News

Ontario is launching Canada's first high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on 15 September as part of a pilot project on the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) between Trafalgar Road in Oakville and Guelph Line in Burlington to help manage congestion and add another option for travellers. Existing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on the highway will be designated as HOT lanes. As part of the pilot, Ontario is issuing a Request for Information seeking innovative technologies that can be used to support tolling, complia

UK-based design, engineering and project management consultancy Atkins is to assist the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in transforming the state’s aging transportation system into one of the safest and most reliable in the US. CDOT has selected the company to provide program support for the RoadX Program, its commitment to rapid and aggressive implementation of innovative technology to revolutionise the state’s transportation system within the next ten years. CDOT is investing US$20 m

According to IDTechEx Research reports, Power Electronics for Electric Vehicles 2016-2026, Mild Hybrid 48V Vehicles 2016-2031 and Structural Electronics 2015-2025: Applications, Technologies, Forecasts”, el4ctric vehicles (EVs)have a cost challenge: hybrids have complexity problems meaning reliability and space issues. Extra power electronic units arrive for tasks such as a vehicle-to-grid, vehicle-to-house and inductive charging. Many more will be added in future such as regeneration modules - thermoelect

WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff has commissioned specialist sustainable transport consultancy, Go Travel Solutions, to support their delivery of a new Go Smarter Business Network in areas of North East England. The Go Smarter Business Network has been developed to meet the transport needs of businesses across the North East Combined Authority (NECA) area and help encourage employees to adopt a greener commute to work. The Network will be focused around four facilitated meetings per year where members can h

UK parking technology company APT Skidata, a joint-venture of Swarco and Skidata in Austria, has expanded its senior management and created a new Customer Care Department and a Professional Services Department to further improve the communication and effectiveness of all teams dealing with its UK-wide customer base. Combining APT Skidata’s Service Help Desk and Technical Support, the new Customer Care Department is headed by Helen Hunt, a former sales service manager at Schneider Electric where she led a

The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) has awarded ETAN Industries a contract to provide back-office support for its toll-account operations. Under the three-year contract, ETAN will assume account management responsibilities for THEA's unpaid toll by plate accounts including customer service, notification, dispute resolution and payment processing. Dallas-based ETAN will open a call centre in Tampa and provide staff for satellite customer service locations in the community. In support of THE

Columbus, Ohio has been selected as the winner of the US Department of Transportation's (US DOT) Smart City Challenge. As winner of the Challenge, Columbus will receive up to US$40 million from US DOT and up to US$10 million from Vulcan to supplement the US$90 million that the city has already raised from other private partners to carry out its plan. The Smart City Challenge generated a significant amount of excitement and interest amongst cities. US DOT received seventy-eight applications in total – on

Following the UK vote to leave the European Union, with votes of 52 per cent for Leave and 48 per cent for Remain, Patrick Flaherty, chief executive – UK & Ireland, AECOM, said the country faces a period of change and uncertainty and business must play a stabilising role. “A positive, long-term focus on the future is required despite a referendum result that we and many businesses did not want,” he commented. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) says coming out of union risks new costs, restrictions a

The Tesla 3 gets nearly double the range of the Nissan Leaf by using nearly double the amount of battery but engineers are using a multitude of work rounds to do better: aerodynamics, light-weighting even including structural electronics where dumb structure is replaced by supercapacitors or solid state batteries. Add more efficient motors and powertrain, says Dr Peter Harrop, chairman of IDTechEx Research in its report Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles on Land 2016-2026. He goes on to say that