News

The road casualty statistics for Great Britain just released by the Department for Transport (DfT) are worrying in a number of ways, says the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS). They show no reduction in drink-drive deaths since 2010 – remaining at 240 deaths a year and no reduction in total road deaths and a two per cent increase in serious casualties in the past 12 months (to 31 March 2016). Seven police forces, including the largest ones, Metropolitan and Greater Manchester

Kapsch CarrierCom has provided the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) communications infrastructure for Line 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which began operating on 1 August, in time for the 2016 Olympic Games. TETRA offers voice and data connectivity that is dedicated, secure and highly reliable, ensuring optimal network performance. It facilitates communication for the operator, transmits relevant operational data, and makes a key contribution to an increasing passenger safety and efficiency. The compa

Hosted video service provider NW Systems has designed and developed an 18-camera system for Durham County Council in the UK to help them monitor and manage city centre traffic congestion affecting the city’s main arteries during major road works, bridge repairs and traffic signalisation projects. NW Systems developed an HD quality camera system for the Council’s Traffic Signals and Urban Traffic Management and Control (UTMC) team to provide real-time views over potential congestion hot spots associated w

Cybersecurity researchers have already shown how easy it is to hack a Jeep Cherokee and take control of its brakes and steering, resulting in a recall for the vulnerability to be corrected. At the Usenix Workshop on Offensive Technologies conference next week, a group of University of Michigan researchers plan to demonstrate how trucks, which have also begun adding similar electronic control system, can be vulnerable to hacking. They plan to show how the openness of the SAE J1939 standard used across

Visiting Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, to promote private sector investment in US infrastructure US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has signed a new agreement with Australian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Darren Chester that will strengthen collaboration on infrastructure investment strategies between the two countries. It will also advance collaboration on public-private partnerships, intelligent transportation systems and unmanned aircraft systems. One of the key areas of coope

Just a year after they caused Chrysler to recall 1.4 million Jeep Cherokee vehicles after showing how they could remotely hijack a jeep’s digital systems over the internet, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek are back to show how it could get worse. In the 2015 attack, they first toyed with the vehicle’s air conditioning, entertainment system and windscreen wipers, before cutting the transmission and causing the jeep to slowly come to a halt. At the Black Hat USA 2016 conference this week the two automot

National Express customers, drivers and staff are benefiting from latest generation CCTV technology, thanks to the operator’s partnership with smart transport systems provider Parkeon, which has delivered over 1,000 systems across the West Midlands and Dundee, Scotland. The most recent activity included the delivery of 176 systems through bus builders Alexander Dennis and Wrightbus, with 100 additional systems scheduled for 2016. The on-board technology includes 12 camera inputs recording high quality

Rail technology company Bombardier Transportation is to supply Metrolinx, the Province of Ontario's regional transportation agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), with an additional 125 next-generation Bombardier BiLevel commuter rail cars for service with GO Transit in Toronto. The order is valued at US$328 million and production is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2018 with final delivery expected in the first quarter of 2020. The BiLevel coach is a most popular double-deck

German automotive supplier ZF has acquired a 40 per cent stake in Hamburg-based Ibeo Automotive Systems, a specialist in LiDAR technology and the development of environmental recognition software with a particular focus on applications for autonomous driving. The two companies plan to develop the next generation of LiDAR technology for vehicle applications and autonomous driving, without the rotating mirrors contained in current LiDAR systems. According to ZF, LiDAR expands its current sensor portfo

According to China’s news agency Xinhua the futuristic Transit Elevated Bus (TEB-1) has conducted its first road test in the northern city of Qinhuangdao, in the Hebei province. The 22m long, 7.8m wide and 4.8m high TEB-1 can carry up to 300 passengers. Designed to help ease traffic congestion on China’s roads, the passenger compartment of the bus rises far above other vehicles on the road, allowing cars to pass underneath. It will run on a fixed route on rails places at the edges of the two lanes it str

In a deal worth around US$2.4 billion, US-based Verizon Communications is to acquire Fleetmatics Group as it seeks to accelerate its position as a provider of fleet and mobile workforce management solutions. Fleetmatics has developed a wide range of software as a service (SaaS)-based products and solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. According to Verizon, the combination of products and services, software platforms, strong customer bases, domain expertise and experience, as well as the recent

As part of a long-term strategy to improve traffic safety, Western Australia Police (WAPOL) has awarded Jenoptik’s Traffic Solutions division a contract by the for the delivery, installation, maintenance and in part the operation of an initial total of 81 speed and red light enforcement systems. The seven year, US$21 million (AU$28 million), contract includes options for extension for up to four years as well as for a possible program expansion with additional camera systems. The total volume for Jenopti

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has been awarded a $33 million contract by the Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) to modernise the Cubic-supplied EASY Card revenue management system and provide 10 years of back office cloud computing and support services. The project provides a significant technology refresh and expansion of customer services at a fraction of the cost for new system procurement. The award includes Cubic’s contactless bankcard and near field commun