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Work on the M1 Junction 19 improvement scheme near Catthorpe, Leicestershire, will start in January, UK roads minster Robert Goodwill has announced today. The US$312.7 million scheme will reduce congestion and improve journey time reliability and safety by replacing the existing junction with a three-level junction and improving roads between the villages of Catthorpe and Swinford so local traffic can avoid the junction.

Siemens Mobility and Logistics division has joined an affiliation of infrastructure device makers and operators to expand deployment of vehicle to infrastructure (V-I) communications. The affiliated test bed, organised by the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) of the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), will focus on deployment of connected vehicle technology, the wireless exchange of critical safety and operational data between vehicles and specific road infrastructure l

Australian facial tracking systems developer Seeing Machines has teamed up with European coach and tour operator Royal Beuk, in a deal that will see the deployment of automated fatigue monitoring systems to ensure driver alertness and safeguard coach passengers. The Seeing Machines fatigue monitoring system is based on patented eye-tracking technology that can detect if a driver is distracted or falling asleep at the wheel. Using sensing equipment that requires no re-calibration between different drive

The Concirrus Connect platform developed by Concirrus, provider of cloud-based software for the Internet of Things (IOT) has been chosen by Collision Management Systems to launch its solution for the fleet risk management market. The new DriveGuard solution utilises next generation telematics technology combined with the latest IOT platform, both from Concirrus to deliver technical flexibility and real-time intelligence for those dealing with the incident and claims process. By gathering more information

Early 2014 will see the deployment of a new traffic management system in parts of Kuala Lumpur. The TrafficSens system, developed by local firm TrafficSens Systems using a government R&D grant of USD$561,272, will utilise TrafficSens traffic signals installed at 62 intersections across the city. By April 2014, the new system will be integrated with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL)'s existing automated management system. Using artificial intelligence, TrafficSens will manage the traffic signals based

Dubai and Riyadh’s ambitious transport plans are setting a template for cities around the world to follow, according to a major new study commissioned by Siemens, which is thought to be the most comprehensive of its type ever undertaken. The preliminary findings of the independent study, released for the first time just ahead of the Gulf Traffic Exhibition on 9 December, show that Dubai’s massive and sustained recent investment places it highly in the thirty-plus cities studied, while Riyadh’s high quali

Vaisala’s new road weather management software, RoadDSS Manager is, says the company, more than just a road weather data display. It is designed to be the perfect management tool to help road managers streamline the winter maintenance decision process. RoadDSS Manager combines the sources of road weather information into a single tool, enabling users to access all the information they need to make decisions quickly and then log and monitor operations. In addition to the standard road weather data from

Mobility professionals from across Europe have called for greater coordination of European policies that affect urban and regional transport. Speaking at the 2013 Polis conference, new president Javier Rubio de Urquía said, "We need coordination between European environment, climate, research, energy and transport policies as these have a direct impact on urban and regional transport. This is required to deliver the best sustainable urban and regional transport systems in Madrid as well as anywhere else

Kuwait’s public transport operator, CityBus, has completed the roll-out of an innovative smart card scheme in partnership ticketing technology specialists Parkeon. The bus company, which completes over 65 million passenger journeys each year, is now operating a smart card scheme across its network, utilising Parkeon’s Wayfarer150 ticketing platform, which has been upgraded across the fleet of around 400 buses to meet the requirements of the new system. Data provided by the new system provides CityBus wit

Sick’s new hot spot detector system proved its worth only one week after being installed by preventing a fire in the Karawanks Tunnel, Austria. A semi-trailer truck with a wheel temperature exceeding 200 degrees centigrade triggered the alarm as it passed the hot spot detector. Closer inspection indicated that in addition to the overheated brake, the vehicle was also travelling with two cracked brake discs. Developed by Sick’s Swiss subsidiary ECTN and based on the Sick LMS511 laser sensor with the T

The UK government’s plans to support the country’s burgeoning high-tech industry, centred on London, Cambridge and Oxford, are being facilitated by the Department for Transport (DfT) and its plans for a fully integrated transport network linking each of the three core technical clusters, as well as the wider technical community. The DfT is developing proposals for the construction of a new railway line from Bedford to Cambridge. This would build on the ongoing work on the east-west rail project and compl

In the US, the Texas-based Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is operating a connected vehicle affiliated test bed in cooperation with the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration. The DOT test bed project facilitates information exchange as well as access to tools and resources across other test bed facilities to support and encourage consistent future deployment of connected vehicle technologies. The project aims to advance the technology for full deplo

Robot Nederland, part of Jenoptik’s Traffic Solutions division is to supply over 130 stationary roadside speed measurement systems to the Central Justitieel Incassobureau (CJIB) in the Netherlands. The deal includes an eight-year operations and maintenance contract and is part of the EG100 framework agreement. Roll-out is expected to start in the first half of 2014.

Romanian state railway company CFR SA has awarded a contract worth US$519 million to a consortium including Strabag for the modernisation of the 42.2 kilometre long railway section between Vințu de Jos and Simeria in western Romania near the city of Sibiu. The modernisation works comprise the renovation of the railway section, including five stations located outside of the densely populated residential areas, rerouting of the track, tunnelling and bridge building as well as the track bed structure. In t

Datalogic, a global leader in automatic data capture and industrial automation markets, expects a surge in next generation advanced data collection devices, which will intelligently edit and communicate data and play a critical role in providing improved business analytics, termed ‘big data’. This vision for future market growth was delivered by Bill Parnell, President and CEO of Datalogic ADC, the division focused on the global automatic data capture market, speaking during ID World Rio de Janeiro, the

Global transportation consultants Cambridge Systematics and ICRA Management Consulting Services (IMaCS) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in providing consulting services to the transportation sector in India, across Asia, and in Africa. IMaCS and Cambridge Systematics will offer a broad mix of consulting services to public and private sector clients in the transportation sector. “We are pleased to sign this MoU with a quality consulting firm like IMaCS, and we are excited ab

Public Transport Victoria (PTV) of Australia has launched a preliminary tender call to upgrade its bus tracking system after the existing system was found to be not cost effective. The system will provide real-time information on the location of buses, and the information can be used to provide customer information and to improve performance. PTV spokesman Adrian Darwent says the organisation undertook a review of the projects it is delivering, including the rollout of the current bus tracking system.

Scottish transport minister Keith Brown has announced plans for a 50 mph heavy goods vehicle (HGV) pilot to be introduced at the same time as average speed cameras on Scotland’s A9 road. The trial, which aims to improve the safety and operational performance the route, will go ahead next year alongside a safe driving campaign run by the haulage industry and the A9 Safety Group. In advance of the pilot, the Road Haulage Association will step up their efforts to ensure lorry drivers adhere to safe drivi

News 2

Moody’s Investor Services have up-rated the outlook for US toll roads from negative to stable. They think traffic should grow 1.5 per cent on a median basis in 2014, which they describe as a “sustainable comeback” from the three per cent decline since 2009. They think toll revenues should grow to a “mid-single digit percentage range” in 2013 and 2014 which we guess means 4 per cent to 6 per cent. They note such an increase in toll revenues is a slowdown from 2012 when big toll rate increases boosted r