UK Conference: Fleets Need City and Regional Governments to Nudge Mobility as a Service Out of its Infancy
By Andrew Boada, Editor at Large
While mobility as a Service, or “MaaS,” is being touted as the future of fleet management, it’s still in its infancy and needs city and regional governments to do much more to make it a mature reality.
That was the consensus at a two-day conference in London this month called Smart Mobility & Transportation 2019.
For fleet managers, MaaS means managing a budget that covers every way that employees travel on the job, including ride-hailing, taxis, airplanes, and public transit. The goal for fleets is cost-savings derived in large measure from reducing the vehicles they own or lease and maximizing the use of the ones they continue to own.
For governments, as conference speakers indicated, the ultimate goals are different, but overlap and are complementary with fleets’.
Using Car2Go App, Car Thieves Steal 100 Vehicles in Chicago
Car thieves in Chicago have made off with more than 100 high-end vehicles using the car-sharing service Car2Go.
Some vehicles were then used to commit other crimes.
Despite earlier reports that the app was hacked, Car2Go explained in a statement that the app is secure and said the company is treating the issue as a fraud case. An investigation is still ongoing and at least 12 suspects are in custody.
Read the article at Car and Driver.
ADB Smart Headlights Could Improve Road Safety
Adaptive driving beam (ADB) headlights - also called smart headlights - are already available in Europe and Canada, but not yet legal in the U.S.
“Any technology, including ADB, that can allow drivers to take advantage of that increase in seeing distance that high beams provide without causing glare to oncoming or followed vehicles is a plus for night driving safety,” says Jennifer Stockburger, director of operations at Consumer Reports auto test center and head of CR’s headlight test program.
Read the article at MSN.
Amazon Delivery Drivers Take Selfies to Verify Identification
Amazon is now making its delivery drivers take selfies in an effort to reduce fraud.
Using facial recognition, the company will verify drivers’ identities to make sure they are who they say they are.
These efforts could screen out anyone who is technically unauthorized from delivering packages, such as criminals who are attempting to use Amazon Flex as an excuse to lurk in front of people’s homes.
Read the article at The Verge.
Donlen Partners with Nauto to Improve Fleet Safety
Donlen has partnered with Nauto, an AI-technology company to improve the safety of commercial fleets.
With this announcement, Donlen customers will have access to high-risk driving behaviors that leverages a multi-sensor device, artificial intelligence, and proprietary algorithms to assess situational risk both inside and outside the vehicle.
Nauto’s In-cab alerts enable automated coaching in the cabin to help stop high-risk driving behaviors the moment they occur. In-cab alerts notify drivers based on the severity of the distraction event to return their attention back on the road.
Read the entire press release.
