Tuesday Transport Tech Terms – April 2019 (Reconnections)

This is a new feature which aims to explain the latest in transport acronyms, abbreviations and concepts quickly, as well as provide some relevance.

In covering industry developments, we at LR Towers come across new words and concepts almost every week. Some are technologies just starting to emerge and may be years from service, or may not immediately appear to be relevant to transport, but we will provide an explanation as to why we believe they are.

Bikelash is the backlash against bikelanes, losing road capacity to bikes, and general hostility towards people on bikes (and on scooters).

C-V2X is cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, which aims to enable vehicles to communicate to each other, as well as with traffic lights, cyclists and pedestrians, to support autonomous driving.

Macromobility is an academic term describing transit and micro-transit (minibuses).

Mesomobility is an academic term describing ride-hailing, taxis and car sharing.

Micromobility is an academic term to describe human-powered vehicles, pedestrians, scooters, ebikes and the like. This term, and its alternate ‘new mobility’, are now entering widespread use.

TNC are transportation network companies, like Uber and Lyft. This term is not a particularly descriptive, much like the related term ‘ride sharing’ wherein very few rides are actually shared. Both terms were devised by the companies themselves to provide a more public spirited gloss to what is just a taxi service.

If you have something you feel we should read or include in a future list, email us at [email protected].

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2 comments

  1. Are there any deployments of C-V2X in the real world? Or are they planned for two years from whenever the speaker is speaking?

  2. @Jarek

    C-V2X was developed as a standard just under two years ago. This article provides a history of the technology and possible future roadmap.

    And this article describes the possible VHS vs Beta technology battle with the more established dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) connected-car technology.

    C-V2X and DSRC are of interest to Reconnections not so much for autonomous vehicles (AV) and smart cities, but potential applications in buses and trams to improve safety.

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