It Will Take More Than A Cool App To Get People Out Of Their Cars
“Mobility as a Service” (MaaS) boosters say that technology can nudge drivers to adopt transit and micromobility, but that isn't enough to liberate cities from our reliance on automobility.
Technology platforms that allow commuters to easily book and plan trips across an array of urban transportation services—including transit, bikeshare, ride hail, e-scooters, and more, could help wean them off privately owned automobiles, but not if the bus only runs once an hour, or you have to ride that scooter or bike on a street shared with cars and trucks zooming by at 45 miles per hour.
Without supportive policies and investment decisions, such as new taxpayer funding, the smartest MaaS technology in the world won’t be able lower all the barriers to living a car-free lifestyle.
Read the article at City Lab.
Driving Dynamics’ Cormier Talks Driver Safety Tech at the IP Utility Safety Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina
Driving Dynamics Inc. announced Carl Cormier, senior driving instructor for the company, will present: “The Brave New World of Technology and Driver Safety: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” on Wednesday, November 20th from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. at the upcoming utility fleet conference.
His session will focus on educating participants about the safety challenges utility fleet drivers face in an era of emerging technologies and how these new tools and systems can help and potentially hurt fleets from a liability perspective.
Holman Enterprises Announces Executive Appointments
Company veteran Rick Tousaw will fill the newly created role of Chief Marketing Officer for Holman Enterprises, overseeing the strategic development and execution of the organization’s marketing efforts.
Tousaw also serves as Chief Commercial Officer for the Holman businesses focused on serving the fleet industry - ARI, Auto Truck Group and Holman Parts Distribution.
ARI has promoted Anthony Foursha to Executive Vice President, Sales and Service Excellence. Additionally, Craig Balfour has been named Vice President of Marketing for Holman Automotive.
The Future Isn’t Probably Full of Hydrogen, But There’s Hope
Hydrogen is often touted as an important transportation “fuel” in the future, though it has never gotten significant traction.
One reason is confusion over what it is – it’s not an energy source, though it is used like a fuel, but rather a form of energy storage. You take some other energy source and you generate the hydrogen, which you can then turn back into useful energy through a fuel cell, or even by burning it.
Hydrogen’s big advantage as an electricity source is you can pump it like a gaseous fuel. That means you can refill tanks quickly. Hydrogen may still have promise as a truck and bus fuel because they can handle having large tanks on board. This is where the action may be for hydrogen in ground transport.
Read the article at Forbes.
Booster Expands On-Demand Fuel Service to Seattle
Booster announced it has started gas routes in Seattle, Wash. The company launches the market with new, local customers including Advanced Government Services, Century Link, and Monarch.
Current customers have also expanded Booster service to their Seattle fleets including Traffic Management Inc. and Imperfect Produce. Seattle is the first market the company has launched since its $56 million series C funding round in June.
“Seattle holds a special place in Booster history. It was after sitting in line at a gas station on Capitol Hill one rainy day that I was inspired to create Booster,” said Frank Mycroft, CEO, Booster. “We’ve delivered over two million tanks of gas safely and sustainably. It’s exciting to see how much we’ve accomplished, and we’re just getting started. We believe a gas station that is mobile and comes to consumers and fleets is the future.”
Read more of the release.
