Features

David Crawford picks up a new direction trend in traffic monitoring The surprise winner in the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) category of the recently-announced 2011 OSMOSE (Open Source for MObile and SustainablE city) Awards for European innovations in urban transport, is the Danish city of Aalborg - which doesn't have a TMC. Alternatively, one might consider its 'virtual' TMC as a signpost for the future in medium-sized cities.

Alexander Gerschenkron, the famous economic historian, once posited a benefit for those countries which come late to economic development: that they could introduce the latest technology and thus jump over some of the standard development paths followed by their predecessors . It is entirely possible to make the same observation of late-comers to ITS: that they can gain from the pains of those who went before and more easily implement best practice in ITS. As a consequence, it is entirely likely the Abu Dha

ITS Japan's Chairman Hiroyuki Watanabe talks to ITS International about his country's progress with cooperative infrastructures and how the experience gained to date can benefit similar initiatives elsewhere. Japan gave the rest of the world a taste of the cooperative infrastructure future when, in 1996, it went live with the Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS). Designed to provide real-time traffic information and alerts to in-vehicle navigation systems with the dual aims of increasing safe

Though still controversial, ramp metering, which has been around for nearly 50 years, continues to deliver substantial benefits, and generally for relatively small cost. Kansas City is a case in point. In March 2010, Kansas City Scout, a partnership between the Missouri and Kansas Departments of Transportation to provide ITS for the greater Kansas City Area, activated the first ramp metering system in the region. The project is located on an 8.85km (5.5 mile) section of Interstate 435 from Metcalf Avenue to

It is only in the last couple of years that the viability of all-electric vehicles for day to day transport has begun to be recognised. Back in 2000, that was not the case, certainly in Italy, where a few pilot projects involving EVs were carried out with negative results. It is against this background, that the innovative Reggio Emilia eco-rental experience must be assessed.

It was while on vacation in Providence, Rhode Island that Jim Larsen had a Eureka! moment In 2001, Jim Larsen was a traffic operations engineer with Ada County Highway District (ACHD) located in southern Idaho.