Features

Geoff Collins of Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions talks about the near-term prospects of ANPR. The continued absence of a champion for its cause is preventing digital enforcement technology from delivering the true levels of cost-effectiveness of which it is capable, according to Geoff Collins, sales and marketing director of ANPR specialist Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions.

Paul Bridge at Vaisala describes a new cost-benefit tool to help road managers and road users

Do cooperative infrastructures offer a ready solution for automated enforcement? If we accept that enforcement is all about safety and not revenue generation, then it is perhaps time to start looking at just what cooperative infrastructures will have to offer. Identification, verification, preserving the evidence chain... all the current headaches of effective automated enforcement could perceivably be solved by the technologies and protocols encompassed by two-way communications between infrastructure and

The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland's Pekka Leviäkangas writes about the initial results of the EWENT project, which was set up to research the effects of severe weather on the European transport network. The European EWENT (Extreme Weather impacts on European Networks of Transport) project, financed by the European Commission under 7th Framework Programme for Research, recently issued its first Work Package (WP1) report. This is a review of extreme weather phenomena and their effects on the Europe

Midland Expressway Ltd's Tom Fanning discusses deployment of Near Field Communicationbased payment on the M6 Toll facility The M6 Toll's introduction from early next year of Near Field Communication (NFC) is a pragmatic response to the relative scarcity of tolled facilities and the concomitant low levels of tag take-up in the UK, according to the road's operator, Midland Expressway Ltd (MEL). Nevertheless, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC)-based tags operating at 5.8GHz are still a key part of the

In June, ITS Taiwan will host the 11th ITS Asia Pacific Forum and Exhibition. Dr. Bert J. Lim, president of the World Economics Society and a member of the local organising committee, provides an insight to ITS development in the country. Many of the thought-provoking issues he raises could be applied equally to most countries around the world. Governments need to assume a far greater leadership role, not just in ITS R&D, but also ITS deployment. In the case of Taiwan, it is time for the Ministry of Transpo

David Crawford reports on a pioneering blend of transport technology and aesthetic By gaining a design award before installation has even started, the US$6.9 million City of Santa Monica (California)'s Big Blue Bus Shelter and Branding Package has ensured early interest among what it expects to be a new wave of transit riders. The American Institute of Architects' Los Angeles chapter's recently conferred 'Next LA Citation Award for Architecture', given for design excellence in projects as yet unbuilt, comm

It was while on vacation in Providence, Rhode Island that Jim Larsen had a Eureka! moment