ITS Monday: Edition 22, 2022

The National Location Registry needs your data! Here’s why…

GS1 Australia’s Bonnie Ryan interviewed about the National Location Registry, and a “… call on Australian businesses to load their location data to the NLR to reduce futile deliveries, and to improve onboarding of new customers and supply chain visibility and traceability.”

Ford, GM Petition NHTSA to Deploy Cars Without Steering Wheels on Public Roads

“The (US) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has published petitions from both Ford and General Motors that seek to put self-driving development vehicles without traditional driver controls on public roads. Both petitions have been published to the Federal Register, where the public will have 30 days to leave any comments.”

Norway Is Running Out of Gas-Guzzling Cars to Tax

Norway is well ahead of all countries in uptake of electric vehicles, therefore it is also closer to decisions to be made about how make up the tax shortfall in its move from combustion engine vehicles to electric.

Labor’s Electric Car Discount Bill, Explained

Staying with the topic of electric vehicles, but switching to home turf, the new Australian Federal Labor Government has introduced a Electric Car Discount Bill. Its main pillar is to make “… electric cars, hydrogen cars and plug-in hybrids below the luxury car tax threshold exempt from the fringe benefits tax.

‘We’ve taken our time’: Stokes gives green light to e-scooter trial

In last week’s ITS Monday we included a story about the fact that the City of Sydney had decided not to undertake a trial of share e-scooters. Elswhere in Greater Sydney electric scooter trials will begin at four locations in Sydney’s west from last weekend “… as the NSW government takes a cautious approach to legalising their use in the state.”

Related, here’s the NSW Government’s E-scooter Shared Scheme Trial information and guidelines page(s).

Who’s liable if you’re injured or killed riding an e-scooter?

In the last few weeks a story emerged of the health and legal troubles a visitor to Melbourne has suffered after being struck on a footpath by one of the share e-scooters participating in Melbourne’s trial of the vehicles. It highlighted the gap between the particular rules of the trial, the agreement signed, and the protection of other road and footpath users. This articles rounds up just where those gaps are.

Half-price fares: Unclear what’s behind public transport uptick in Auckland

“Auckland Transport is unsure whether halving public transport fares has had any impact on patronage. The government initiative began in April and has been extended until February 2023 to ease the impact of rising inflation and provide an alternative to soaring fuel prices.”

The Case for Making Public Transit Free Everywhere

“Used to spending hundreds of dollars on public transit every month? Soon, depending on where you live, all those bus, train, and tram journeys could be totally free. Sure, transit operators would earn less revenue. But some are willing to risk the cash to find out whether free fare policies can help reduce car journeys and make cities run more smoothly.” Does it work? Read on.