News

According to ABI Research, the number of full electric vehicles (EV) shipping yearly will increase from 150,000 in 2013 to 2.36 million in 2020, representing a CAGR of 48 per cent. Asia-Pacific will exhibit the strongest growth, driven by mounting pollution issues in its many megacities; however, true mass-market uptake will only start happening in the next decade.

A consortium of Siemens, US company Bechtel and local construction companies Almabani and Consolidated Contractors Company has been awarded a subway contract worth US$10 billion by the Riyadh High Commission for Urban Development (ArRiyadh Development Authority). Siemens, whose share of the deal is worth around US$2.1 billion, is supplying subway rolling stock, electrification systems and signalling technology for driverless operation, as well as system integration.

More than thirty vendors from all over the world gathered at the second eCall Testfest, organised by Ertico-ITS Europe and ETSI to test the interoperability of the vendors’ eCall implementations. The event, hosted by CETECOM, was supported by the HeERO project and the European Commission and proved to be important, not only in terms of attendance numbers, but it also demonstrated that eCall is nearing deployment.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Thales recently scooped awards at the recent Light Rail Awards for the Manchester Metrolink extension, where the Metrolink was awarded UK Light Rail Project of the Year, and the Metrolink operator RATP won Operator of the Year. In addition, the M-Pact Thales (MPT) consortium was named European Supplier of the Year.

Intelligent radar detection solutions supplier AGD Systems is to supply the UK’s Transport for London (TfL) with its new 316 stop-line radar traffic detector, designed for the detection and monitoring of stationary vehicles at road junctions. The frequency modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) 316 utilises the latest planar antenna technology and an advanced, embedded digital signal processing engine to accurately and reliably detect stationary vehicles at the stop-line of busy intersections.

Cubic Transportation Systems has delivered the on-time installation of its bus hardware subsystem (BHS) for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority MTA Bus Time, the authority’s customer information system for bus location and arrival times that will be accessible by passengers using an internet browser-based map, a mobile phone-based application and a text message-based service.

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is to hold a two-day public meeting on 22 and 23 October at the Detroit Metro Airport Marriott to seek stakeholder input on the intelligent network flow optimisation (INFLO) bundle of applications. The USDOT's dynamic mobility applications (DMA) program identified the three applications, queue warning (Q-WARN), dynamic speed harmonisation (SPD-HARM) and cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) as high priority for the connected vehicle research program.

The Danish city of Aarhus is using the anonymous data from drivers’ Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and GPS systems to assist them in reducing traffic congestion. Using Blip Systems’ technology and placing the small sensors in the road network, the road authorities can obtain traffic flow data in real time and proactively manage the road network to minimise delays and congestion.

The UK's cities will receive help to get smart, thanks to the launch of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' new Smart Cities Forum. It comes as a new report values the smart cities industry at more than US$400 billion globally by 2020, with the UK expected to gain a ten per cent share (US$40 billion). The 'Global Market Opportunities and UK Capabilities for future smart cities' report highlights how this technology could transform lives and provide a huge economic boost.

The Ertico partnership is hosting a one-day forum in Brussels on 7 November to examine the future development of automated emergency call (eCall) and the evolution of telematics services. Discussions and debates will take place around a series of topics, including: the status of emergency call once eCall is deployed; challenges to enable further business opportunities; the potential of new technologies and new services within emergency call and beyond eCall.

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is to begin work on a US$24 million intelligent transportation system (ITS) network in north-west Florida. The network will include 183 traffic cameras, 17 overhead message signs, 135 microwave vehicle detectors, 40 travel time sensors, three road and weather information sensors and eight highway advisory radios.