News

A new white paper issued this week by Atkins says there is an urgent need to understand the full impact of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) on cities around the world and to invest in adapted infrastructure now. Members of the Atkins Fellowship from across the world are meeting this week with clients and government in a technical conference to discuss the future of our cities and how they will be impacted by the advent of CAVs. The event, part of a broader Intelligent Mobility week, will analyse

Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) has implemented traffic signal priority systems (TSP) at 32 intersections in the Bulgarian city of Burgas, as part of the Burgas Integrated Urban Transport Project. The Opticom TSP system allows public transportation vehicles to be given priority signals at traffic intersections. The technology is also fitted to 77 public transport buses in the city, which ensures that when any of them approaches one of the 32 equipped intersections, the system sends a request from the

Arcadis Australia Pacific has launched a new mobility orientated development (MODe) business line and appointed transport and development expert Kevin Brake to lead it. According to Arcadis, MODe is a modern and holistic approach to planning transport infrastructure that factors how to best integrate transport into an area to create a community-focused precinct that achieves the highest possible community benefit and value from transit investment. The company has already used its bespoke MODeX tool on

Pedestrian and cycle counters have been installed around Aberdeen, Scotland to accurately monitor numbers of people using pavements and cycleways. The equipment, from UK company Traffic Technology, includes 13 Eco Multi counters which have been installed beside strategic pavements, which include off-road paths, dual-use pavements and segregated routes and are on paths which connect residential areas to schools, employment areas, parks and riversides. Some of the counters, which distinguish between ped

With 11,496 registered delegates, the 2016 ITS World Congress was attended by representatives from 73 countries. They heard from 663 speakers in 236 sessions. Delegates booked 659 technical tours at 17 traffic and transport centres. Melbourne’s roads and Albert Park were the venues for 3,618 vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure demonstrations. Kenneth Leonard, director, US Department of Transportation said the Congress was a “Fantastic event. Best one I have attended” and Leon Daniels, manag

UK bus operator Stagecoach is to deliver contactless bus travel on all of its regional bus services across the UK by the end of 2018, allowing passengers to pay for travel with a contactless credit or debit card, as well as Apple Pay and Android Pay. It will be the first major deployment of contactless technology on Britain's buses outside London and will benefit customers from major urban areas to rural and island communities such as Norfolk in England, Orkney in Scotland and Brecon in Wales. Stageco

Highways England has launched a US$6 million (£5 million) integrated weather information system developed by the Civica Group, to enable better management of the nation’s main roads during times of severe weather and to support its aims of keeping the road network free-flowing and safe. Developed by IPL, part of Civica’s digital solutions business, and incorporating Exactrak vehicle navigation and reporting technology, the severe weather information service (SWIS) brings together critical information o

The US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is taking a proactive safety approach to protect vehicles from malicious cyber-attacks and unauthorised access by releasing proposed guidance for improving motor vehicle cyber security. The proposed cyber security guidance focuses on layered solutions to ensure vehicle systems are designed to take appropriate and safe actions, even when an attack is successful. The guidance recommends risk-based prioritised ident

The UK government is committing an additional US$4.8 million (£4 million) to the Plug-In Van grant scheme, extending the eligibility to larger electric vehicles so that all vans and trucks meeting the necessary requirements are eligible as part of the drive to reduce carbon emissions from transport use. Businesses will now benefit from grants up to US$24,000 (£20,000) when switching their large trucks to electric vehicles, Business and Energy secretary Greg Clark announced during a 3 day visit to Japan w

HNTB Corporation is expanding its national leadership team by naming Kevin Hoeflich as toll services chairman, a post previously held by Jim Ely, who moves into a senior consulting role with the firm. In his new role, Hoeflich, a senior vice president of the firm, will oversee growth and daily management of the toll practice, provide clients across the country with expert resources as they look to operate existing toll facilities, implement tolling in future projects, and represent HNTB to the toll indus

Tolling specialist Emovis, which is to install and manage the toll system for the Mersey Gateway in the UK, is to test the technology on the Bridgewater Expressway prior to installation on the new bridge. The Mersey Gateway, a new six lane toll bridge over the Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes, is due to open in autumn 2017. The testing will be an important part of the preparation for the new free-flow tolling system, which will allow drivers to travel over the new bridge and the Silver J

Ford is currently trialling technology which aims to reduce time spent waiting at a red light. Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory uses information on traffic light timings from a roadside unit to display to the driver the best speed to travel at to get a green light. The tests are part of the UK Autodrive self-driving and connected car trial, a 16-member, publicly funded US$24 million (£20 million) project which is developing and trialling vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure technologies tha

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has been awarded a UK train operator Northern to supply electronic gates at its stations. Cubic will install its next-generation electronic gating system at eight stations, for a total of 52 installed gates. The gates are equipped with ITSO-compliant smart card and barcode reading capabilities, in addition to accepting magnetic tickets. Gates have already been installed at two stations and the remaining six stations are scheduled to be completed by the end of March

A new report published by Allied Market Research, Alternative Fuel and Hybrid Vehicle (AFHV) Market by Alternative Fuel Type, Vehicle Type, and Geography: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022, projects that the world AFHV market is expected to reach US$614 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 12.9 per cent during the forecast period. The passenger vehicle segment is estimated to dominate the market from 2016 to 2022. Asia-Pacific dominated the global market accounting for a market s