Posts by Phil Latz
Australia Takes a Step Towards Legalising Scooters and Other Micromobility
Canberra, ACT Australia’s National Transport Commission (NTC) has released its recommendations for common micromobility legislation across all Australian States and territories. The recommendations could see electric scooters and other forms of Personal Mobility Devices (PMDs) become legal across Australia in 2021. Australia is one of the world’s laggards in adopting progressive legislation to enable a…
Northern Rivers Rail Trail Passes Important Milestone
Murwillumbah / NSW New South Wales state government funding has allowed preliminary work and a tender process for the Northern Rivers Rail Trail to begin. Vegetation clearing along the Murwillumbah to Crabbes Creek rail corridor started earlier this month to give construction companies access to the trail site to prepare design and costings for the…
Clip On Ebike Power Within Seconds
Brooklyn / New York / USA Despite the boom in ebike sales over recent years, there are still far more non-ebikes on the road than ebikes. E-bike conversion kits have been around for many years. But they are relatively expensive and labour intensive to install. There have been some attempts to make conversion simpler such…
First Ride Impressions of LEV’s Just Landed in Australia
Brisbane / Queensland EMoS is a Brisbane based brand that’s pioneering the approval process and importation of a range of Light Electric Vehicles. Just before Christmas 2020, I was able to thread the needle between covid border restrictions and meet with Founder and Chief Technical Officer Wolfgang Roffman, along with Tony Blackshaw, Head of Operations…
Bird Develops Skid Detection System
Skid detection is an important safety and compliance feature that has the potential to deliver significant security benefits to both riders and communities. Ryan Fujiu – Chief Product Officer, Bird. Los Angeles / California / USA Major scooter-share company Bird has developed a skid detection system to help encourage safe and compliant e-scooter riding. Skidding…
Now, Even Lego Has a Cargo Bike!
Billund / Denmark In a sign of the times, Lego’s new City Shopping Street pack, released on 1st January 2021 features a bike shop with a mountain bike, road bike and a cargo bike. There’s also a blue bike lane marked along the Lego street, albeit rather too narrow compared to the roadway! The collection…
Free Planning Guide For Cycle Logistics Hubs Published
Copenhagen / Denmark City Changer Cargo Bike (CCCB) is a collaboration of 20 partners including cities, research institutions, NGOs, and industries from all over Europe in the quest to achieve a faster, more cost-effective and larger-scale deployment of cargo bike based logistics. On 22nd January 2021 CCCB published a comprehensive 28-page guide to different design…
Oslo Gets Serious About Micromobility
Oslo / Norway The City of Oslo has seen a 77% increase in bicycle traffic since passing a dedicated bicycle strategy in 2015. They were previously building just 1.5 kilometres of separated cycling infrastructure per year which was increased 10 fold to over 15 kilometres per year. This is about to double again as they’ve…
From Big Auto to Big Electric
Washington DC / USA It was bound to happen sooner or later. On 17th November 2020, 28 USA corporations founded ZETA, the Zero Emission Transportation Association. Their initial 28 members include electric vehicle manufacturers Tesla, Rivian, Lucid, Lordstown and Proterra. They also include engineering companies, mining industry groups (for copper and lithium) battery companies, electricity…
Shared Micromobility Company Pony Wins Start Up Prize
Brussels / Belgium The European Startup Prize for mobility (EUSP) is an EU-founded Acceleration and Investment Programme for sustainable mobility start-ups. This initiative aims to support and scale up smart and sustainable mobility start-ups all across Europe. Each year, 500+ start-ups apply to its Acceleration and Investment programme. The EUSP provides multiple investment opportunities as…