Infrastructure Briefs: UK Bans Toyota Advertisement on Environmental Grounds

By Phil Latz | 15th February 2024 |
A screenshot of an advertisement with utes driving and the word BANNED printed in red

UK Bans Toyota Hilux Advertisement Toyota was running an advertising campaign in the UK that was like so many that we’ve all seen before. An ‘army’ of Toyota Hilux pickup trucks (or utes as we might call them here) were shown careening through the wilderness while a voiceover describes the scene as “one of nature’s…

Paris Referendum to Consider Scooter Ban

By Scott Green | 2nd February 2023 |
An e-scooter in Paris

Paris, France A referendum of Paris residents in April will vote on a proposal to ben e-scooter share services in the French capital. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has indicated she supports banning e-scooters from Paris streets, despite being a globally-recognised champion for cycling commuting and active transport. She said safety concerns and managing e-scooter parking…

Tenders Raising the Challenge to Delivery Vans in Australian Cities

By Scott Green | 17th March 2022 |
Urban Arrow Tenders come in a number of configurations, including Coolbox.

Melbourne, Victoria Australia’s commercial cargo bike market is stepping up to join the heavyweights. Melbourne-based distributor Dutch Cargo this month brought in Australia’s first Urban Arrow Tenders, flatbed delivery trikes with car-like front wheels and the load capacity and configurations to raise the challenge to delivery vans. Dutch Cargo has initially brought in two Tenders,…

London’s Sound Investment for Safer Streets

By Scott Green | 16th February 2022 |
Santander’s bike hire figures in London reached record levels in 2021 and the company is working with Transport for London to introduce e-bikes to the service.

London, UK Transport for London (TfL) is supporting the city’s e-scooter operators to develop a ‘universal sound’ to help improve safety, particularly for people with impaired vision. Operators Dott, Lime and TIER have announced plans to collaborate and partner with University College London’s (UCL) world-leading research facility PEARL to develop a ‘universal sound’ to identify…

Paris Scooter Speeds Reduced to Address Accidents

By Scott Green | 9th December 2021 |
The City of Paris initially reduced speed limits for e-scooters at a dozen locations with high levels of pedestrian traffic but has now extended the speed crackdown to virtually all of the city.

Paris, France Share scooters in Paris are being restricted to 10 km/h for all but a few streets, in response to a large number of pedestrian injuries involving electric scooters. Paris has been an important market for scooter sharing companies and the three that received permits to operate in the city have done extremely well…

London Doubles E-Scooter Trial – With Strict Requirements

By Phil Latz | 12th August 2021 |
Man and woman riding Dott eScooters in London

Scooter share companies are in competition for rights to operate in various cities around the world. But no licences are more coveted and more potentially lucrative than those of major cities that combine population density, scale, wealth and tourism, such as London, Paris and New York.