News

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) calls for road charging should be introduced on the strategic road network in England. Proposals in the report, Bold Thinking: A model to fund our future roads also suggest that responsibility for the network’s budget should be taken away from the Department for Transport (DfT) and given to an independent regulator. Launching the report, CBI director-general John Cridland said a regulatory asset base (RAB) model was required to address the problem of long-term fu

Swedish rail operator Svenska Tågkompaniet AB (Tågkompaniet) is to deploy a new mobile solution for its train drivers and train conductors, with three new capabilities: context, cross-platform and cloud. Based on the Appear IQ platform from mobile software specialist Appear, the solution allows Tågkompaniet to efficiently dispatch user-based information to its personnel, in order to increase punctuality, improve customer service and reduce operational costs. Tågkompaniet will be deploying smartphones and us

Streetline will showcase smart parking technology that combines sensors and a suite of applications to provide cities with real time and historical data and offer flexible parking options for residents and visitors while reducing traffic congestion in downtown areas. As the company points out, cities are facing the challenge of aging infrastructure, a growing population and limited financial resources.

Delcan International Corporation will feature its Intelligent NETworks (iNET), a state-of-the-art ATMS application designed to collect, disseminate, and manage transportation information. Built with scalable architecture, INETworks is an adaptable solution for small and large scale deployments. The software is divided into 25 different modules that control different aspects of the traffic system. Customers build their customised systems by using Delcan’s core modules. It is designed to support both standard

Canada’s Regional Municipality of York (YRT/Viva) has partnered with Google and INIT, supplier of ITS and fare collection systems, to offer bus passengers real-time trip plans through Google maps. The service, Google Live Transit Updates, tracks YRT buses using INIT’s GPS-based navigation system and provides passengers with the exact time a bus will depart from their stop. YRT/Viva is the first transit agency in Canada to offer real-time trip planning on Google with up-to-the-minute next bus departure infor

US-based mapping and navigation specialist, Rand McNally has unveiled its new HD 100 device, which the company claims turns GPS units, tablets and smart phones into compliant electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) systems. Designed to work seamlessly with a variety of mobile devices, the hours of service recorder within the HD 100 qualifies it as a compliant electronic driver log. The device plugs into a vehicle's on-board diagnostics port and records the truck's GPS position along with critical vehicle-speci

A two-year pilot project has begun in London with taxi firm Addison Lee and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Renault, which uses the principle of magnetic induction to jump electricity from a base station direct to the vehicle’s battery to deliver wireless charging. The charging technology being used is called Halo and has been developed by mobile innovations company Qualcomm, the organisation responsible for processors powering the latest generation of smartphones and tablets. ‘EV drivers will opt for th

The US Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is to implement pilot project for a completely cashless toll system for the Henry Hudson Bridge in New York City. The system partly depends on the E-Z Pass device and the Hudson Bridge was chosen for the pilot project as E-Z Pass is already used by over 87% of drivers. Drivers using E-Z Pass will be offered a discounted toll to encourage continued use; drivers without a pass will be identified by licence plate images and will be billed for the full rate b

UK company Electrosonic has provided extensive audio, video and data information support to the County of Santa Barbara’s new Emergency Operations Center (EOC), which houses a number of technology-enabled spaces designed to help the California county maintain a constant state of readiness. The new EOC facilitates the sharing of information from various internal and external sources, including news media, incident maps from geospatial services, live video streams from a county helicopter, and operational rep

Mayor of the City of Sao Paulo in Brazil, Gilberto Kassab has announced plans for electric buses from Chinese manufacturer BYD to run in the city by the end of the year. There are approximately 15,000 public buses in the city of Sao Paulo today; however fleet buses are responsible for more than 20% of total transportation emissions. BYD says its electric bus is not only zero-emissions but also economical. It is estimated that energy savings of US$246,000 could be saved during the life cycle of a San Paulo

Canada headquartered Mentor Engineering has supplied the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA, with a comprehensive technology solution to improve operations for their fleet of city vehicles, including the Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST) and the police and fire departments. The city had a variety of challenges that required resolution; in the event of an emergency, the fire department, as the city’s first responders, wanted to be able to send the next available or closest unit to the scene t