News

The UK government has given the RAC Foundation £480,000 to lead a road casualty investigation with police forces. The trial’s dedicated teams will research selected cases to get a better understanding of the causes behind road accidents to help inform road safety policies. Under the agreement, the RAC Foundation will work with the Department for Transport (DfT), Highways England, Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency and the police.

Carmakers using the word ‘autonomous’ are lulling UK drivers into a false sense of security, says a new report. The warning from Thatcham Research and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) follows reports of drivers crashing because they are over-reliant on technology that is not fully autonomous. The partnership is now calling for manufacturers and legislators to clarify the capability of vehicles sold with technology that does some driving on behalf of motorists. Thatcham’s latest paper, Assi

The UK government has pledged £350,000 to the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety to run a competition for companies to develop roadside evidential breathalysers. Although drivers are currently tested at the roadside in some cases, the breath test there is only used as an indicator of wrongdoing. The government’s stated aim is to prevent offenders who are marginally over the drink-drive limit from sobering up before reaching the police station where they are tested for evidence in court.

Belgium company EIT Digital says its MyCarLot solution will help local governments plan parking policies and provide better services. The system is currently operating in Rennes, France, and uses real-time and forecasted parking data to address special needs like disabled parking or electric vehicles. MyCarLot is intended to help users find available parking lots in advance based on personal preferences and using predictive algorithms and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. Maurizio Griva

The city of Birmingham is home to the highest number of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) in the UK, according to new research: there were 12,247 licenced models as of Q4 last year, says number plate specialist Click4reg. Its analysis of the top 20 UK local authorities was carried out ahead of government plans to host a zero-emissions vehicle summit in September 2018. The event is due to focus on vehicle technology to tackle carbon emissions and improve air quality. The research showed that Peterbo

Mobility analytics company StreetLight Data has launched its Multimodal Measurement Initiative (M2 Initiative) to measure the way various modes of travel interact. The company says it is developing new analytics that describe the behaviour of each transportation mode individually. The project will assess the interaction between trips made by personal vehicles, public transit, walking, biking, commercial trucks and gig economy trips made by on-demand rideshare and delivery drivers. For the first phase

The UK’s Alan Turing Institute and the Toyota Mobility Foundation are partnering in an 18-month project which they say is intended to modernise traffic management. They will collaborate with data providers and government managers to look at the way cities could run in future. Potential outcomes include the integration of an artificial intelligence (AI) system for traffic control, a platform for interactive data manipulation to monitor traffic behaviour and developing mechanisms for fleet operators and ci

Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer NEVS is using technology from Phantom Auto to improve the safety of passengers in its electric autonomous vehicles (AVs). Phantom Auto’s teleoperation system allows a remote human operator to take control of the vehicle in situations which an AV cannot handle on its own - such as inclement weather, road work and other road obstructions. The remote operator sits in front of a series of screens, has a 360-degree view of the AV’s surroundings and can take control at any

Charging provider Pod Point has been appointed Nissan’s preferred supplier for home chargers in Norway as part of a three-year partnership. Through the agreement, Pod Point will install chargers for Nissan’s range of plugin-in vehicles which includes the Leaf and e-NV200.

Cybersecurity company SafeRide Technologies Ltd and Dutch firm Irdeto have launched a solution to help original equipment manufacturers and Tier-1 suppliers protect connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs). Called Vsentry, the device combines network security with software security of the engine control unit to allow users to detect anomalies and respond to attacks. Vsentry uses an artificial intelligence engine and provides multi-layer protection for securing the connectivity perimeter and the in-vehi

Mott MacDonald will continue managing Highways England’s change advisory board (CAB) which the government-owned company relies on to control its daily traffic operations. Mott MacDonald will also handle the forum’s websites and technical specifications over the two-year contract. The CAB brings together system professionals to document Highways England’s business needs so they can be implemented into safe and cost-effective solutions. The board manages the technical specifications used by Highways

DriveOhio will use unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to understand how to manage traffic, roadway incidents and roadway conditions along the 33 Smart Mobility Corridor from 1 July. The three-year project, valued $5.9m, is intended to complement autonomous and connected vehicle tests along the 35-mile stretch between Dublin and East Liberty.

New Flyer Industries Canada will deploy 58 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses to British Columbia to meet public demand for sustainable transportation. The order was placed by the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (TransLink). These vehicles will be used by TransLink's operating firm Coast Mountain Bus Company. The order comprises 47 CNG forty-foot transit buses and 11 diesel-electric hybrid sixty-foot transit models.