Lufft launches all-in-one weather sensor for smart city applications
Lufft says its new all-in-one weather sensor has a temperature accuracy of 1% and can be used to monitor smart city and smart home applications. The device is expected to cover ten measurement parameters simultaneously. The WS10 sensor comes with an integrated compass which enables a direction-independent installation to help it suitable for building management systems, the company adds. WS10 measures temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, wind speed and wind direction, precipitation intensity
Motorbike safety can be measured objectively, says AIT
The Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) and TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology) has developed a motorcycle probe vehicle to better understand the causes of motorbike accidents. The vehicle was deployed as a measurement method to evaluate popular motorcycle routes in Austria’s capital.
Peter Saleh, road safety expert at the AIT Center for Mobility Systems, says: “Our aim is to give those who operate roads the precise information they need in order to reduce the danger in these areas efficiently,
Ordnance Survey to provide geospatial data for OmniCAV project, UK
Ordnance Survey (OS) will provide geospatial data to support the OmnviCAV project’s ambition of accelerating the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the UK’s roads. The £3.9m initiative’s aim is to develop an artificial intelligence-based simulation model for testing autonomous cars safety.
The simulation model will feature a 32km circuit of Oxfordshire roads, covering rural, urban, main roads and intersections and will be used to create and run different test scenarios.
OS’s role includ
AGD Systems upgrades 318 Traffic Control Radar
UK manufacturer AGD Systems has upgraded its 318 Traffic Control Radar to detect stationary and queuing traffic. The company says the solution provides a cost-effective alternative for local authorities using in-ground detection from their road networks. According to AGD, the pole-mounted solution provides virtual loop detection with speed discrimination and can emulate two inductive loops to a range of 150m or provide lane-specific detection up to 40m for a range of applications. Additionally
Siemens deploys diversity pedestrian traffic signals for Manchester Pride
Siemens temporarily replaced 34 traditional green man symbols at pedestrian signals in Manchester with special designs to represent Lesbian, Gay, Heterosexual and Transgender relationships. The initiative was carried out in support of the UK city’s Pride festival from 24-27 August. The four designs were manufactured by Siemens Mobility’s ITS business and were located on the junctions of London Road and Fairfield street Junction, Whitworth Street and Sackville Street and Princess Street and Whitworth
Toyota and Uber to deploy autonomous ride-sharing service
Japanese automaker Toyota Motor is investing $500m in Uber as the companies intend to combine their technology to develop an autonomous ride-sharing fleet. Through the agreement, Toyota will deploy a fleet of purpose-built Autono-MaaS (autonomous mobility as a service) vehicles on Uber’s ride-sharing network. The Autono-MaaS vehicles will feature Uber’s autonomous driving system and the Toyota Guardian automated safety support system. Toyota will also utilise its Mobility Services Platform, a core
Cubic wins $35m multimodal Sydney deal
Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has won a five-year deal to provide multimodal transport management solutions in Sydney, Australia. The $35m intelligent congestion management programme contract with Transport for New South Wales (NSW) will “enhance monitoring and management of the road network across NSW”, co-ordinating public transport and providing real-time information about disruptions. Cubic – along with WSP, PTV, Mentz and Microsoft – will provide a technology platform which integrates the
Continental launches sensor to adjust vehicle height
German manufacturer Continental says its Ultrasonic Height and Pressure Sensor (UHPS) can adjust the height of commercial vehicles electronically to improve the efficiency of urban buses.
The company says UHPS allows drivers to control the air springs when lowering one side of the bus at bus stops - rather than having to let the air out from the spring completely. UHPS uses ultrasound to measure the height and pressure in the air spring and sends the value of the electronic control unit, which automatic
Ericsson to develop Hi3G transport network for 5G in Denmark
Ericsson will modernise communication service provider Hi3G’s transport network with 5G routers in a bid to provide 1.3 million subscribers with a high capacity network in Denmark. The three-year initiative will start in the autumn. Through the agreement, Ericsson will implement its Router 6000 hardware and software as well as provide customer support. According to Ericsson, the Router 6000 responds to challenges of growing data traffic volumes and the increase in connected devices. Arun Bansal,
US joint university team wins ITE’s transportation challenge
A joint team from the Universities of Texas, Wyoming and Kansas has won the first Transportation Technology Tournament organised by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). The winning project set out to address what it called “non-recurrent congestion challenges” in Washington, DC, such as increased traffic on days when the Washington Nationals baseball team played at home. The team worked with the District Department of Transportation (DoT) to develop real-time traveller information systems to
Uber to redirect focus to bikes and electric scooters
Uber intends to focus more on its electric scooter and bike business as it says individual modes of transport are better-suited to inner city travel. Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, believes users will make more frequent, shorter journeys in the future, the Financial Times reports. "During rush hour, it is very inefficient for a one-tonne hulk of metal to take one person ten blocks,” he says. Uber’s Jump electric bikes are now available in eight US cities such as San Francisco and Washington DC, and are
IBTTA: industry must commit to trust and accountability
Without a commitment to trust and accountability, the modern road tolling industry would not have the bedrock which it requires – and which customers demand, says IBTTA’s Bill Cramer
When Tim Stewart, executive director of Colorado’s E-470 Public Highway Authority, settled on ‘trust and accountability’ as the themes for his year as IBTTA president, it was a very deliberate choice.
Stewart was looking for language that would help deliver the global tolling industry’s message of service excellence to cust
BYD launches electric taxi and car sharing service in Thailand
BYD has deployed the first e6 electric cars to provide a clean energy VIP taxi and car sharing service in Bangkok. The initiative stems from an agreement with the Land Transport Department of Thailand: 101 out of an intended 1,000 vehicles have so far been provided. BYD says its proprietary iron phosphate battery can re charge the e6 within two hours and allow the vehicles to travel up to 400km.
Hollco delivers RC2 traffic light system to GTM
UK-based manufacturer Hollco has delivered a new portable traffic light system which it says will cut costs and reduce site visits.
Phil Hutchinson, Hollco’s director, says the RadioConnect2 (RC2) can operate for up to 18 days without needing to change or recharge batteries.
“It will also mean less disruption for road users and a reduction in unnecessary customer contacts for the contracting organisation,” Hutchinson adds.
Go Traffic Management, which has received the new system from Hollco, cont
Artists repaint Gothenburg trams for LGBT rights
Gothenburg Public Transportation company Västtrafik invited artists from Sweden’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities to repaint six trams as part of August’s EuroPride celebration. Prints of the tram photographs will be auctioned at the Proud Trams art exhibition, with all proceeds going to charity RFSL to support LGBT rights. The colours of the rainbow are represented by the tram line numbers from red to purple – the trams travelled through Gothenburg during EuroPride from
Jenoptik Vector P2P receives NMi approval in Netherlands
Jenoptik’s Vector P2P, an average speed point-to-point (P2P) enforcement system, can be used in the Netherlands following approval from the Dutch National Institute of Metrology (NMi). Vector P2P is based around the SPECS average speed measuring cameras used in the UK and will also be made available in other European and international jurisdictions which accept certification from the NMi. The system utilises the Vector2 camera platform to help it enable up to three lanes of image and automatic number
Here beats Google as world’s leading location platform, says Ovum
Here Technologies has toppled Google as the world’s leading location platform, according to a new report. The Dutch mapping company’s price plan appears more developer-friendly and competitive than the Google Maps model, says analyst Ovum.
Location Platform Index: Mapping and Navigation ranked 14 major location platform vendors according to their mapping and technology as well as the size of their reach across the developer communities and industries.
Here’s Freemium model is intended to lower price
MaaS Global secures another €9m funding
Finland-based MaaS Global, a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) operator, has secured €9m in a funding round to support its stated ambition of revolutionising the way people move. The company’s Whim app is a mobility service which allows users to book and pay for all mobility services in one product. MaaS Global says it will use the funding from its existing investors to expand its service to more regions in Finland and new market territories around the world.
Whim currently operates in Helsinki region in
ITS World Congress ponders integrated mobility services
A plenary session at the upcoming ITS World Congress 2018 in Copenhagen will explore the shift from owning vehicles and how mobility services could affect business and governance models.
Aimed at service providers and public transport operators, Ensuring Integrated Mobility Services will take place on 19 September at 11.00.
Panellists will cover the use of open data without distorting security, privacy and growth; whether public and private partnerships need to take a different approach; the potential
ACM appoints interim chief executive officer and president
The American Center for Mobility (ACM) has appointed Kirk Steudle as unpaid interim chief executive officer and president until a chief executive is chosen to replace John Maddox. ACM is a US Department of Transportation (DoT) responsible for testing and providing a proving ground for connected and autonomous vehicles. Industry veteran Steudle is chair of ITS America’s board and director of the Michigan DoT, where he is responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of nearly 10,000 miles of