News

Eight of the world’s largest multilateral development banks (MDBs) banks yesterday pledged to invest US$175 billion over the next 10 years to support sustainable transport in developing countries. The pledge was made at the UN Sustainable Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro (Rio+20) by the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, CAF- Development Bank of Latin America, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Islamic Developme

International car sharing network Zipcar has announced it is the lead investor in a US$13.7 million Series A round of funding for Wheelz, which claims to be the first peer-to-peer (P2P) car sharing company targeting college campus communities. “Based on our analysis and primary research, we believe P2P could expand the total addressable market for car sharing,” said Zipcar chairman and CEO Scott Griffith, who added he believes Wheelz has the right leadership, technology and business model to succeed in the

Innovative vehicle and infrastructure technology being developed in the European Intersafe-2 research project is targeting known issues of road safety at intersections, with the aim of improving safety at intersections by up to 80 per cent. Four systems giving assistance to drivers for right turns, left turns, intersections and addressing give way situations could make major reductions in accidents. Sensor technology installed in vehicles and at intersections relay messages and help boost safety. Finnish re

Dubai Metro has won another Guinness World Record for having the longest driverless Metro network in the world with a combined length of 74.695km, covering both Green and Red Lines. Meanwhile, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is planning to extend Dubai Metro’s Green Line to cover Academic City, International City and Lagoons within the next five years. According to the CEO of the Rail Agency at RTA, Adnan Al Hammadi, a community consisting 30,000 students will benefit from the proposed extension

The Kenyan Government is planning to invest US$4.82 billion in a major multi-modal infrastructure project to reduce Nairobi’s traffic congestion. The Nairobi Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) will include a new rail transport network, and a public road of 167km linking the city with key neighbouring towns and municipalities. The MRTS project will be managed by Nairobi Metropolitan Transport Authority and the government plans to finance the project through a private public partnership (PPP). Ke

Hi-Tech Solutions (HTS), a specialist in the optical character recognition and computer vision systems market, has sold 120 licence plate recognition (LPR) systems for integration into an automatic parking system in Hong Kong. The systems were sold to HTS’s partner Access Control Systems (ACS), and will be integrated into the entire parking solution it is providing to Imperial Parking of Hong Kong, one of the leading parking operators who operate hundreds of car parks in Hong Kong. By using the vehicle lice

South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has received a bailout of over US$770 million from the government for its Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). The cash injection is a bailout for the electronic toll system which cost an estimated US$2.66 billion, much of it which still has to be paid for. The cash injection will enable tolls to pay for over 25 per cent of the cost of the project and enable the planned toll charges, due to be introduced on highways on 30 April, 2012 to be reduced by 25 pe

The UQM Technologies’powerphase Select 145 electric propulsion system has been selected by eV engineering to power its proof-of-concept fleet of Australian-built eV commodore electric vehicles (eV). The project is converting a fleet of locally manufactured Holden commodore passenger cars to proof-of-concept fully-electric vehicles by june 2012, to demonstrate the technical viability and attractiveness to customers of a full-size electric car if successful, technologies used in the project could be considere

Arcontia Technology, a Swedish producer of contactless smart card readers and terminals, has announced the launch of the new CAS2340 dual interface smart card reader for applications using contact and contactless technology. The dual interface reader is designed to be fitted on the backside of Casio IT-800 handheld computers, making it an ideal solution for accessing a number of multi-applications using a single device. The new smart card reader is compliant with ISO/IEC 14443 A/B and ISO/IEC 7816 for con

Spie has signed a 15-year Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the municipality of Maurepas outside Paris, for street lighting and traffic lights. It covers financing, construction and/or renovation, power management and maintenance. The contract aims to modernise 90 per cent of the town's lighting network, with lighting levels adjusted to match residents' movements and needs. It is estimated that electricity usage in Maurepas will be reduced by some 30 per cent.

Johnson Controls has announced the results of a survey of some 2,800 young people in Germany, Great Britain, China, and the US, to find out what ‘digital natives’ expect from the car of the future. Approximately 2800 young people were surveyed in Germany, Great Britain, China and the United States. Their key desire: to stay connected to the digital world while driving, too.