the DC City Council, Tesla Senior Policy Advisor India Herdman said the company was building “a purpose-built, wheelchair-accessible autonomous vehicle” though the name of the vehicle or a date of its arrival was not disclosed. 

Herdman said the vehicle was intended to address the difficulties many wheelchair users face accessing transport but offered no timeline, technical details or indication of when the vehicle could enter service.

“We know that paratransit can be very difficult and people who are confined to wheelchairs permanently should still be able to move around freely, so that is an active product being built by Tesla in Texas,” said Herdman.

The comments came as policymakers questioned robotaxi companies about accessibility, an issue that remains unresolved across the sector. No major US operator currently offers a fully driverless wheelchair-accessible service, with rival Waymo also telling the hearing it has yet to identify a suitable vehicle platform.

Source: Zag Daily

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