Products

There is a temptation to present ITS as part of an endless upward curve towards better, easier, safer, quicker, and so on. But it is important to acknowledge that there can be (sometimes literally) bumps in the road. When mobility schemes go wrong, it’s not pretty. Take bicycle-share company oBike, which recently stopped its operations in Melbourne, Australia. Having no docking stations massively increases convenience for users – you can leave the bikes anywhere - but opens up the whole shebang to the threa

Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer NEVS is using technology from Phantom Auto to improve the safety of passengers in its electric autonomous vehicles (AVs). Phantom Auto’s teleoperation system allows a remote human operator to take control of the vehicle in situations which an AV cannot handle on its own - such as inclement weather, road work and other road obstructions. The remote operator sits in front of a series of screens, has a 360-degree view of the AV’s surroundings and can take control at any

Technology company Baron Weather says its solution can help US Department of Transportation (DoT) services monitor current and forecasted weather conditions. Called Baron Threat Net, the platform also features patented road weather and pavement conditions forecasts. The device comes with a network operations display, mobile app and custom location alerting. In addition, it is intended to integrate a state’s road weather sensor data into a single display. An unnamed US state DoT recently integrated Threat

German tunnel sensor monitoring manufacturer DURAG has taken a 50% stake in the Austrian tunnel air and lighting monitoring company JES Elektrotechnik. JES, based in Hallein, Austria, manufactures and sells environmental monitoring solutions for transport infrastructure applications such as tunnels, underground car parks and road weather stations. JES also sells sensors from manufacturers such as DURAG. Its markets are mainly in German-speaking countries worldwide and it also carries out maintenance on beh

UK technology company Truvelo is launching a mobile speed enforcement camera to combat driving offences. Called LaserCam 4, the solution combines laser speedmeter capabilities with high-quality video and can be used by static safety camera partnership vehicles. LaserCam 4 records evidential video clips of speeding and other infractions onto an internal solid-state memory. Truvelo exhibited the solution at the Traffex Seeing is Believing conference in Leicestershire, UK, on 27-28 June. The event had an i

APT Skidata claims its new ticketless solution using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) will provide drivers with faster and easier access to parking. The Austrian company, a joint venture between Swarco and Skidata, says its platform is suited for operators offering an initial free parking period. The device can replace paper tickets or radio frequency identification cards and uses a vehicle number plate as the access medium or virtual ticket. It is intended to remove issues caused by lost or damag

Oxford City Council in the UK is trialling technology start-up Urban Electric Networks’ pop-up charge point in a £600,000 initiative to encourage UK residents to make the switch to electric vehicles (EVs). Urban Electric says its UEone is a charging solution for households who have to park cars on-street in residential parking zones. The project is co-funded by Innovate UK, following a successful £474,000 bid led by Urban Electric.

UK ITS manufacturer AGD Systems says its 343 Highways Monitoring Radar provides real-time data on multiple lanes and improves highway safety. The radar collects traffic flow data on the network and replaces loop technology to monitor lanes on inter-urban routes. Ian Hind, commercial director at AGD Systems, says the solution employs enforcement-grade radar and measurement techniques to quantify speed, range and length of passing vehicles. “The radar allows instant decision-making in determining whether t

ITS (UK) members debated the proposition that “MaaS will reduce private vehicle ownership long before automated vehicles (AVs) will have any impact on it” at their 2018 annual general meeting. There was scepticism about scenarios predicting that AVs as providers of on-demand transport will be the norm by around 2030. Doubts centred on two factors: owning and driving a personally-owned vehicle being too precious for most people to cede; and the reality of urban streets proving too difficult for AVs as curren

Swiss power and automation company Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) has deployed 30 fast-charging stations to Zurich to support the city’s transition to sustainable mobility. The Terra 54 stations will be implemented in central, publicly-accessible locations in the city and surrounding areas. ABB says the solution is suitable for charging electric cars, buses and trucks quickly to add range of 100-300km.