Mobility Companies – Page 65 – I wish I had more to offer

Communauto accelerates its growth thanks to the participation of Investissement Québec

Montreal, September 23, 2019 – Communauto is pleased to announce today that Investissement Québec is joining its share capital to grow the Québec business and accelerate its growth, both in Québec and abroad. Under this transaction, Investissement Québec will hold 24% of the shares of the company.

Mr. André St-Pierre, Vice-president, Major Accounts, Investment and Financing at Investissement Québec, Mrs Marie-Eve Proulx, Minister for Regional Economic Development, M. Benoit Robert, President and Founder of Communauto et Mr. Éric Alan Caldwell, Responsible for Urban Planning, Transit and Montreal’s Office of Pubic Transportation.

MacKinnon, Bennett & Co. (MKB), which has been a shareholder of Communauto since 2016, also participated in this new round of financing.

Communauto, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, remains the largest carsharing organization in Canada. It is a leader in North America for its economic and environmental sustainability as well as for its innovation in the field of integrated mobility and transportation electrification. The support of Investissement Québec and MKB will allow the company to continue its development in Québec and its expansion in Canada, especially in the Toronto area, and internationally. In addition to its mobility service offering, the company plans to add the commercialization of its technology solutions in the field of sharing and fleet management.

Investing in the future of sustainable mobility

Benoît Robert, founding president of Communauto, said: “Communauto today is taking an important step in its development plan. The recognition and support of Investissement Québec, as well as the renewed confidence of MKB, reinforce the sustainability of Communauto’s social, environmental and urban mission, and demonstrate once again that it is possible to reconcile environmental objectives and economic development.”

“Twenty-five years ago, the concept of carsharing was revolutionary; today it is spread throughout the world’s major cities. The emerging trend in many countries is to develop a green economy anchored in a better use of resources. I am proud that Québec is part of this global movement through innovative companies like Communauto. I welcome the announcement of a promising partnership between this Québec flagship and Investissement Québec, which will make possible the realization of important projects for the development of carsharing in Québec,” said the Minister Responsible for Regional Economic Development and Minister Responsible for the regions of Chaudière-Appalaches, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Marie-Eve Proulx.

“Communauto is a visionary Québec company, and a forerunner of the now-popular carsharing mode of transportation. By becoming a partner of the company, Investissement Québec gives it the means to continue its momentum and to reach a crucial stage in its growth process. In doing so, IQ also helps preserve the company’s headquarters and decision-making centre in Québec, while maintaining nearly a hundred well-paying jobs that contribute to our collective well-being,” said Guy LeBlanc, President and CEO of Investissement Québec.

About Communauto

Founded in Québec City in 1994, Communauto is the oldest carsharing service in North America and the one serving the largest number of communities in Canada. It is also the first company in Canada to offer its customers a large fleet of 100% electric cars and to create offers combined with public transportation services. Present on two continents in 14 cities (Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener / Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, London, Kingston, Ottawa, Gatineau, the regions of Montreal and Québec, Sherbrooke, Halifax and Paris in France) with a fleet of 3000 vehicles, it is one of the few operators in the world able to offer its customers access to vehicles available with or without reservation. Studies conducted in recent years show that each carsharing car replaces, on average, ten private vehicles in Québec.

About Investissement Québec

Investissement Québec’s mission is to promote the growth of investment in Québec, thereby contributing to economic development and job creation in all regions. The Company provides businesses with a full range of financial solutions including loans, loan guarantees and equity investments to support them at all stages of their development. In addition, she is responsible for administering tax measures and prospecting overseas investments.

About MacKinnon Bennett & Co. (MKB)

MacKinnon, Bennett & Co. is a Montreal-based private equity firm active in clean energy, transportation and smart cities. By partnering with entrepreneurs, MKB strengthens networks of like-minded innovators for sustainable development. MKB manages private investments on its own behalf, as well as on behalf of family wealth managers, high net worth individuals, institutional investors and other companies

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Information:

Marco Viviani
Vice President, Strategic Development
Communauto
T 514-499-2804

Isabelle Fontaine
Senior Director of Public and Government Affairs
Investissement Québec
T 514-876-9359

Hello, Texas!

Data collection beginning in downtown Dallas By: Austin Geidt, Head of Uber ATG Strategy We’re on a mission to deliver safe self-driving technology to Uber riders around the world. Uber Advanced Technologies Group has already started this journey in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto. Today, we’re adding another city to that list 一 Dallas, TX.… Continue reading Hello, Texas!

ViaVan Launches Its First On-Demand Mobility Service in Finland with HSL

Published September 16, 2019 9:00 am, Via NYC
ViaVan Launches Its First On-Demand Mobility Service in Finland with HSL
IdeaLab winner ViaVan powers an innovative public transit solution

16 September 2019 (HELSINKI)– ViaVan, Europe’s leading provider of on-demand public mobility, today announced it will power a dynamically routed first-and-last mile transit solution, in partnership with the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL). The service will allow residents of the Helsinki suburb of Espoo to book an on-demand ride and connect to Metro and train stations in the operating zone.

“ViaVan is redefining mobility across Europe, and we’re delighted to have been selected by HSL, an innovator in Europe’s transportation sector, to launch this ground-breaking service,” said Chris Snyder, CEO of ViaVan. “We believe that the easier it is to take public transport, the more people will reliably choose it over their private vehicle, and we’re excited to provide Espoo residents with this affordable, convenient, and eco-friendly transportation alternative.”

“The purpose of the experiment is to get an idea of how customers view the service and whether a similar service could sometimes serve as a complement to traditional public transport. All measures to increase the popularity of public transport and other wise modes of transportation are welcome,” says Tero Anttila, Head of HSL’s Public Transport Department.

ViaVan was selected as a winner of HSL’s IdeaLab competition, aimed at finding new and innovative mobility solutions for the Helsinki region. As a result, ViaVan received half a million euros for the service program, which leverages its technology and expertise to drive ridership to public transit and reduce the need for private vehicles to commute into the city from the suburban region of Espoo.

Passengers can book a ride through the ViaVan app to-or-from a Metro or train station in the service area. Once a ride is booked, Via’s advanced technology matches multiple passengers headed in the same direction into one of eight high-capacity vehicles and dynamically routes these vehicles in real-time, minimizing detours through the use of “virtual bus stops” to reduce congestion and emissions, while providing a highly-efficient rider experience.

The six-month service operates in eastern Espoo on weekdays from 7am to 9pm, and includes wheelchair-accessible vehicles. To celebrate the launch, trips begin at €2 per ride until 15 October 2019, with fixed and affordable pricing thereafter.

ViaVan recently launched its first on-demand public transit service in the Nordic region in partnership with Konsentra in Oslo, Norway this August. In addition, ViaVan has has already launched similar services in cooperation with leading public transport authorities across Europe, including Transport for London (TfL) in the Borough of Sutton in London and Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) in Berlin. ViaVan also operates direct to consumer services in London, Amsterdam and Milton Keynes. Globally, ViaVan and parent company Via have been tapped by cities and transportation players to help re-engineer public transit from a regulated system of rigid routes and schedules to a fully dynamic, on-demand network. With more than 80 launched and pending deployments in 20 countries, Via and ViaVan have provided more than 65 million rides to date.

Download the ViaVan app: iPhone or Android
Read more about the service
Map of the service area

Uber Announces Pricing of Upsized $1.2 Billion Senior Notes Offering

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: UBER) today announced the pricing of $1.2 billion principal amount of 7.500% Senior Notes due 2027 (the “notes”). The principal amount of the offering was increased from the previously announced offering size of $750 million. The notes are being offered only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional… Continue reading Uber Announces Pricing of Upsized $1.2 Billion Senior Notes Offering

Lyft Level 5 Self-Driving Dataset Competition Now Open

By: Vinay Shet, Director, Product Management The Lyft Level 5 team recently released a self-driving dataset with several tens of thousands of human-labeled 3D annotated frames and a semantic map, along with associated lidar frames and camera imagery. Today, we’re thrilled to launch a Kaggle competition with this dataset on 3D object detection over a… Continue reading Lyft Level 5 Self-Driving Dataset Competition Now Open

Waymo @ IAA Frankfurt 2019

Our CEO John Krafcik took the stage at IAA Frankfurt auto show today to share more on our journey here at Waymo and where we’re going next. Here’s a recap of his remarks. Hallo, und guten Morgen! It’s an honor to be here with you in Frankfurt to kick off IAA 2019. I’d like to… Continue reading Waymo @ IAA Frankfurt 2019

Via Expands in Austin, Launching Four New Pickup Zones with Capital Metro

Published September 5, 2019 2:42 pm, Via NYC
Via Expands in Austin, Launching Four New Pickup Zones with Capital Metro
Pickup has grown to a total of five service zones within just three months of launching the popular on-demand public transportation service

September 5, 2019 (AUSTIN, TEXAS) — Via, in partnership with the leading Austin public transportation provider Capital Metro, has officially launched four new zones of its popular Pickup on-demand public transportation service, bringing the dynamic shuttle to even more residents. The rapid success of the Pickup deployment is a testament to the appetite in Austin for dynamic on-demand mobility solutions.

Pickup first launched in June 2019 in the Austin suburb of Manor, with Capital Metro adding four new zones in Austin starting in September: Walnut Creek, East ATX, Northeast ATX, and Exposition. The new zones serve the four areas included in the MetroLink pilot program.

The swift expansion in Austin mirrors its fellow Texan city, Arlington, which also uses Via’s technology to power local public transportation. Since Via launched in Arlington in late 2017, ridership has grown 29 times larger, the service zone has expanded three times to cover almost a third of the city’s population, and there is a 94 percent daily weekday increase in ridership compared to the previous fixed-route bus system the service replaced.

It’s evident from Pickup’s tremendous expansion in its early months of operation that it is on the same path as Arlington to successfully overhaul outdated fixed-route public transit, giving residents more reliable and efficient transit options using Via’s technology.

“Pickup is an innovative way to build connections and bridge gaps that naturally occur in any transit network,” said Chad Ballentine, Capital Metro’s vice president of demand response and innovative mobility. “It provides reliable and accessible service in zones throughout the community that otherwise have limited access to transportation.”

Using the Pickup app, riders can hail a shuttle directly from their smartphone. Via’s advanced algorithms will enable multiple riders to seamlessly share the vehicle. The powerful technology will direct passengers to a nearby virtual bus stop, allowing for quick and efficient shared trips without lengthy detours, or inconvenient fixed routes and schedules.

Commuters can use the service by downloading the Pickup smartphone app powered by Via, available on iOS and Android. Those in the service zones without access to the smartphone app may call 512-269-6200. A single ride costs $1.25, the same charge as a Single Ride pass used to take MetroBus and MetroRapid services. A Capital Metro Day Pass, 7-Day Pass or 31-Day Pass will cover a Pickup ride as well. All Pickup zones are available weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., while East ATX and Northeast ATX also serve customers on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Via has been tapped by cities and transportation players around the world to help re-engineer public transit from a regulated system of rigid routes and schedules to a fully dynamic, on-demand network. Via now has more than 70 launched and pending deployments in more than 15 countries. To learn more about Via, visit www.platform.ridewithvia.com.

About Via

Via is re-engineering public transit, from a regulated system of rigid routes and schedules to a fully dynamic, on-demand network. Via’s mobile app connects multiple passengers who are headed the same way, allowing riders to seamlessly share a premium vehicle. First launched in New York City in September 2013, the Via platform operates in the United States and in Europe through its joint venture with Mercedes-Benz Vans, ViaVan. Via’s technology is also deployed worldwide through dozens of partner projects with public transportation agencies, private transit operators, taxi fleets, private companies, and universities, seamlessly integrating with public transit infrastructure to power cutting-edge on-demand mobility. For more information, visit www.platform.ridewithvia.com.

AEB: a Case Study Using comma.ai Dataset

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Reinforcing our commitment to safety

Today, Lyft is expanding our Community Safety Program to bring riders and drivers greater protection and peace of mind By John Zimmer, Lyft president and co-founder Safety is the cornerstone of all healthy communities, and it’s one of the key values Lyft was founded on. We don’t take lightly any instances where someone’s safety is… Continue reading Reinforcing our commitment to safety

Cooee Growth Booms in the Sydney Suburbs, Drawing Thousands to New On-Demand Transport

Published September 2, 2019 12:00 pm, Via NYC
Cooee Growth Booms in the Sydney Suburbs, Drawing Thousands to New On-Demand Transport
In less than three months, the on-demand public transportation network drew thousands of customers and the project has met its utilization goals well ahead of schedule.

September 3, 2019 (New South Wales, Australia) — Via, the world’s leading provider and developer of on-demand public mobility solutions, today released milestone metrics for its new Cooee Busways transport system, launched in partnership with Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) and Busways, a leading Australian transportation provider. Despite only starting operations on May 27, residents are already flocking to the new service by the thousands, with ridership exceeding targets, and vehicle utilization well ahead of the project’s goals.

Called Cooee Busways, the new on-demand shared transit network provides first- and last- mile connections for residents in The Ponds, Schofields and Kellyville Ridge, linking more residents with the new Sydney Metro public transportation hubs. Residents in the western Sydney suburbs have proved their eagerness to leave their private vehicles at home and take public transport, with more than 20,000 rides taken on the Cooee service in less than three months.

Ridership increased by more than 50 percent between June and July, with 55 percent of riders saying they previously used a private vehicle to make the journey. Thus far, of the 55 percent riders that previously used their private vehicle, 50 percent stated it was primarily used for commuting. From this, 4 percent stated they had sold their car since using Cooee Busways, with a further 43 percent considering selling their vehicle.

What’s more is that the Cooee service maintains a significant utilization rate, seeing a 75 percent increase in the first 11 weeks. During the morning and evening commuting hours, more than twice as many riders use Cooee Busways than originally projected. Because of its high utilization rate, Cooee Busways has thus far saved more than 21,000 vehicle kilometers by sharing a ride compared to driving a private vehicle, saving nearly five metric tons of CO2 vehicle emissions.

To date, the Cooee Busways app has been downloaded more than 8,500 times, garnering a 4.8 star review from users. This equates to a third of the residents in the service area having the app.

“Via’s technology is redefining mobility across the globe, and we’re thrilled to see such a positive reaction from Cooee Busways riders since launching the new on-demand service,” Daniel Ramot, co-founder and CEO of Via, said. “This project proves that the easier it is to take public transport, the more people will reliably choose it over their private vehicle.”

Cooee Busways operates Monday to Friday from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m., connecting commuters with Schofields Train Station and the new Sydney Metro stations at Tallawong and Rouse Hill. With the opening of Sydney Metro Northwest, Via’s timely deployment provides an affordable, convenient, and reliable transportation option for those commuting through these new major transit hubs.

“We are ecstatic over the success of the Cooee Busways service so far. To see ridership grow this quickly in a short space of time has been nothing short of a great achievement for the teams behind the project. It wouldn’t have been possible without Transport for NSW and Via working with us to deliver this futuristic passenger transport service, now,” Busways’ Managing Director, Byron Rowe, said.

“We’re getting people out of their cars, easing traffic congestion, freeing up parking spots, and making the integrated transport network work better for people. The execution from the teams involved has been outstanding — from using the right technology, to picking the area, designing the service, choosing the vehicles and kicking it all off with a proper marketing campaign.”

Commuters can use the service by downloading the Cooee Busways smartphone app powered by Via, available on iOS and Android. Users can book rides between Schofields Train Station, Tallawong Metro station, or Rouse Hill Metro station, and anywhere within the service zone highlighted within the app.

Cooee Busways is Via’s fourth microtransit deployment in New South Wales, Australia, joining services in Newcastle, Northern Beaches and Macquarie Park. Via also partnered with Busways to launch the world’s first on-demand shared autonomous deployment, BusBot, in Toormina, a suburb of Coffs Harbour.

Via has been tapped by cities and transportation players around the world to help re-engineer public transit from a regulated system of rigid routes and schedules to a fully dynamic, on-demand network. Via now has more than 80 launched and pending deployments in 20 countries. To learn more about Via, visit www.platform.ridewithvia.com.

About Via

About BuswaysBusways is a transport solution provider that partners with Government agencies to bring innovative, reliable and flexible services to the Australian people. We’re unencumbered, flexible and fast with a leadership team that is both forward thinking and responsive to the changing nature of the domestic transport industry. With a team of over 1,500 people, committed to transporting over 21 million passengers each year, we pride ourselves on taking a proactive approach to public transport delivery to ensure the customer’s journey is as seamless as possible. Busways is interested in how innovative transport solutions can enhance mobility and access for customers groups in different communities.