Highways Agency launches Bag and Bin it litter campaign
The Bag and Bin it campaign recently launched by the UK’s Highway’s Agency runs until the end of April and aims to tackle the more than 7,500 tonnes of litter thrown on to the nation’s highways each year. The litter blighting England's motorways costs at least US£9 million a year to collect and could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool four times over, according to the latest figures from the Highways Agency.
Tennessee releases transportation program
Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) has released its three-year transportation program, featuring approximately US$1.5 billion in infrastructure investments for 59 individual project phases in 41 counties, as well as 14 state-wide programs. Due to the uncertainty of the future of the Federal Highway Trust Fund, TDOT has taken a conservative approach to this building program. The program does not feature early engineering work on any new projects. TDOT is continuing its pay-as-you-go philosophy and
New non-executive directors at Redflex
The directors of Redflex Holdings have announced the appointment of two new Australia-based non-executive directors, Paul Clark and John Murphy. Paul Clark previously held senior executive positions at PWC, EY, National Australia Bank, Bank West, Bank of New Zealand and HBOS Australia and is currently chairman of Melbourne Water, a director of the Victorian Water Industry Association and an advisory board member of Salta Properties, one of Australia's largest privately owned property companies. He has exten
TRL at work in Beijing
Dr Alan Stevens, chief scientist and research director at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), has been working in Beijing on an ITS project to develop a strategy to improve safety on the motorways of China, using cooperative ITS as an addition to more traditional safety improvements. It is also expected that this will lead to improvements in capacity and environmental sustainability.
US launches distracted driving campaign
Launching National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the Department of Transportation's first-ever national advertising campaign and law enforcement crackdown to combat distracted driving. As part of the effort, television, radio and digital advertisements using the phrase U Drive, U Text, U Pay will run from 7-15 April, which coincides with a nationwide law enforcement crackdown in states with distracted driving bans.
Axle scales with wireless weighing technology
Intercomp’s AX900 axle scale systems are now available with fully integrated RFX wireless weighing technology, providing cable-free operation that improves safety and efficiency.
Pollution has more than one solution
Professor Alexander Baklanov of the World Meteorological Organization talks to Colin Sowman about the difficulties of reducing urban pollution. The inhabitants of Beijing have recently been suffering pollution levels 20 times the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit while the European Union is revitalising its efforts to implement and enforce air quality standards. Almost inevitably much of the clean-up efforts are likely to focus on traffic planners and engineers.
Transport policy doesn’t operate in a vacuum
Intertraffic offers traffic planners and other transportation professionals the opportunity to view and find out about the latest cutting-edge technology in the market. Behind the scenes, engineers have been working away to solve the technical problems traffic planners are facing and some they didn’t even know they had. Indeed it seems the technology is now available for authorities to do almost anything: to detect, select, identify, measure, charge, prosecute, influence and inform the travelling public.
Q-Free increases share capital
Following the completion of the acquisition of UK company TDC Systems and its Australian sister company, the Board of Directors of Q-Free has approved an increase in the company’s the share capital of US$44,638, which will be carried out by the issuance of 704,037 new shares with a par value of US$0.063.
ODOT issues road user charge programme tender
The Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT’s) Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding (OIPP) is releasing a series of procurement documents for acquiring equipment and services related to establishment of the state’s legislatively mandated road usage charge program (RUCP). This initial procurement will focus on full turnkey mileage collection and account management services. OIPP will contract directly with account managers but expects them to subcontract with mileage reporting device
Change in leadership at Smart Signal Technologies
The co-founders of US-based traffic signal technology firm Smart Signal Technologies are to switch roles in a transition that is expected to reveal new roads for growth.
Dr Henry Liu will take over as president and CEO of the performance measurement and travel time software supplier while Shain moves to the board of directors.
The company is the official licensed commercialisation agent for a patented set of technologies developed at the University of Minnesota by Dr Liu and his associates. Liu has b
International ITS leaders to network in Melbourne, Australia
Intelligent transport systems (ITS) leaders from Asia, Europe, USA and Australia will meet in Melbourne at a free half-day business exchange and networking event on Friday 2 May.
Convened by ITS Australia, the meeting will provide updates on ITS developments and deployments across four continents, including innovations for vehicles and infrastructure, legislative initiatives, telematics technologies and plans for the ITS World Congresses in Detroit in September this year and in Melbourne in 2016, as well
Xerox launches passenger detection system for HOV/HOT lanes
Recognising that the benefits of high occupancy carpooling lanes are severely limited when motorists do not abide by the rules, Xerox has launched its vehicle passenger detection system, a HOV/HOT lane compliancy test system that uses Xerox video analytics to identify the number of occupants in a vehicle.
Unlike competing solutions, the Xerox system identifies the number of occupants in a vehicle with better than 95 per cent accuracy at speeds ranging from stop-go traffic to 100 mph.
Using patented vi
Verizon chairman and CEO to provide keynote speech at 2014 ITS World Congress
Verizon Communications chairman and chief executive officer Lowell McAdam will deliver a keynote address at the 2014 World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, sharing his company’s vision for the role technology plays in the future of transportation.
McAdam’s keynote is slated for Tuesday, 9 September, at 8.30 am in Detroit, Michigan, in the ballroom of Cobo Center. Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
“With the rapid evolution of mobile broadband networks and machine-t
EDI appoints new business development VP
Eberle Design (EDI) has appointed industry veteran Dr Bill Sowell as its vice president of Business Development for both Eberle Design and Reno A&E with responsibilities for managing the company’s sales, marketing and the development of new business opportunities for both organic and external growth worldwide.
Dr Sowell has an extensive background in several vehicle detection and traffic data collection technologies and has been involved with intelligent transportation systems (ITS) for more than 24 year
IRD wins major ITS and toll systems contract in Mexico
PAT Traffic Mexico (PAT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Road Dynamics (IRD) has been awarded a US$3.8 million contract by the Grupo Concesionaria and Mexico Constructora Industrial (MCC) for the design and installation of an intelligent transportation system (ITS) and toll system on portions of the Salamanca-Leon highway in Mexico.
Under this contract, PAT will provide traffic monitoring cameras, emergency call boxes, speed control systems, variable message signs, a manual and electronic to
USDOT connected vehicle basics webinar announced
The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program's next T3 webinar, Connected Vehicle Basics will be held on Thursday, 24 April, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET. T3 webinars are interactive online meetings where subject matter experts present on a wide range of topics related to ITS planning, design, procurement, deployment, operations, noteworthy practices, and lessons learned.
T3 Webinars are sponsored by the ITS PCB Program, which is a part of the ITS Joint Program Off
Registration open for 2014 ITS World Congress
Registration has opened for the 2014 ITS World Congress, which boasts upwards of 300,000 sq. ft. of exhibitions, nearly 700 acres of transportation technology demonstrations from 30 different companies, more than 250 riveting programme panels, roundtables, and interactive town hall sessions, as well as numerous networking and social events with the industry’s elite throughout the week.
Learn more by visiting www.itsworldcongress.org.
PTV Group opens new subsidiary in Japan
The PTV Group is continuing with its expansion strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, with the opening of a new branch office in Japan. Based in Tokyo, the newly established PTV Japan will officially open its doors on 1 April 2014, offering transport and logistics software and real-time optimisation solutions and services.
Yoshihiko Hashino, a long-standing partner of the PTV Group, is the new sales manager. He will be in charge of local business operations. He says: "In Japan, where public transport is e
Intertraffic 2014 attendance reaches a new level
Attendance at the 22nd Intertraffic Amsterdam, the world’s leading trade event for infrastructure, ITS traffic management, safety and parking, which concluded on 28 March, reached a new level.
Close to 800 companies from 43 countries exhibited their products and services to a worldwide audience of traffic professionals. The Smart Mobility Centre programme was more comprehensive than ever with over 100 free-to-attend activities. IntertrafficLive, a unique live stream programme straight from the exhibitio