Founded in Berlin in 2011, Blacklane operates a booking platform that connects customers with independent professional chauffeurs in more than 500 cities across over 60 countries. The company has built a reputation as a premium alternative to traditional ride-hailing services by focusing on pre-booked, high-quality chauffeur rides rather than on-demand pickups. 

In a statement, Uber said the acquisition would reinforce its investment in premium travel and accelerate its growth in the chauffeur segment, building on its recently launched Uber Elite service. Uber Elite, aimed at executives and frequent business travellers, offers a fully licensed professional chauffeur service and is currently available in select U.S. cities, with plans for further expansion. 

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Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, described premium travel as “one of the most exciting growth areas of Uber’s business,” adding that the company was “incredibly impressed by what Blacklane has built” and looked forward to working together and “deliver truly exceptional service to more people in cities around the world.” 

Blacklane’s founder and CEO, Dr. Jens Wohltorf, said the partnership with Uber represented “a significant milestone in Blacklane’s next chapter” and would introduce the company’s luxury hospitality expertise to new markets globally. 

The deal comes as Uber continues to expand its presence in premium mobility. The company has introduced Uber Business Black, a high-end service aimed at corporate travellers, combining luxury vehicles with professional drivers and offering both on-demand rides and pre-booked options to improve reliability for business users. At the same time, Uber has been rolling out its Women’s Preferences feature to more cities across the United States, allowing female riders to request women drivers, a move designed to enhance safety and comfort and give users greater control over their travel experience.

Industry observers see these initiatives as part of a broader strategy to diversify Uber’s offerings beyond standard ride-hailing. With the Blacklane acquisition, the company aims to strengthen its position across different segments of the mobility market.

L’article Uber to acquire Blacklane to expand into premium chauffeur services est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

T&E’s new State of European Transport says the EU is in “a global race against time” to become “a global leader in the cleantech industries of the future,” with “climate, competitiveness, jobs and economic wellbeing” at stake.

Despite being neck-and-neck with China on EV sales share in 2020, the report points out that the EU fell behind China due to “weak European car CO₂ standards after 2022.” Now, thanks to stronger targets in 2025 and with 70% of EVs sold in the bloc, manufactured in the bloc, the EU finds itself “only three years behind,” the T&E analysis shows.

That gap can be closed before 2030, the authors argue, by maintaining “the right policies and financing” to grow Europe’s battery industry and push forward with Green Deal targets. By doing so, the bloc can not only improve its air quality, as has been seen in countries with high EV sales like Denmark and the Netherlands, which are seeing “strong cuts in vehicle carbon pollution.” It can also “rapidly reduce its dependence on imported oil. Europe’s eight million electric cars cut around 46 million barrels of oil in 2025,” the report notes.

Against a backdrop of insecure oil supplies and soaring prices, driven up by the ongoing security crisis in the Middle East, reducing oil dependence is vital, T&E says. William Todts, the green campaign group’s Executive Director, said: “EVs are the super-lever for ending Europe’s dependence on imported oil. The industry narrative that we are too far behind China and that we must weaken the car CO₂ regulation to help them compete is fundamentally wrong. The regulation is not the problem. It is what keeps Europe in the race to be a global leader in battery electric cars. We need to accelerate, not capitulate.”

The EU’s battle with China on cleantech saw tariffs up to 35.3% imposed on Chinese EVs in 2024, after an investigation found that unfair subsidies had been awarded to EV producers in China, “causing a threat of economic injury to EU BEV producers”. In January 2026, that measure evolved towards an EU minimum pricing strategy for major EV manufacturers from China.

L’article China three years ahead of Europe on electric vehicles sales est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The program comes at a time when women are still underrepresented among drivers in Brussels. Although the number of female drivers has quadrupled in the past three years, they make up just 1% of active drivers in the city. In France, where the service was launched last year, the number of women drivers increased by 95%, while ride requests from women grew by 40% month on month. Bolt plans to eventually make the service available on-demand and expand it to other Belgian cities once operational conditions allow.

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Safety is a key focus of the program. Before booking a Women for Women ride, passengers must take a selfie and upload an ID document for verification. This ensures that only real, identifiable women can use the service. The gender marker on official documents is used to verify eligibility, meaning that transgender women whose documents state they are female can also access the service.  

The need for such a service is clear, given past safety concerns in ride-hailing. In Belgium, women have shared numerous accounts of harassment and assault by drivers on platforms like Uber. Some described being pressured to give personal information or being threatened when trying to exit a vehicle. Reports also emerged of fake taxi drivers targeting students. In the United States, Uber’s safety report revealed nearly 6,000 cases of sexual assault over two years, highlighting that women passengers globally face real risks when using ride-hailing services.  

Bolt is not alone in responding to this demand. Uber has expanded its “Women Preferences” feature in 28 US cities, allowing female passengers, including teens, to select women drivers, pre-book rides with them, or set a default preference in the app. Drivers can also choose to accept more rides from women passengers, giving them flexibility and confidence while earning. 

In addition to the ride option itself, Bolt is investing €2.5 million to encourage more women to drive. The company offers incentives such as referral rewards, low commissions, car access through partner programs, and driver training. Safety features like Emergency Assist, ride management tools, trip sharing, and keeping drivers’ phone numbers private are part of the app’s toolkit.  

Mahaut de Lesquen, Bolt Belgium’s Operations Manager, says the goal is simple: “Women for Women lets women travel with more peace of mind and makes female drivers feel safer. We want to grow the service, get more women on the road, and create a positive cycle that benefits everyone.” 

Bolt’s initiative in Brussels shows how targeted safety programs can address long-standing concerns for women riders and drivers. By providing verification, incentives, and a female-only option, the company hopes to make ride-hailing more inclusive and secure. As similar programs expand in other cities and platforms, women passengers may increasingly feel confident choosing ride-hailing services for their daily travel.

L’article Bolt launches women-only rides in Brussels to boost safety and confidence  est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The kiosks will be installed, the tech disruptor says, at “hotels, ports and international airports in the coming months,” starting with one at Terminal C in New York’s LaGuardia. Intended to avoid the need for travellers to consume expensive data plans (or even get out their phones) on arrival at foreign destinations, the kiosks are claimed to be “perfect for international visitors arriving without a data plan.”

The launch date for the first booth has not yet been confirmed, but when it has been built, in a marvel of the modern world, would-be ride hailers will be able to enter a physical kiosk and order a cab via a touchscreen, pay for it using a credit card reader (eliminating phone payment apps), and even – gasp! – receive a paper receipt to take with them to the taxi rank area. “Simply walk up to the kiosk, enter your destination, then start your ride type. The kiosk prints a paper receipt with your trip details, making the experience as straightforward as possible,” Uber said in a statement.

While many outlets are reporting the blinding innovation with tongue-in-cheek incredulity, the reality is perhaps darker or more interesting, depending on viewpoint. Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick conceived of Uber during a trip to Paris, during a trip when they found it impossible to hail a cab in the notoriously protectionist Parisian taxi market. As a former resident of Paris in the early 2000s, this writer can confirm how very tough it was to flag down a ride in the streets of the City of Lights, or even order a cab in advance, and can report firsthand numerous instances of waiting hours for an urgent ride.

Camp and Kalanick wanted to change that, disrupting the taxi industry via app-based convenience and cashless payments from a pocket device, as well as harnessing an army of new, available drivers and giving them a way to access customers directly – something licensed cab firms and drivers across the world have fiercely contested since Uber’s launch in 2010. Since then, Uber’s well-documented and seemingly inexorable rise has seen it move into various delivery services, as well as the fixed route Shuttle buses it announced it would expand at the same time as unveiling the Kiosk.

JFK. LGA. EWR. Repeat.
Uber Shuttle now pulls up to all 3 NYC airports pic.twitter.com/zrXkWRONd6

— Uber (@Uber) December 9, 2025

Uber’s unique selling point was once the direct connection between customer and cab and an operation without physical premises, tickets, counters, offices, stands, or even fixed routes. By moving on from that with Uber Kiosk and fixed route Uber Shuttle buses, the San Francisco “start-up” is showing just how far it has captured and dominated the ride sector.

L’article Uber unveils airport kiosks that let travellers book rides without the app est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The research team working on the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) INLADE project in Dübendorf tested the wireless inductive charging method “in everyday use,” including in snowy, rainy, and cold weather, and allowing for human errors. Mathias Huber, from the Empa’s Chemical Energy Carriers and Vehicle Systems lab, said the trial aimed to “clarify technical and regulatory issues and demonstrate its potential for the energy transition.”

With no cables, connectors, or fuss, the system removes the need for drivers to plug their vehicles in, instead using a charging plate in the ground, over which drivers must manoeuvre their coil-fitted vehicle. Although it requires precise positioning, a display helps drivers get their car in the right spot, and future plans include an assisted piloting function.

When the vehicle is correctly in place, an automatic safety check of the surroundings is carried out before charging commences. The coil fitted in the vehicle receives energy from the magnetic field produced by another transmitter coil in the base plate.

The tests proved that the “magnetic field generated during inductive charging did not interfere with other devices inside or outside the vehicle, or with people,” Huber confirmed. The success means the fleet of retrofitted test vehicles is now approved for road use, putting them among the first ever EVs in the world to run on inductive charging.

Currently, the technology achieves a charging efficiency of around 90%, which is comparable to plug-in systems, and beats similar efforts such as Elon Musk’s promised Robotaxi “supercharger,” which Tesla owners have complained only reaches 20%, according to Tesla accessory manufacturer, TPARTS.

Huber said the Swiss method “works very reliably” and offers “the big advantage of an inductive system” where “vehicles are connected to the grid much more frequently without the need for any active intervention – a plus for both convenience and the energy transition.”

The results of the collaboration between energy supplier Eniwa and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) could be a game-changer not only for drivers but for the power grid as a whole, Huber explained, by effectively turning electric cars into mobile energy storage units with bidirectional charging capability for the 23 hours a day on average that they are parked.

L’article Wireless electric vehicle charging could become everyday reality, after successful Swiss trials est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

After starting in Saudi Arabia in 2019, Uber launched trials of its Women Preferences settings in the Detroit, Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco in the United States in July 2025, as a response to consumers who told the firm they wanted the option to be matched with other women on trips. “We’ve heard them,” Uber said in a press release, “and now we’re introducing new ways to give them even more control over how they ride and drive.”

Now, as more riders and drivers describe increased “comfort and confidence on every trip,” Uber is set to expand the pilot scheme to Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, Sacramento, and 21 other cities, across the US. Across the country, the firm told Travel + Leisure, “Women Preferences has been a top request.”

For riders, the service means women can choose from three ways to better ensure their trips are operated by women drivers:

• Request on-demand: When requesting a trip on demand, women riders will see an option called Women Drivers. If the wait time is longer than anticipated, they can always opt for another ride with a faster pickup. 
• Reserve in advance: For more planning and certainty, women riders can use Reserve to pre-book trips with women drivers.
• Set a preference: Women riders can set a preference for a woman driver in their app settings. While it’s not guaranteed, turning on the Women Preference increases your chances of being matched with a woman driver.

Parents too are keen to ensure their teens have access to these settings, Uber says. Now, in cities where Teen accounts and Women Preferences are available, teens will be able to request women drivers too, the ride hail platform confirmed. What’s more, when a guardian requests a ride for their teen, they’ll also see the option to request a woman driver or reserve a ride in with a woman in advance.

Meanwhile, drivers too can set preferences to receive more trip requests from women riders, which the firm argues “offers women drivers new ways to earn on their terms with flexibility and confidence. If they want to receive trip requests from all riders, they can turn the preference off at any time.” Uber has promised the preferences, which it sees as “an important step in bringing more women onto the Uber platform” will be going “nationwide soon.”

L’article Uber expands new ‘Women Preferences’ safety feature for female users to 28 US cities est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Under the agreement, Baidu’s autonomous ride service Apollo Go will roll out a fully driverless taxi service called “AmiGo,” using RT6 electric vehicles that do not have a traditional driver’s seat and feature a detachable steering wheel. Robotaxis aim to complement the region’s public-transport infrastructure, with both private and shared rides available to book through an app similar to Uber. The companies expect to begin testing in December 2025, with full commercial operations planned to scale up by the first quarter of 2027 at the latest.  

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“We are honored to partner with an operator as reputable as PostBus to introduce autonomous ride-hailing service in Switzerland,” said Liang Zhang, Managing Director of EMEA, Baidu Apollo. “We will work closely with PostBus to enhance smart mobility in Switzerland, supplementing the existing public transport network and contributing to the nation’s reputation for innovation.” 

For PostBus, the collaboration reinforces its role in Switzerland’s autonomous driving sector. Apollo Go’s entry has received strong backing from the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden, and Thurgau, as well as the Federal Office of Transport, the Federal Roads Office, and the Touring Club of Switzerland, ensuring a smooth rollout and continued development of the service.

“Through AmiGo, we are bringing the mobility of the future to Eastern Switzerland — flexibly, digitally and completely in line with our customers’ needs,” said Stefan Regli, CEO of PostBus at Swiss Post.

This partnership marks a major milestone in Apollo Go’s global growth. Operating a fully driverless fleet of more than 1,000 vehicles across 16 cities worldwide, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Hong Kong, the service has covered over 200 million autonomous kilometres and maintained a strong safety record, providing more than 14 million rides to the public as of August 2025.

No. 001!

That's Dubai's very first autonomous driving license issued by @rta_dubai to Apollo Go. With 50 test license plates secured, Apollo Go has been conducting autonomous vehicle testing in urban Dubai since August.

At the 4th Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving… pic.twitter.com/Zv46PkSVkp

— Baidu Inc. (@Baidu_Inc) September 24, 2025

Earlier this year, in July, Baidu revealed a collaboration with Uber to introduce thousands of Apollo Go robotaxis on the platform across multiple global markets outside of the U.S. and mainland China later this year. In August, the Chinese tech firm also announced a partnership with U.S. ride-hailing company Lyft to launch robotaxis in the U.K. and Germany beginning in 2026. 

Baidu’s move to Switzerland underscores its ambition to extend autonomous ride-hailing beyond China and enter the competitive European market alongside players such as Waymo and others. 

L’article China’s Baidu partners with PostBus to launch driverless taxis in Switzerland est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The move comes in response to growing traffic problems that have been blamed on improvement works around Oxford Railway Station and the closure of Botley Road, a major western access route into the city lined with out-of-town retail stores.

Following a six-week consultation, councillors have now approved the congestion charge. It will apply from Monday to Sunday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm to car drivers entering the city at Hythe Bridge Street, St Cross Road, St Clement’s Street, Thames Street; and Monday to Saturday from 7:00 am to 9:00 am and from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way. There is no exception for Bank Holidays.

The Oxford temporary congestion charge has been given the go ahead by our cabinet and will begin later this autumn.

Read the full story: https://t.co/iFXWl9WmDj pic.twitter.com/cINQEjR3nW

— Oxfordshire County Council (@OxfordshireCC) September 11, 2025

Automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) will pick up vehicles entering the congestion zones, with drivers expected to pay the fee online. Anyone who ignores the obligation to pay the charge will face fines of £70 (over €80).

Exemptions include lorries, motorcycles, and vans, while residents who live inside a “central permit area” will receive a free, year-long permit. Other concessions giving free access apply to carers, health workers, mobile tradespeople, and those with reduced mobility who benefit from a “blue badge.”

Meanwhile, inhabitants of Oxford who live outside the designated zone will be eligible for between 25 and 100-day passes, giving unlimited access to the congestion zone on specified dates.

Statement from Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council on Oxfordshire County Council’s proposal for Oxford temporary congestion charge. pic.twitter.com/IIoISyVy9z

— Oxford City Council (@OxfordCity) June 9, 2025

The scheme is expected to last until August 2026, when the multi-million-pound rail project to refurb Oxford’s station entrance, track and platform is due for completion. If there are delays to that infrastructure work, the congestion charge must end after two years.

Expected to raise £3.2 million (around €3.7 million), a sum intended to improve public transport in the city, the charge has been welcomed by Luke Marion, Oxford Bus Company’s managing director, who believes its introduction will reduce traffic and speed up journeys in “great news for passengers.”

However, campaigners such as Open Roads for Oxford, a limited company led by independent shop owners and political candidates, have already said they will take the council to court over the measures due to their “very real and evidence-based concerns” that they say have been ignored.

L’article Oxford approves city centre congestion charge for cars est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

In place since 1 July 2025, the new traffic measure has seen signs erected on Spanish autopistas (toll motorways) and autovías (dual carriageways). A red circle containing the figure “70 m” between two cars is depicted on a blue background where white cars, trucks and motorbikes are shown against a radial pattern. These signs indicate the stretches of road where monitoring is taking place.

The campaign and introduction of penalties follow 78 road deaths and 273 serious injuries in motorway crashes in 2024. But, despite these sobering statistics, not all drivers are in agreement about the crackdown and how it works.

La nova norma de la DGT per buidar-nos les butxaques: distància de 70 mts a autopista o 200€ i/o 6 punts de retirada.
Bravo, lladres #DGT #lladres #multes #pocasoltes pic.twitter.com/ZuatSQGAox

— Ness (@NessCisa) September 6, 2025

Criticism

Some point out how common it is for other drivers to pull into the space left between two vehicles, reducing the stopping distance between cars and putting the driver behind at fault although he or she has no control over the actions of the person now ahead.

However, officials insist the monitoring and €200 penalty are meant to focus on intentional tailgating rather than momentary reductions in stopping distances. Persistent offenders who ignore the rules could find themselves penalised to the tune of €500 per breach.

Critics also note that, although modern cars are equipped with driver assistance tools such as adaptive stopping distance settings, those instruments do not yet inform drivers how far away they are exactly from the vehicle in front.

Different attitudes

Safe stopping distance calculation according to speed of travel has long been a part of driver training in some countries, such as the UK, where breaches are considered not only dangerous but discourteous and intimidating.

Elsewhere, such as Belgium, there are no defined safe stopping distances, and it is common for drivers to tailgate others even at high speed on motorways and to see the practice as a legitimate way to tell others to get out of the way. Belgium does not operate a licence penalty point system either, reducing the incentive for drivers to behave well. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Belgium has historically had one of the worst road death records in developed Europe.

One way to maintain a reasonably safe distance between vehicles no matter the speed of travel is to follow the mantra: “Only a fool breaks the two-second rule.” This involves allowing at least two seconds between the point at which the car ahead passes a chosen marker, such as a tree or a white line, and one’s own passage. Finns recommend a safe stopping distance of four seconds. In July 2024, Finland achieved a full year of zero road deaths in Helsinki.

L’article Spain introduces €200 fines for drivers who breach safe stopping distance est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Available to view, the new cars “are displayed in all of our showrooms now,” a statement from Tesla declared, indicating that deliveries would start as early as September this year. Made in China, the model’s overhaul sees the new incarnation fitted with an LG Energy Solution high-performance battery – a change being described as the most significant yet in its Chinese manufacturing.

Eugene Hsiao, an analyst at Macquarie Capital speaking at Tesla’s launch event, described the price point as looking “competitive in an increasingly crowded market.” Yet, questions may be raised about the relative value of the vehicle compared to its predecessors. The SUV L version has a 751-km range and costs 339,000 yuan, the press release said, which is 8% more expensive than the current long-range edition, which has a range of just one kilometre less, at 750km.

Described as a sport utility vehicle, it is around 15 cm wider than the two-row model, meaning it can accommodate three rows. With more space in the back and parked between the standard Model Y and the larger Model X, it is expected to appeal to the same demographic as local competitors such as Li Auto Inc’s L8 extended-range model, and Huawei HIMA’s Aito M8– essentially aimed at middle-class customers in the market for a family car.

Meet the new Model Y

Maximum efficiency. Smoother rides. All-new interior.

New on the outside:
– Redesigned exterior with improved aerodynamics to unlock better range, performance & longevity

– Updated wheels, tires & brakes + retuned suspension for a smoother ride

Our… pic.twitter.com/Fk40KzvP8m

— Tesla (@Tesla) January 24, 2025

But as lower-priced EVs from Chinese competitors continue to beat Tesla on sales, the US firm recorded an 8.4% fall in Chinese customers in July. Beleaguered Tesla is battling reputational damage related to CEO Elon Musk’s government antics and activities under President Donald Trump’s administration, as well as wide ridicule of its Cybertruck pick-up, complaints over range, and failure to fully roll out promised Full Self-Driving vehicle technology, or FSD, although trials of FSD functions have been ongoing since February. Despite its share price rising over 60% in 12 months, investors have been shaken by consensus forecasts that show earnings per share (EPS) falling 30% in 2025.

Against this backdrop, the new Model Y release “seeks to make up for delays in more advanced driver-assistance features that Tesla has marketed,” according to Bloomberg. What’s more, in early August 2025, the carmaker showcased a longer-range Model 3 sedan in China, with an extended range capability of 830 km.

L’article Tesla bids for Chinese customers with new family-friendly six-seater Model Y est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.