News

In response to population growth and traffic congestion in certain areas of the capital, the Ministry of Transport and Communications has started work on the Public Transport Master Plan (PTMP) for Muscat, which will be completed by the end of this year. Speaking at the Oman Public Transport Conference at Grand Hyatt Muscat, Director of Planning and Investment Development at the Ministry of Transport and Communications Affan Al Akhzami said implementation of the plan will lead to a better bus network and

Siemens has received an order worth around US$57 million from Paris transit authority RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) to supply the train control equipment and operational control system for the extension of the driverless metro line 14 in Paris. Siemens will supply its Trainguard communication based train control (CBTC) type automatic train protection system, which enables driverless operation. Siemens equipped the original stretch of line 14 for automatic operation in 1998, establish

RATP Group subsidiary RATP Dev has been awarded a 20-year contract with the Manila LRT 1 consortium to support operations and maintenance of Manila metro line 1.

In an effort to improve safety on Latvian roads, local company Reck has been awarded US$1.4 million contract to supply the Road Traffic Safety Directorate in Riga with 20 stationary speed cameras

Parking solutions provider Parkeon has joined forces with Waysis, whose Yellowbrick solution is one of the world leaders in mobile parking payment (MPP), to create MPP operation Yellowbrick International. Parkeon’s MPP solution, Whoosh!, has already been adopted by more than 40 cities in France, the UK and the USA.

Meridiam, the global investor and asset manager specialising in public and community infrastructure, has announced the inauguration of the E18 Eagle Motorway, connecting Koskenkyla to Kotka in Finland. The 53 kilometre motorway is a key link in a major transportation corridor linking Scandinavia to Russia. The highway will serve as a model European project through the implementation of a comprehensive environmental protection program and contribute to development of both regional tourism and trade between F

A new weigh-in-motion weighbridge is being installed on State Highway 1 at the Rakaia Bridge to support the introduction of high productivity motor vehicles (HPMV) on this key South Island, New Zealand, freight route. The HPMV system allows vehicles carrying a divisible load of essential goods to weigh more than the official 44 metric tonnes without a permit, but only on specified routes.

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) and International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the two largest global road and public transport federations, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate and jointly advocate solutions to meet modern mobility challenges worldwide. Supported by an annual Working Programme, the MoU sets the basis for cooperation on policy issues of common interest in public transport including taxis, education and professional training, social dialogue

The five-member New York State Capital Program Review Board has vetoed the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2015–2019 MTA Capital Plan which the MTA said would renew, enhance and expand the transportation network with a US$32 billion investment. The largest element of the program is safety and reliability projects worth US$22.2 billion to renew the MTA’s mass transit network. It also proposes investing US$4.3 billion in new technology, communications systems and railroad infrastructur

New research from the Accessibility Observatory at the University of Minnesota ranks 46 of the 50 largest (by population) metropolitan areas in the US for accessibility to jobs by transit. The new rankings, part of the Access Across America study begun last year, focus on accessibility, a measure that examines both land use and transportation systems. Accessibility measures how many destinations, such as jobs, can be reached in a given time. In the study, rankings were determined by a weighted average

The arrival of hydrogen cars on UK roads is a step closer today as Business Minister Matthew Hancock announced up to US$17.6 million of funding from Government and industry to help prepare the UK for the roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). The investment will help establish an initial network of up to 15 hydrogen refuelling stations by the end of 2015. It includes US$3.2 million of funding for public sector hydrogen vehicles. The announcement follows news earlier this month tha

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting this week, chief executive of toll road operator Transurban, Scott Charlton, claimed that there will come a time when Australia’s roads can no longer be widened to alleviate increasing congestion. He told shareholders that policy reform around infrastructure will be an increasing focus of stakeholders to ensure the most efficient and fair use of transport networks. “As we have said before, it is clear that we cannot simply keep building out the network

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has given its support to the HGV speed limit trial which commences on the A9 in Scotland on Tuesday 28 October. The pilot project on the A9 will raise the speed limit on the single carriageway sections between Perth and Inverness from 40 to 50mph for heavy goods vehicles which have a laden weight exceeding 7.5 tonnes. The trial, which will last 36 months and is to be introduced at the same time as a new average speed camera system, is aimed at improving the opera

Q-Free Open Roads has been awarded an order for advanced transportation management systems (ATMS) for a Homeland Security-related project in the US. The US$831,000 contract is for Open Roads’ Video Image Control and Display System (VICADS) video management equipment and services and will be delivered within the end of first half 2015. VICADS provides a video over IP solution, enabling existing network equipment and infrastructure to control and monitor video cameras. “We are happy to see that Open