News

Nokia has announced that Michael Halbherr has been appointed executive vice president to spearhead the company’s revised mission in mobile and location-based services. He will lead a new location and commerce business unit, which will be formed by integrating the Navteq business with Nokia's social location services operations. Nokia says the unit will develop a new class of integrated social location products and services for consumers, as well as platform services and local commerce services for device ma

AAA has launched the latest addition to its suite of free mobile applications with the release of the AAA Insurance app for iPhone and iPad that walks drivers through the post-traffic crash process of collecting information, photos, as well as providing one-touch access to call police and emergency services, AAA to request a tow, and the AAA Insurance claims department, for those AAA Insurance policyholders.

Recognising that infrastructure within Latin America is expanding rapidly, and that this expansion fuels the demand for fibre optic and Ethernet transmission products, Communication Networks (ComNet) has decided to expand its presence in the market and named Ricardo Acle as director of Latin America Sales.

ITS America will once again lead administration of the US Technical Advisory Group for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and serve as International Secretariat for the International Organization for Standardization’s ITS Technical Committee. ITS America takes over from the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), which had administered the groups since 2006.

Zetes has acquired ProScan, a leading South African company in the field of supply chain, automatic data entry and mobility solutions. Explaining the background to the acquisition, Alain Wirtz, CEO of Zetes, said, “ProScan offers a solid foothold in Africa for Zetes’ Goods ID solutions. There is a high demand on this continent for traceability solutions, particularly to track raw materials. This is a region of burgeoning growth, offering important potential for the Group. Africa represents a natural expansi

A new bill being presented in the US may ban the use of cell-phones by drivers while at the wheel. Should this bill go ahead, it would unify actions in a number of states under a single law that applies to the entire country. The move, called the Safe Drivers Act, is seen crucial to plans to tackle distracted driving.

India’s horrific death toll on its roads presents a major threat to the country’s fast economic development. Estimates from the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) suggest that some 130,000 people die on the roads/year, at an average of around 14 deaths/hour. Under-reporting of accidents is thought to be endemic and the figures available exclude the 1.6 million serious injuries that have been estimated by the IRTE. Close to 146 million traffic violations/day occur in the country according to the IRTE

Iteris has released a major upgrade to its leading video detection management software. VantageView 2.0 provides enhanced data collection and graphical display, including vehicle counts, speed, and occupancy, as well as multi-video viewing capabilities from a web-based application. This intelligence is essential for traffic engineers and planners seeking to maximise efficiency of traffic flow. VantageView is an integrated software platform that enables traffic managers to monitor video feeds from Iteris’

Greater Manchester Combined Authority with Transport for Greater Manchester have awarded to Siemens one of the most significant service contracts of its kind for the long-term maintenance of traffic signalling equipment across all ten districts of Greater Manchester. Under Transport for Greater Manchester’s guidance, the service contract is designed to secure substantial energy savings and reduce carbon emissions.

Graham Construction has won the contract, worth over US$21 million, to provide the state-of-the-art ITS for the new Forth Bridge replacement crossing in Scotland. The company will deliver the traffic flow management system along the M90 to control traffic flow using overhead signal gantries and provide motorists with current travel updates via variable message boards. The ITS contract is to provide and install seventeen gantries, along with foundations and associated maintenance lay-bys. Further work wi

Safetran, an Econolite Group company, has been awarded a two-year traffic cabinet purchase order contract from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and will begin shipping cabinets this month. This contract marks the second time in a row Safetran has successfully competed and passed Caltrans’ stringent quality assurance criteria to be selected as the traffic cabinet supplier to the transportation agency.