News

The Polis Traffic Efficiency & Mobility Working Group has been working on the topic of open transport data for more than eighteen months, with the aim of sharing information among Polis members on local experiences of publishing transport data, lessons learned and future plans. Polis has now issued its position paper, detailing the knowledge shared and the insight gained into the fast evolving area of open data, which has enabled it to produce informed recommendations to the European Commission in relation

The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) congratulated Anthony Foxx after the US Senate voted to confirm him as the next Secretary of the US Department of Transportation. Patrick D Jones, executive director and CEO of the worldwide association representing toll facility owners and operators and the businesses that serve them, said: “IBTTA congratulates Secretary Foxx on his confirmation today as the next US Secretary of Transportation. Secretary Foxx’s leadership comes at a time whe

Cubic Transportation Systems, MasterCard and Money Network are to partner in a program to launch what is said to be the largest open transit fare payment system (OSFS) in the US. The Ventra card is about to make its debut with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and suburban bus operator Pace, giving customers two new options to pay for train and bus rides. The Ventra card features two accounts - a closed-loop account for transit payments and an optional reloadable prepaid card that can be used for everyday

The UK’s underused M6 toll road could be opened free to drivers stuck in congested traffic on the M6, it has been revealed. Toll road operators Midland Expressway have reportedly offered to clear the path to help relieve traffic jams on the M6 if the Government releases it from its commitment to part-finance the M54 link road. The company, a subsidiary of Australian company Macquarie Atlas Roads, has debts of £1.03 billion, which mature in 2015, and as part of its 50-year concession agreement would have to

More cameras and sensors are to be installed in Chesapeake, Virginia, in an effort to prevent traffic bottlenecks throughout the city. The city won a US$2 million federal grant to update the traffic management centre (TMC). The plan calls for adding about twenty cameras at key intersections, together with additional traffic sensors at intersections to aid the timing of traffic signals. Several intersections on main roads are already linked by wireless communication. The TMC serves as the command and control

The Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi has begun the installation and deployment of a traffic control system (TCS) in Mohammed Bin Zayed City, at a cost of around US$20 million. The system is now operational at seven of the city’s 34 intersections following a pilot project and includes the deployment of smart and integrated traffic/pedestrian signals as well as a video surveillance system. The system will help enhance traffic in the city by reducing congestion, boosting the safety level for all road

In a deal worth around US£7.8 million, Siemens is to supply one of Poland’s most densely populated cities, Bialystock, with an inner-city traffic management system to optimise the growing volume of private vehicle traffic and increase the efficiency of its public transportation. Siemens’ Sitraffic Concert traffic management system will be installed to improve traffic flows. A new traffic management centre will receive data from more than 145 intersections, outstations, red light enforcement systems or publ

In a bid to tackle the growing problem of collisions caused by deer, transport officials in the Japanese island of Hokkaido have taken drastic action. As well as spraying wolf urine near roads and railways they will also be broadcasting the roar of lions to try to keep the deer away. A spokesman for Nexco East, which runs the island's highways, said: 'Even though we have increased the height of fences to 2.5 metres from 1.5 metres, fences sometimes break because of heavy snow, so we need this stop-gap measu

TrafficLand, US supplier of live traffic video has launched Broadcast 4.0, a new service for TV station news operations to customise content for on-air traffic and weather reporting. TrafficLand Broadcast 4.0 geo-locates real-time video from Department of Transportation cameras on Google Maps with traffic flow-data. Developed for the Apple iPad platform by TrafficLand and its development partner CLO Software, the application enables news producers and reporters to monitor local road conditions and quickly p

Mexico City is to benefit from the latest public transport management technology, thanks to a contract recently awarded to Spanish consultancy and technology company Indra. The contract, valued at US$20.8 million, covers the supply, installation and commissioning of Indra’s comprehensive Operations Assistance System (OAS) for the city’s Metrobús system, together with technical support and maintenance for a period of ten years. The 95 km system has 151 stations and carries over 800,000 passengers per day.