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Business Monitor’ latest report on Russia’s infrastructure sector has considerably revised down their construction industry forecast for the country in 2014 in light of recently published lacklustre official data. With a contraction of 1.25 per cent in the first nine months of 2013, they now forecast only moderate growth in the industry of 1.5 per cent for 2014. Although they had anticipated significant growth in the industry as a result of the large investments made for the Winter Olympic Games, this s

Suzanne Murtha has joined Atkins’ federal business unit as a senior program manager based in the company’s Alexandria, Virginia office. Murtha will work to grow Atkins’ business in the intelligent transportation market, with a focus on connected and automated vehicles. A 17-year veteran of the ITS industry, Murtha also serves as executive director of OmniAir Consortium, a Washington, DC-based trade association that advocates and promotes the development of and certification for the ITS industry. Before j

The findings of ABI Research’s Automotive Safety & Autonomous Driving and Cybersecurity Research Services indicate that while traditional safety telematics services such as eCall, bCall, stolen vehicle tracking, and diagnostics aimed at the physical protection of vehicles, drivers and passengers are becoming main stream, awareness is growing about the threat of cyber-attacks and their impact on the physical integrity of persons, especially with vehicle-to-vehicle communication and autonomous vehicles. This

Parsons Brinckerhoff is part of the winning design-build team selected by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to provide design and construction for the new George V. Voinovich, I-90 Cleveland Inner belt Eastbound Bridge project. Led by the TGR joint venture, comprising Trumbull Corporation, the Great Lakes Construction Company, and the Ruhlin Company, Parsons Brinckerhoff is serving as the independent quality firm (IQF). The eastbound bridge is part of a phased project that will ultimately de

The New York government is looking at enforcement as a precursor to all electronic tolling (AET) on the new Tappan Zee Bridge. This would provide for the automatic suspension of vehicle registrations for motorists who fail to pay tolls three times in 18 months. The New York State Thruway Authority envisions switching to AET on the bridge, and also at Yonkers and Harriman, to provide nonstop travel over the thruway's busiest 45 miles. Construction is under way on the new bridge which is due for complet

Transportation safety promoter Help has selected Xerox to provide technology solutions, site operations and customer service for PrePass, its advanced automated vehicle identification technology. PrePass enables qualified transportation organisations to electronically comply with state safety, weight and credential requirements, eliminating the need to stop at equipped weigh stations. Help and Xerox also offer electronic pre-payment of truck tolls on 78 different toll roads, turnpikes, tunnels and b

MarketsandMarkets recently conducted a study on the Transportation Management Market [Transportation Management Systems, Fleet Management Solutions, Freight Audit & Payment, Route Planning & Optimisation, Managed Services, Business Services] - Global Advancements Market Forecasts and Analysis (2014 - 2019), which analysed and studied the major market drivers, restraints, and opportunities in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific (including Japan), and Latin America. The study report

The government of Canada has allotted US$470 million for the New International Trade Crossing bridge project between Detroit and Windsor, despite concerns that the US federal government is dragging its feet on its obligation to spend at least US$200 million on a US customs plaza. The project would see a six-lane bridge built on what the government says is the most important international land crossing in North America, handling 30 per cent of Canada-US trade carried by truck. The new bridge will ensur

The US National Safety Council announced today its preliminary estimate that approximately 35,200 motor vehicle fatalities occurred in the US in 2013, a three percent decrease from 2012. Crash injuries requiring medical attention also are estimated to have fallen by two percent since 2012 to a total of 3.8 million. Although 2013 traffic fatalities are three percent lower than 2012, they are one percent higher than 2011. The relatively high number of fatalities in 2012 appears to have been a one year bum

Meeting at the 6th ETSI workshop, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) have confirmed that the basic set of standards for cooperative intelligence transport systems (C-ITS), as requested by the European Commission in 2009, have now been adopted and issued. The Release 1 specifications developed by CEN and ETSI will enable vehicles made by different manufacturers to communicate with each other and with the road infrastructure systems,

A joint pilot project involving Kapsch CarrierCom, Bombardier and Linz AG Linien has demonstrated machine to machine (M2M) communication for use in the urban transport sector. The solution developed by Kapsch was installed in a number of Linz AG Linien trams in collaboration with the manufacturer Bombardier. The trams are equipped with numerous sensors, which measure various parameters. The data is transmitted to the operations control centre in real time and continuously analysed, enabling the tram oper

The Expressway Authorities of Thailand (EXAT), which constructs, maintains, and manages the country's expressways and public transportation infrastructure, has placed a US$5.6 million order with Q-Free for delivery of tags. The order will be delivered between now and the end of the second quarter 2014. “This significant order is further positioning Q-Free as a major supplier of products to the fast growing tolling market in Thailand. New road infrastructure creates demands for further tolling systems and

Balfour Beatty has announced that Power Transmission Gulf (PTG), part of Balfour Beatty's UAE-based joint venture BK Gulf, has been awarded a US$96.1 million joint venture contract to carry out mechanical engineering services on the new Abu Dhabi International Airport Midfield Terminal Building (MTB). The new terminal building will accommodate up to 65 aircraft, including the Airbus A‐380, with an expected capacity of 30 million passengers per year. Check‐in will provide 165 conventional counters and 48

According to global information company, the growing adoption of automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology is having an adverse impact on the vehicle entrance control industry, specifically the vehicle barrier and off-street parking systems markets, according to IHS. The presence of ALPR technology is increasing the most for toll ways and off-street parking garages, which is negatively impacting the growth of vehicle barriers, the research firm reports. In ALPR mature markets such as the Amer

The European Parliament's internal market committee has backed EU plans for all new types of car and van to be fitted with automated emergency call devices but opened the door to postponing their introduction beyond the proposed deadline of October 2015. The vote on eCall gives a green light for a pan-European type approval method to ensure the devices meet the necessary technical standards. The decision follows a vote in December in the transport committee to approve legislation for member states to develo

Canadian supplier of LED-based detection technology, LeddarTech has partnered with automotive supplier Valeo in a development and licensing agreement that will enable Valeo to develop a new infrared sensor for series-produced vehicles and expand its deployment of road obstacle detection and tracking functions. The deal will allow Valeo, which already develops driving assistance systems (ADAS), to offer active safety functions designed to meet new EuroNCap 2016 standards in Europe. “This agreement is a ve

The UK government is tripling funding on the road network over the next eight years with more than US$40 billion to be spent on upgrading and improving the network until 2021. By the end of the next parliament, the government will be spending US$5 billion each year on improvements and maintenance for the strategic network alone. This locked-in funding commitment will support nearly 30,000 new jobs across the construction sector and at the same time deliver a safer, more sustainable road network that is fit

Q-Free has received an extension order from the Swedish Transport Administration, Trafikverket, for service and maintenance on the Gothenburg congestion charging system. The order, valued at US$1.8 million, is the first extension of the two-year contract for road side equipment, infrastructure and service and maintenance awarded in 2012, and is due for delivery in 2015. Q-Free CEO Thomas Falck comments, “This is a confirmation of the long standing relationship between Q-Free and Trafikverket. For Q-Fr

The governments of Brazil and Chile have announced major investments in urban transport. In Brazil, the federal government, in partnership with state and municipal governments is to invest US$59.54 in urban mobility. The total investment will cover 3,500 kilometres of transport, including metros, trains, and bus lanes, together with rail transport for the construction of metros in nine cities, marked as a priority due to their high capacity, speed and security. Further investment is to be made in work o

Parsons Brinckerhoff and joint venture partner Seymour Whyte has been awarded the design and construct contract for the Smith Street Motorway and Olsen Avenue Interchange upgrade in Queensland. The project, worth in excess of US$50m, was awarded by the Department of Transport and Main Roads and involves the upgrade of the critical link between the new Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct and the Pacific Motorway. Project focus areas include: Providing capacity for future traffic volumes and emergenc