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Construction has started on the first phase of San Diego’s Downtown Mobility Plan to help improve safety for cyclists and scooter riders. The 9.3 mile section will feature two-way cycle tracks on major arteries and help provide safer passage from Balboa Park to the San Diego Convention Center. It will be painted green and be separated from vehicular traffic by parked cars, flex posts or grade variations. City mayor Kevin Faulconer says connecting popular destinations in downtown to surrounding neighbour

Jenoptik’s average speed control system has received type approval to be used in an 18-month trial on a stretch of highway in Lower Saxony, Germany. Jenoptik’s TraffiSection, which is laser-based, has been approved by PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt) and is supported by the Ministry of Interior of Lower Saxony. From mid-January, the system will obtain data on drivers who exceed the speed limit on a 2.2km stretch of Federal Highway 6, south of Hanover between Gleidingen and Laatzen. Jenop

Teleste will deploy its on-board solutions for CAF’s metro projects in the Philippines and Italy in 2019. The technology is expected to allow transport operators to deliver timely information to passengers. The scope of the delivery includes 30 metro units in the city of Manila and 12 units in the city of Naples. As part of the deployment, Teleste will provide the metro trains in Manila with a passenger information system (PIS) and ethernet network. The metro trains in Naples will receive a PIS and CCTV

Belden says its upgraded Hirschmann Layer 3 backbone switches transfer larger quantities of data without compromising network performance. According to Belden, the Dragon Mach4000 switches are suitable for mass transit systems such as railway and train stations, airports and rail rolling stock. Dragon Mach4000 is intended to help engineers connect IT and operational technology networks and transition to 10 Gigabit speeds. It is also expected to allow users to transition from 1 Gigabit networks to 2.5 and

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) will upgrade the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority’s (LAMetro) automatic fare collection system, in a contract valued at $22m. The system links to 25 regional agencies through the TAP smart card. CTS will develop an integrated app and also launch TAPforce, a cloud-based account which will allow commuters to take part in LAMetro’s Mobility as a Service programmes for parking and bike-sharing. Matt Newsome, general manager, western region, CTS, says the app is des

Translink has launched its future ticketing system for the Glider bus rapid transit network in Belfast. The technology will provide riders with more flexible options to pay for journeys, the company says. Riders will be able to pay with cash, smartcard and contactless payment cards, mobile payments, online accounts and Translink smart cards. Flowbird developed the system and a back office architecture called CloudFare. It is intended to allow administrators to monitor and control ticketing devices dire

Kapsch TrafficCom has upgraded a traveller information system in Texas to help transportation agencies in Dallas-Fort Worth optimise traffic flow. The new system will also provide travellers with real-time traffic and transit information. Kapsch updated the 511DFW platform for the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). The company will maintain the system for two years and make improvements based on new data sources and customer feedback. The solution includes integrated applications such

Conduent has extended its contactless card payment system to Line 3 of Puebla’s Red Urbana de Transporte Articulado (RUTA) bus rapid transit system in Mexico. The technology has replaced all free-standing ticket machines. Conduent’s system allows riders to tap their phone or Puebla contactless card at validators. Also, the solution has replaced inspector terminals, validators and access control gates. According to Conduent, the upgrade provides all three lines with fleet management capabilities which will h

Jump, an Uber bike-rental company, has upgraded its electric bikes to include swappable batteries which it says can be changed within a few minutes. Riders can use a front dashboard underneath the handlebars to unlock the bike as well as a phone mount for easier navigation. The bikes now feature a retractable cable lock to offer riders more flexibility when locking a bike to a rack or structure, the company adds. Last year, Uber announced its plans to launch its Jump bikes in Seattle as part of a stra

Vietnamese firm FastGo has launched its ride-hailing, delivery and catering services in Myanmar as part of a strategy to grow its business in 2019. A report by The Saigon Times says the company intends to attract two million users and 100,000 driver-partners this year in Myanmar’s major cities and provinces. In the coming years, FastGo is expected to form partnerships in Myanmar and Vietnam to help make its services and products more popular. In October 2018, FastGo announced its plans to enter Myanmar

Keolis has launched a free electric autonomous shuttle service at the University of Lille in France which is operating on open public roads for one year. Two Navya shuttles are running on a 1.4km route in Villeneuve d'Ascq, northern France, which includes four dedicated stops from Monday to Friday. These vehicles will also provide connections to two the Cité Scientifique’ and 4 Cantons Stade Pierre Mauroy metro stations. This trial was realised through an agreement with the European Metropole of Lille.

Cubic has acquired US technology company Gridsmart Technologies in an $87 million deal and will use its video tracking solution to help reduce congestion. Gridsmart’s Bell Camera offers horizon to horizon tracking with a fisheye lens for intersection actuation, data collection and situational awareness. The solution is also expected to track vehicle trajectory from approach through the centre of the intersection to exit. The acquisition will also help advance Cubic’s NextCity vision of creating a smarte

Utility company Tata Power and natural gas provider Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) are to develop a nationwide network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers in India. Rajnish Mehta, executive director, corporate strategy planning and business development, HPCL, says this will help EV drivers overcome issues such as range anxiety. “We believe that a robust network of charging stations is very critical for market acceptability of EVs which will also ensure last mile connectivity and thereby facilitate widespread

Dutch identification technology company Nedap has launched two more cameras for its automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) platform. The advanced ANPR Lumo can be applied in challenging vehicular access control applications, including in regions with license plates that include different font formats. The ANPR Access V2 is the successor of Nedap’s ANPR Access, offering better performance while being fully compatible with existing installations, says the company. Both new cameras easily integrate

US engineering services firm Parsons has promoted Thomas Topolski executive vice president, infrastructure business development to help extend the company’s infrastructure portfolio while also leading proposal operations. In his new role, Topolski will be based at the company’s Centreville office in Virginia and report to Carey Smith, Parsons’ chief operating officer. Smith says Topolski has more than 30 years of experience in strategy, business development and operations for infrastructure companie

Gojek to expand ride-hailing service across Singapore

Volvo Trucks puts its first commercial autonomous vehicles into action

RoadBotics has been chosen to use their machine-learning technology to assess the city of Detroit’s entire 4,185km road network. The company will work with PlanetM, a Michigan state networking partnership of mobility organisations, educational institutions, research and development groups and government agencies working together in the automotive sector. RoadBotics will provide Detroit transportation officials with its standard Artificial Intelligence pavement assessment as well as a new AI Maintenanc

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) in Hawaii is trialing Holo Card, an account-based electronic fare system from Init, over a three-month period. It will then be made available on all buses owned by Oahu Transit Services. The e-fare system will allow passengers using Oahu’s TheBus service to load passes or add value via their mobile device on route to board a bus or by visiting a local retail outlet. This project stems from an agreement with the City and County of Honolulu Department

International Road Dynamics (IRD) is to install its Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) sorting system to protect road infrastructure in the US state of South Dakota. The $1.3 million deal is part of a wider ambition from the South Dakota Department of Transportation to deploy more WIM systems throughout the state. The Port of Entry Commercial Vehicle WIM Sorting System is scheduled to be operational by December 2019 at the Valley Springs Port of Entry on Interstate 90 east of Sioux Falls. It is expected to weigh all