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A technology collaboration between Innov ITS Advance and TRL has led to the creation of an advanced form of pedestrian detection target which it is claimed will help those specifying and developing automotive safety systems based on pedestrian recognition to test and certify their products in a more flexible, accurate and repeatable manner. The new TRL-Innov ITS Advance mobile pedestrian target is based around a robust, free standing dummy that provides a realistic human aspect and moves under remote contr

ALTe Powertrain Technologies, developer of the first range-extended plug-in electric hybrid powertrain for light commercial fleet vehicle applications, and Club Assist, the leading supplier of mobile, car electric and road services to motoring clubs worldwide, have announced a joint development project to study ALTe's powertrain technology in Club Assist's fleet. Club Assist will initiate the joint development project by taking possession of an ALTe-converted Ford F-150 truck for everyday fleet duties. The

The Austrian Traffic Club (VCÖ) which is the principal organisation in the country working for environmentally sustainable, socially just, and economically efficient mobility, has called for the introduction of truck tolls for rural highways. The organisation says that trucks wear down roads 35,000 times more than cars and also claims that in 2010 truck transport caused road infrastructure-related costs of US$4.78 billion but it paid only $3.46 via tolls and taxes.

Carole Coune has now taken over as secretary general of the International Transport Forum at the OECD. Coune, a Belgian national, takes over from Jack Short, who is retiring, as leader of the Paris-based intergovernmental organisation which brings together 52 nations from around the globe.

The government of Indonesia says it is working to reduce the number of road deaths in the country by 50 per cent by 2020 and by 80 per cent by 2035. To achieve this, the government will be upgrading the road infrastructure as well as introducing a road safety programme that will run over a ten-year and 25-year plans, starting this year. The programme will be overseen by the National Planning Development Board with involvement of the national police as well as the public works, transportation, national educa

U-blox, the Swiss positioning and wireless chip and module company, has announced the official AT&T approval of LISA, the world’s smallest surface-mount 3G module for use on AT&T’s mobile broadband network.

Motorway toll systems of Slovakia and Austria may be interconnected as part of the planned European interoperability. Operators of the national systems, SkyToll of Slovakia and Asfinag of Austria, have expressed interest in cooperation, saying that they will hold further, more detailed negotiations. SkyToll claims that the satellite system in Slovakia is ready for interoperability with the systems of the neighbouring countries and any changes can be implemented quickly.

Thailand's Board of Investment is trying to woo car manufacturers to the country. From its position as the world's No. 1 producer of one-ton pickup trucks, it claims Thailand is quickly emerging as a global hub for fuel efficient, eco-friendly car manufacturing, with Euro-4 emission standards and a fuel economy of nearly 50 miles per gallon. Six of the world's top auto producers have based their fuel efficient car production in Thailand in recent years.

Kapsch TrafficCom has won an important order for an electronic toll collection (ETC) system for multi-lane free-flow traffic on 520 kilometres of Portugal’s primary road network. The company will install a total of 38 toll stations for the new system – doing away with the need for manual toll collection. When the system is fully deployed, tolls will be collected from all vehicles using this newly created ETC system. Kapsch will subsequently provide technical operation and maintenance of the system for the P

Chuck Kohler has been named chief operating officer (COO) of the Asia/Australia-Pacific/Southern Africa operating company of Parsons Brinckerhoff. In his new role, Kohler will oversee nearly 5,000 employees who work on hundreds of transportation, power, mining, water/wastewater and community development projects throughout Asia, the Australia-Pacific region, and southern Africa. Kohler, a 24-year veteran of Parsons Brinckerhoff, was most recently the firm’s global director of projects.