For the second time (for the fifth time in total), the annual international conference ‘Taxi & Mobility Update 2017’ will be held in Brussels on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 May. This time, subtitled “Who’s in charge of tomorrow’s mobility?” Reservations can still be made on www.mobilityupdate.com

What’s on the menu? The role of the city in (sustainable) taxi transport, new business models for the taxi sector, electric and autonomous transport, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), innovative shared taxi and public transport systems, new licensing models for the taxi sector, remarkable new Finnish and Brussels taxi legislation and a round table discussion about the future of the taxi.

This English-speaking conference, held in Amsterdam for the first three years, is now being organized for the fifth time. This year it is again full of recent developments and innovations. Registration is open at www.mobilityintell.com There you can also find the programme and the latest information about the conference. After one and a half days, you’ll be completely up to date again!

From different European countries (but also from the US and Canada), taxi drivers, but also politicians, authorities, regulators, taxi, rental, bus and public transport organizations, consultants, union representatives, mobility experts and other stakeholders will be flocking to the Van der Valk Hotel in Diegem, near the Brussels airport.

A (small) overview of the programme. On day 1 (Thursday, May 4th), Shwetha Surender from London’s consultants Frost & Sullivan will give a fascinating overview of the latest developments in the mobility industry and point out some (mega) trends in the transport world. Under the guidance of moderator and MaaS specialist Richard Harris (ERTICO), Ivo Cré (POLIS, the network of European cities) and Professor Cathy Macharis (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) will highlight the role of the city (including the taxi sector) in the New Mobility and Paris taxi expert Serge Metz (UNIT Paris) will provide a look into the future of the taxi and PHV sector.

The global public transport association UITP starts the next session with the question whether public transport companies play the leading role in the New Mobility. Or is it Sampo Hietanen with Mobility as a Service (MaaS) who will respond to the challenge of the public transport sector? Or maybe the taxi industry? There’s more excitement at the end of this session: Renault-Nissan gives an overview of electric mobility and autonomous transport and specialist Alwin Bakker tells us how far we are away from the arrival of autonomous transport. Tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? And what role does the taxi sector play in it?

And how do taxi and PHV companies in Germany, the US and Belgium see their business over a number of years? Herwig Kollar of Taxi Deutschland (who won the lawsuits against Uber and MyTaxi in Germany) gives the view from a highly regulated trade, whilst Tarek Mallah from NuRide Transportation paints the picture from New York and Michel Petre from Brussels.

Thursday afternoon will provide the new vision of regulation by Finland’s regulators (a complete new taxi and transport legislation, explained by Helsinki’s top transport representative), San Francisco, London, Hamburg and New York. How is taxi and PHV sector regulated in other cities? The presentation by Brussels Minister for Mobility, Pascal Smet, promises to provide fireworks. He has just launched his plans for a new Brussels taxi legislation.

On day 2 (Friday 5th May), specialists from the international taxi industry provide the introduction to a “Roundtable”, an extensive one-hour exchange of views by various industry stakeholders. The launch is made by the International Transport Forum (ITF), with an important experiment on the replacement of private cars by (autonomous) taxi-like vehicles in Lisbon. Levent Erdogan of coach builder Karsan Otomotiv explains how small electric and wheelchair accessible buses can serve downtown areas, whilst Michael Galvin from London’s Addison Lee sketches his new business model, followed by Dr James Cooper (Taxi Research Partners), Sonila Metushi (IRU, Taxi of the Future) and Matt Daus (IATR, on the latest trends In taxi licensing).

On Friday afternoon the ‘Roundtable’ closes – followed by a network lunch – Taxi & Mobility Update 2017 at 2 pm. More information and (free) registration: www.mobilityintell.com

• Sign up for Taxi & Mobility Update 2017! Don’t miss this year’s conference!
• T&MIU programme 240417