AECOM sets up Automated Bus Consortium
AECOM has brought together around a dozen local US transit agencies to form the Automated Bus Consortium to explore driverless bus pilot programmes.
Among the authorities are Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.
ABC is looking into buying up to 100 full-sized autonomous buses that will run at normal speeds along designated urban routes. Meanwhile, AECOM will provide planning, assessment, implementation and
EasyMile upgrades EZ10 to operate without on-board attendant
EasyMile has launched a version of its EZ10 driverless shuttle which does not require an on-board attendant at the Global Public Transport Summit 2019 in Stockholm, Sweden.
EasyMile says the latest version of the shuttle is managed from a remote control centre where a supervisor monitors the autonomous vehicle via a real-time data stream and ensures communication with passengers.
The shuttle’s sensor has been optimised for a more accurate vision even in challenging weather conditions, the company adds.
Dura-Line products evolve with microtechnology
City authorities are going to benefit from higher-density products to carry fibre networks in future – particularly with developments such as the 5G roll-out. “We don’t know how much fibre we are going to need going forward but we know we are going to need more,” says Joseph Lange, Dura-Line business development manager – microtechnology, US. The company’s products are used by a number of utilities departments. For example, in one recent deployment, the City of Augusta used Dura-Line’s FuturePath Flex Locat
US congresswoman: ‘We must re-envision transportation’
Arousing call from Capitol Hill to the ITS industry was among the highlights of Day 2 at the ITS America Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. In a keynote speech, congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said: “So, my friends, your sector has come to the forefront of what we need to be doing in transport and infrastructure today.”
She urged delegates to visit members of the House of Representatives to talk about new mobility solutions. “When it comes to transport, Congress could use some intelligence!” sh
Volocopter to build landing pad for air taxis to Singapore
Volocopter has partnered with Skyports to build a landing pad for air taxis on the run-up public flight trials in Singapore during the second half of 2019.
Volocopter says its Volo-Ports are designed to provide passengers with a safe air taxi experience and allow industry regulators to interact with the infrastructure and provide feedback.
The Volo-Ports are also expected to:
• Enable real-life testing of the full customer journey to perfect the passenger experience.
• Showcase planned customer service
Co-operative traffic management requires a de-centralised approach, says EC
Co-operative traffic management needs to be more de-centralised rather than a ‘Big Brother of mobility’ approach that watches over our every movement.
This is one of the key messages at Enabling interactive traffic management through public-private cooperation: examples from practical trials at this week's TS European Congress in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Pedro Barradas, policy officer at DG Move, the European Commission’s (EC) directorate-general for mobility and transport, said discussions were held on h
Zitek melts barriers to North American market
South Korean company Zitek is launching its heated LED traffic signal solution in the US and Canadian markets—meeting with distributors and DoTs while waiting for its ITE certification. It’s just in time, as climate change is creating more dangerous wintery weather across North America.
As state DoTs have switched from incandescent bulbs to LED traffic lights to save energy and maintenance costs, an unintended consequence has been that the low-wattage bulbs do not get hot enough to melt snow that accumul
Continental: US road deaths are ‘public health crisis’
The 40,000 deaths on US roads last year amount to a ‘public health crisis’, according to Continental North America’s president Jeff Klei. Giving the opening keynote address at ITS America’s 28th Annual Meeting & Expo, Klei said: “If you could save 40,000 lives a year, would you?
We believe this situation needs to be treated with the same priority as other health crises in this country.”
But help is at hand, he said. The concept of ‘Vision Zero’, where there are no fatalities from crashes, “seems a lon
5G ‘could help reduce fatalities’ on Dutch roads
New tooling offered by 5G could help lower casualty rates on Dutch roads, says the ministry of infrastructure and water management in the Netherlands
This is one of the main messages at 5G and mobility – a match made in heaven? at the ITS European Congress in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Caspar de Jonge, directorate-general for mobility and transport, said: “We have seen our casualty rate climbing over the last few years to 650 fatalities to Dutch roads every year and that’s unacceptable.”
However, Jong
Not everyone will embrace MaaS, says Lisbon expert
Not everyone will adopt Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions, so we still need to have legacy ways for people to reach the transport system to satisfy everyone.
This is one of the main messages at this week's ITS European Congress in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Vasco Mora, Lisbon's deputy mayor's advisor, said: “MaaS is great, and we need it, but we must not forget those that will not be included in whatever effort we make.”
Volker Amann, CEO of consultancy company Avimo, told the audience that the p
Econolite’s Centracs software has priority
Econolite is using the Annual Meeting for the official unveiling of the company’s two breakthrough software solutions for traffic management, fire and emergency services, as well as transit operations.
Centracs Edaptive is Econolite’s next-generation adaptive signal control, optimising cycle, offset, and splits by using high-fidelity 1/10-second resolution data. It’s built upon Econolite’s Centracs SPM and offers deep analytical capabilities, ensuring users can maximise the performance of their signal co
ISS tackles wrong-way drivers
Wrong-way drivers pose a serious safety risk on roadways. Every day in the United States, there is a death caused by a wrong-way driver. The detection of these wrong-way drivers is vital to reducing these risks. Image Sensing Systems is demonstrating how its Wrong-way Alerting solution can help in reducing these risks with an accurate, reliable system that has a low false event rate. This solution provides accurate detection and fast notification to help improve the safety performance of roadways.
Image
Heavy duty hybrids to go zero-emission in cities, says TNO
Heavy duty hybrid vehicles in future may need to switch to zero emissions when entering a city - and be competitive in their total cost of ownership.
Speaking at this week’s ITS European Congress in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Steven Wilkins, senior research scientist at TNO, discussed the ORCA (optimised real-world cost-competitive modular hybrid architecture for heavy duty vehicles) project’s objectives of matching the total cost of ownership with efficiency.
“Connected to that is downsizing the engine
Slattery quits Conduent Transportation in surprise move
Mick Slattery has left Conduent Transportation after just 10 months as CEO.
The company said he made the decision for ‘personal reasons’. Slattery “has decided to leave Conduent to pursue other opportunities outside of the transportation industry”, the firm said in a statement. “An internal and external search is underway for a successor.”
He joined the company in August 2018 after a career in management consultancy with an emphasis on technology and digital. Speaking to ITS International earlier this
Kapsch installs mobility solution in the city of Valladolid, Spain
Kapsch TrafficCom has installed a mobility solution in the City of Valladolid, Spain, to provide commuters with a single point of information on transport schedules.
ITS Europe experts share mobility lab lessons
“Real problems” need to emerge in the development of an urban mobility lab before you can begin to find solutions, according to Raimo Tengvall, project manager of Forum Virium Helsinki.
Speaking at this week’s ITS European Congress in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Tengvall shared lessons learned from the company’s Jätkäsaari urban mobility lab in the Finnish capital, Helsinki.
“In the Jätkäsaari area we were having 80 million passengers going through a street network of a new residential area where there is a
Alibaba and Sena to develop traffic management solution in Malaysia
Cloud computing company Alibaba Cloud has partnered with Sena Traffic Systems to build smart traffic system in Malaysia which it claims could reduce travel time by 12%.
Selina Yuan, president of Alibaba, says: "The smart traffic solution will constantly learn and adapt to changing traffic environments, making the traffic management system a smart learning platform and no longer just an analytic tool."
Alibaba is to provide its cloud computing resources and City Brain, a solution which uses real-time c
LVCVA approves Elon Musk's underground people mover
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has approved a contract with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company (TBC) to construct an underground people mover.
LVCVA says the $48.675,000 contract will allow TBC to build a people mover that could safely carry passengers in autonomous electric vehicles via a loop of underground express-route tunnels.
The underground loop system is expected to offer reduced total costs and less disruption to pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Once complete, the loop is
Q-Free to install tolling solution in Norway
Q-Free is to provide its automatic number plate recognition service to five unnamed regional tolling companies in Norway – in a deal valued 26 million NOK (£2.3m).
Q-Free says the five-year contract will provide a new system for toll charging in Norway.
The project is scheduled to begin this Autumn.
Panasonic offers EV charging service in India
Panasonic has launched an electric vehicle (EV) charging service in India with the aim of helping fleets owners manage their vehicles more efficiently.
Panasonic says its Nymbus service combines physical components such as charging stations, swap stations, on board charges, telematics systems and the virtual components like cloud service, analytics, intuitive dashboard, and artificial intelligence.
Initially, Panasonic will provide the charging service for 150 electric three wheelers offered by SmartE an