Mobility Monitor

Autonomous Vehicles

• Waymo launches in Nashville (its 11th commercial city) in partnership with Lyft, with fleet management by Flexdrive; the service will be bookable via both Waymo and Lyft apps (Moving People Newsletter)

• ADASTEC and Karsan receive approval to operate autonomous shuttles without a safety driver in Stavanger, Norway - one of few commercial public transport services globally operating driverless with paying passengers (Moving People Newsletter)

• Verne debuts first robotaxi operations in Europe (powered by Pony.ai and Uber) covering 90 sq. km, though launch appears rushed to meet EU grant deadlines and still includes safety drivers (Moving People Newsletter)

• MOIA begins testing in Los Angeles with Mobileye AV tech ahead of late 2026 launch with Uber; safety driver to be removed in 2027 (Moving People Newsletter)

• Waymo exits New York after city declines to renew autonomous permits; new Mayor opposed to testing while state legislation has stalled (Moving People Newsletter)

• 2025 California DMV data shows Waymo leads with 3.3M miles, Zoox second with 1.2M miles; Zoox achieves 60,683 miles per disengagement vs Waymo's 19,234 (Moving People Newsletter)

• EasyMile confirms strategic pivot to become technology supplier for autonomous heavy-duty vehicles, focusing on airports and industrial logistics after original shuttle business became obsolete (Moving People Newsletter)

• The Netherlands becomes first European country to approve Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) after over a year and a half of testing by RDW regulators (The Verge)

Rideshare Industry

• TADA expands to New York with driver registration starting early March, beta expected May, full launch summer; uses fixed-fee-per-ride model vs traditional ride-hailing (Moving People Newsletter)

• Bolt expands into corporate travel in Canada (Moving People Newsletter)

• Lyft brings together diverse teams including customers and drivers in hackathons to address pain points and ideate on possibilities outside existing roadmaps (CX Dive)

Electric Vehicles

• Slate Auto raises $650M led by existing investor TWG Global to fund affordable EV truck plans (TechCrunch)

• Volvo US sales plunge 32% as inventory piles up to 90 days, with frustrated dealers (The Drive)

• Workhorse slashes W56 step van prices by $60,000; Purolator places 100-unit order (Electrek)

Delivery

• Target expands next-day delivery capability with Shipt subsidiary for direct-from-store shipping to chase lower costs (Retail Dive)

• Just Eat and Starship Technologies launch delivery robots in Barnsley, serving 11,000 households (Moving People Newsletter)

• GO Bots unmanned delivery vehicles launch in Belgium (Moving People Newsletter)

Airline Industry

• India bets $3 billion on regional aviation as small airports underperform, though precedence suggests capacity deployment can drive growth (Skift)

• Etihad doubles down on China expansion in biggest single-market push in years as Iran war forces rethink of long-haul growth (Skift)

• Southwest adds new destinations; Air Canada expands grab-and-go lounge concept; Qatar Airways temporarily grounds A380 fleet until June 1 (Upgraded Points)

• IATA proof-of-concepts prove industry is ready for contactless travel (OAG)

• SITA integrates Google Find Hub for baggage tracking (OAG)

Micromobility

• Florence bans shared e-scooters due to safety concerns and impossibility of enforcing Italy's helmet requirement; Bird pivots to private rental while challenging decision legally (Moving People Newsletter)

• Belfast Bikes sees rental drop from 69,500 to 51,800 after price hike and new operator Beryl requiring fresh signup (Moving People Newsletter)

• Aldin Cycles, Ghana's first bike share service, goes electric by adding 50 e-bikes to existing 220 mechanical bikes (Moving People Newsletter)

Rental Car Industry

• Europcar and Voltric join forces to get more drivers into electric vehicles (Europcar UK)

• Europcar launches Fast Track deskless car rental solution allowing customers to skip queues and go direct to vehicles (Europcar UK)

Customer Experience

• Points can provide reasons for customers to engage while offering companies levers to adjust consumer behavior, though they both succeed and fail in loyalty programs (CX Dive)

Autonomous Retail & Self-Service

• VenHub Global and Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas deploy what may be the world's most advanced autonomous smart store installation (Vending Times)

Travel & Hospitality

• Phocuswright and ITB Berlin joint report shares industry leaders' insights on travel and tourism future based on inaugural Leadership Exchange event (Phocuswire)

• Roameo targets group travel planning with swipe-to-match interface, bringing discovery, coordination and itinerary building into single platform to reduce planning friction (Phocuswire)

• Bernhard Bohnenberger (Six Senses founder) launches Discover Collection with radically different approach to luxury hospitality (Skift)

• WiT Africa panelists outline "10 big bets" on continent's travel future, highlighting trust, AI-driven leapfrogging and role of local expertise (Phocuswire)

Product Launches

• Hyundai commits to "always" use physical buttons and knobs for volume and climate control, prioritizing customer preference over clean screen-filled dashboards (The Drive)

• Ariel Atom 4RR debuts as street-legal 525-HP go kart - quickest and most powerful Ariel Atom ever (The Drive)