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The Netherlands on Monday launched its first-ever ‘intelligent bicycle, fitted with an array of electronic devices to help bring down the high accident rate among elderly cyclists in the cycle-mad country. Developed for the government by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), the intelligent bicycle prototype runs on electricity, and sports a forward-looking radar mounted below the handlebars and a camera in the rear mudguard.

From March 2015, Transportation Control Systems (TCS) will be the dealer for Global Traffic Technologies’ (GTT’s) Opticom priority control solutions and Canoga traffic sensing solutions throughout the south-eastern United States. GTT has expanded its partnership with the Florida-based company, which has been the GTT dealer in southern Florida since 2007. With this development, TCS’s territory will now include all of Florida, as well as Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, North

Hybrid communications to variable message signs increase resilience to natural disasters and enable deployment in remote areas, as Alan Allegretto explains. Variable Message Signs (VMSs) are a common sight and a well-proven means to improve public safety on our roads and highways. ITS professionals rank the VMS as second only to interoperable radios as the most important technology to improve effectiveness during emergency incidents and evacuations. Ironically, however, current systems suffer from one criti

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Transport is planning to roll out its second phase ITS Strategy and Action Plan through to 2019 which will deploy a host of innovative multimodal ITS solutions. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is continuing to experience rapid growth in both its economy and population and none more so than its capital, Abu Dhabi. To cope with the current expansion, and in anticipation of future growth, the Abu Dhabi Surface Transport Master Plan has been devised by its Department of Transport and th

With an increasing need to use electric vehicles in city centres to reduce pollution, David Crawford looks at various solutions to power delivery. The UN’s September 2014 Climate Summit has added fresh momentum to the drive to increase urban electric vehicle (EV) takeup. It has launched the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative, which wants to see EVs accounting for 30% of all urban travel by 2030, and make cities worldwide more friendly to their use. Encouragingly, the plan is being well supported by commerci

According to Rail Travel, a new market report from business intelligence provider Key Note, in 2013/2014 the total value of passenger receipts for UK rail travel increased by 6.2 per cent year-on-year, and grew by 32.5 per cent over a five-year period. In addition, passenger journeys grew by 23.5 per cent over the five-year review period, with passenger kilometres travelled also growing by 17.9 per cent over the same timeframe. For the purpose of this report, the rail industry in the UK has been split in

The long arm of the law these days is often in the form of a robotic camera that captures motorists who run red lights. But the cameras are not always popular. New Jersey is scheduled to discontinue use of red light cameras on 16 December, and several other cities and states are considering similar moves. Despite the controversy, a majority of Americans back the use of red light cameras, according to a new survey from FindLaw.com, the most popular legal information website. The FindLaw.com survey foun

Colombia has published the pre-bid documents for the first concession under the second wave of the country's US$25 billion 4G highway plan, the 202 kilometre Puerta de Hierro-Palmar de Varela highway. Located in northern Colombia, the highway runs through the departments of Sucre, Atlántico and Bolívar. The project entails US$187 million improvement works on 175 kilometres, with construction estimated to take three years, said vice president Germán Vargas Lleras. The works are to be followed by a main

IBI Group has been awarded a contract to provide the City of Toronto with a five- and 10-year implementation plan outlining which bikeways will be built for the next 10 years. The plan will look at how to fill bikeway gaps, connect destinations, serve existing and potential demand, and meet the goals of the city’s Official Plan. It will build on the 2001 Bike Plan, integrate with the Transportation Capital Plan, and incorporate any new community plans and data such as the City’s Cycling App. “This is

The USDOT has released a new plan for ITS research and priorities for the second half of the decade. The new ITS Strategic Plan 2015-2019 outlines the direction and goals of the Department’s ITS Program and provides a framework around which the ITS Joint Program Office and other Department agencies will conduct research, development, and adoption activities to achieve them. The ITS Strategic Plan’s framework is built around two key ITS Program priorities, realising connected vehicle implementation and a

Aalborg City Business Association in Denmark is using sensors to measure the impact of major events, such as the annual Christmas market. They have installed BlipTrack, a system developed and produced by Danish information technology company Blip Systems, with sensors placed at various pinch points in the pedestrian area to monitor real-time pedestrian flow, people´s dwell time and movement pattern, from the moment they enter an area until they leave and everywhere in between. The sensors collect data

Travellers in Chicago will soon be able to use a single app to plan their journey, pay and receive real-time alerts across all public transit services in the Chicago region. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), suburban bus operator Pace and commuter rail system Metra have awarded Cubic Transportation Systems a US$5.4 million contract to supply an integrated mobile application and system supporting a wide variety of mobile ticketing, mobile top up, contactless mobile payment using Near Field Communication (

Colin Sowman reports from a two-day meeting where industry leaders, academics and political advisers presented their thoughts on the future of mobility. Most governments do not dare to introduce tolling systems… they are too frightened.” So said Georg Kapsch in his capacity of chief operating officer of Kapsch TrafficCom, during a forward-looking press event at the company’s headquarters in Vienna.

Satellite-based tolling opens up new options for authorities and can be integrated with DSRC systems as David Crawford discovers. As the proud custodian of the European Union (EU)’s longest road network covered by a single (truck) charging scheme – and the only one to include all major roads - Slovakia has become the continent’s poster-nation for the virtues of GNSS/CN (Global Navigation Satellite System/Cellular Network)-based tolling. It is also proved to be a very fast implementer. Speaking at the 2014 I

Managed lanes have something of a patchy track record and can pose authorities problems as well as solutions. Many authorities in the US and beyond have converted, or are converting, parts of the highway network into ‘Managed Lanes’ and charging motorists a fee to avoid the delays on the adjoining free use lanes. Some authorities have converted underused High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes into priced-managed high occupancy/toll lanes (HOT lanes) whereby the price charged can vary depending on a number of fa

David Crawford on a fast-tracked payment upgrade. This July saw the completion of the final stage of the implementation of Chicago’s new Ventra open fare payment system on the services of two of the region’s three transit providers, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and regional bus operator Pace. Ventra has been introduced to accept any contactless general purpose payment card, including personal debit and credit cards.

Hot on the heels of the 21st ITS World Congress in Detroit, Ertico - ITS Europe is already writing session proposals, contacting speakers and putting together the demonstration programme for the 2015 ITS World Congress. This will take place from 5-9 October in the French city of Bordeaux, one of the most advanced cities in Europe in terms of ITS adoption, and will have the theme of ‘Towards intelligent mobility – Better use of space’.

Swedish geographic modelling specialist Blom is cooperating with a Finnish company, Suomen Kuntotekniikka, on road condition assessment projects, using BlomSTREET imagery which enables visual assessment of road segments where repairs are required, providing budgetary analysis of necessary maintenance and construction tasks. BlomSTREET imagery provides automatic traffic sign inventory using country-specific, official traffic sign libraries. The company says that experience from recent projects demonstrate

Colombia's national infrastructure agency ANI is to hold a public hearing on 16 December to gather expressions of interests for the 43.9 kilometre western corridor of Bogotá's light rail (LRT) project. The two-line LRT system is expected to cost around US$605 million and would stretch between the central station of the Sabana railway to a station located in the municipality of Facatativá. A total of 17 stations are planned for the corridor as well as a branch line to the airport. Around 71.5 million p

New research by the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) has revealed Peterborough, Colchester and Milton Keynes as the hardest places in England to live if you don't have access to a car. Meanwhile, London, Manchester and Liverpool have emerged as the easiest. The new research compares how different towns and cities measure up in areas including public transport provision, facilities for cycling and walking, and land use planning policies that support sustainable transport. Stephen Joseph, chief execu