Cargo bikes are having a moment. Around the world, in cities big and small, you’ll find couriers, families and businesses taking to the streets on bicycles designed to carry everything you can imagine. But the things we see as new and modern often have deep roots. Cargo bikes, it turns out, have been around in one form or another for over a century. So why are we seeing them everywhere now? And what can we learn from their past? This is the story of how cargo bikes have persevered through the years and continue to shape our cities.

As the world changes, so does the way we move. As cities grow, daily commutes also grow, elevating traffic volume, congestion and pollution. Add to this, time loss and higher fuel expenses for drivers. To understand how to find a sustainable solution for this problem, we spoke with Ralf-Peter Schäfer, TomTom’s VP Product Management of Traffic, Travel and Routing.

The very first Olympics event I was aware of was the Moscow Olympics. It was 1980, and the Cold War was going strong. The US and many other countries boycotted the event, protesting the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. While this gave a political backdrop to the Games, the event, after all, was about sports. For me, it was also about the crowd: the Moscow Olympics had more than 5,000 athletes and hundreds of thousands of visitors. 

It’s that time of the year again. As you pack your suitcases and head out on your summer vacation, we spoke to over 2,400 of your fellow European travelers to find out the latest travel trends. Whether you like following the crowd or heading off the beaten track, we're here to help you prepare for everything that awaits you this summer.

Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) is making major inroads in Europe. But how does it make roads safer, how do maps contribute to its effectiveness and is there a case for making it a global standard? We sat down with road safety expert David Ward to see what’s next for ISA tech and regulation.

The mobility industry is undergoing one of its biggest shifts. Carmakers are evolving how they work, demanding new technologies and redefining relationships with their partners, while this creates waves of opportunity it’s not without its challenges. We sat down with Andrew Hart, CEO of industry research firm SBD Automotive, to learn more and understand how TomTom Orbis Maps is playing an important role in defining and supporting this transition.

Travel to any big city and you’ll see construction. New roads, new buildings. We are familiar with the building up. But what needs attention is the building down – changing existing infrastructure through the reallocation of space at eye level. Think about Paris’ plan to ban cars, freeing up space that can be (re)used, or up-cycled, for new purposes. Is this the overlooked challenge cities have been facing around the world?

Counterpoint Research is a global technology market research firm specializing in the technology, media and telecommunications industries. As part of its ongoing analysis, it recognizes TomTom as an industry leader when it comes to in-vehicle experience, digital cockpit technology and navigation. We sat down with one of the organization’s founders to learn more.

The latest TomTom Traffic Index has arrived. Covering traffic trends for 2023, this year’s edition surveys 387 cities around the globe and covers metrics such as congestion, average travel time, the impact of rush hour and the environmental impact of congestion in our cities. It also tracks the cost of driving which, in a world struck by an increase in the cost of living, is becoming an important consideration for many motorists. Here are the headlines from this year’s report.

Traffic is a universal challenge. Roads and cities all over the world must constantly manage congestion and traffic to allow vehicles and people to move freely, with ease. While lowering stress might be the first thing most of us worry about in this context, managing traffic is part of the much bigger picture of sustainability, emissions and the livability of our cities and towns. Technology is one of the biggest tools to tackle this challenge, so we spoke to one of TomTom’s traffic experts to find out more.

What springs to mind when you think about Christmas delivered, wrapped and under the tree? The North Pole big chief perhaps (if you’re under ten), or what about the mobilized army of truck drivers, all powering through from Black Friday to Christmas Eve? Here we look at a changed retail landscape in 2023, the impact on transportation, and we talk to three HGV drivers – the real heroes of the season – to discover what it’s really like getting Christmas from A to Z.

This is the first installment of Viewpoint, a new column that comes to you directly from a TomTom’er, or someone who we think has a viewpoint worth sharing. In this edition, our resident writer-at-large muses on how important maps are in modern tech.

Sadly, the answer to that question isn’t simple. It pays to think of charging an EV as something entirely new, don’t compare it to what you would have done with your gasoline vehicle. There are many factors to consider when charging an EV, all of which affect how fast it can charge and how long you’ll spend at a charger.

Endings matter – especially when it comes to last-mile delivery. But did you know that delivery people find the last 100 meters to be the toughest part of the whole process? We explore the reasons why, and what can be done to make the home stretch of the last mile smoother for drivers, businesses and customers.

New rules adopted by the Council of the EU could encourage the most significant changes in the fight to make EV charging on long journeys as easy as filling up a gasoline car.

Although drivers should always be aware of their surroundings while driving, split second lapses of concentration do happen. And that’s all it can take for a fatal accident to occur. The good news: there is tech that is trying to keep those in vehicles safe when lapses in concentration occur.