Transport for London awards EQM contract
Passengerfta is to supply Transport for London (TfL) with engineering quality monitoring (EQM) and will carry out quality monitoring inspections and audits on London’s 8,500-strong bus fleet.
As part of the Freight Transport Association (FTA), Passengerfta offers a range of services designed for passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) operators and carries out thousands of PSV inspections throughout the United Kingdom and Eire every year.
ECTRI speaker ‘anticipates US$111 billion of EU transport research funding’
In a special event attended by more than 100 high level representatives of all sectors of European transport, the European Conference of Transport Research Institutes (ECTRI), recently celebrated its 10th Anniversary Brussels, Belgium.
Among the speakers who stressed the importance of ECTRI’s role in European transport research was ECTRI President, Professor George A. Giannopoulos, director of the Hellenic Institute of Transport. He discussed ECTRI’s achievements over the past ten years, in particular: t
Indra to demonstrate smart cities model at Trafic exhibition
Spanish consulting and technology firm Indra, will use its participation in the Trafic International Road Safety and Equipment Show in Madrid 15-18 October to present its traffic management and intelligent technology solutions for improving urban mobility and moving towards the smart cities model.
The company will display its comprehensive, advanced technology traffic management and control solutions, intelligent transport systems (ITS), tunnel control systems and toll and electronic toll systems, placin
How PPPs can improve funding of transport infrastructure
The “Better Regulation of Public-Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure” report just released by the International Transport Forum at the OECD looks at public-private partnerships (PPPs), which have become an important tool for governments to attract private finance for infrastructure investments. In the face of tight budgets, PPPs are seen as a means to maintain transport investment and limit public spending at the same time.
Thermal traffic sensor sees in the dark
Flir Intelligent Transportation Systems is taking advantage of this year’s ITS World Congress in Tokyo, Japan, to launch its ThermiCam, an integrated thermal camera and detector for vehicle and cycle presence detection and counting at signalised intersec¬tions.
ThermiCam uses the thermal energy emitted by cycles and other vehicles to distinguish between them, day or night in all weather conditions, providing traffic managers uninterrupted, 24-hour detection of motorised vehicles and cyclists regardless o
Jenoptik scoops major Australian enforcement order
Jenoptik’s Traffic Solutions is to operate mobile speed enforcement systems in New South Wales, Australia, under a major contract awarded by the Australian Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) for a new traffic safety program by the RMS designed to increase speed enforcement in New South Wales from six to around 45 mobile vehicles, delivering 7,000 enforcement hours each month.
The contract, which has been awarded to two companies, is worth around US$33.5 million over three years.
The future car will be a robot-driven giant computer, says report
A newly published Frost & Sullivan video report, The Future of Mobility summarises the key factors which impact the way people will move from door to door in the future and which will add a new dimension to the mobility behaviour of human beings. The video report highlights trends impacting mobility, presents future mobility solutions like car sharing, and mobility apps, providing door to door one stop shop journeys, and discusses and compares what organisations within the mobility eco-system are doing to e
California DOT implements smart corridor
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) recently completed a smart corridor project on State Route 12 in Solano, Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, and I-5 in San Joaquin County.
The project utilises intelligent transportation system (ITS) technology for five electronic message signs and four closed-circuit TV cameras to provide drivers with up to date travel information, enabling them to choose an alternate route in the event of congestion or roadway incidents.
Smart cities: engineering the future
The UK’s Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) smart cities meeting on 16 October will debate the technologies, skills and innovation needed to deliver the smart cities of the future.
Prof Dr Uwe Krueger, CEO of Atkins, will discuss how coping with mass urbanisation will require a new kind of design, engineering and delivery – one which delivers adaptable and smart solutions, prioritises materials and energy efficiency and yet still meets the highest standards of quality and safety. It will me
Next generation safety technologies from Toyota
Toyota has revealed two new integrated safety systems designed to reduce the risk of pedestrian collisions and deliver safer driving in traffic, both of which will be brought to market in the next few years.
Its auto-steering function for its pre-collision system (PCS) works in conjunction with automatic braking to help the driver avoid an impact, while its automated highway driving assist (AHDA) system keeps the car on an optimum driving line and a safe distance from the vehicle in front.
First major contract in France for init
German intelligent transportation systems supplier init has been awarded its first major order in France with the award of a contract by French local authority Le Grand Avignon.
The contract, worth more than more than US$6.7million, is for the supply and installation of a new control system (ITCS) for local public transport company TCRA (Transport en Commun de la Région d‘Avignon), a subsidiary of the TRANSDEV Group.
Southampton to get new vessel monitoring system
UK ports owner Associated British Ports (ABP) has selected Indra’s iMare vehicle traffic service (VTS) for the monitoring and management of maritime traffic in the port of Southampton, one of the UK’s largest and most important ports, handling over 38 million tonnes of cargo a year.
Full electric vehicle shipments to exceed 2 million by 2020
According to ABI Research, the number of full electric vehicles (EV) shipping yearly will increase from 150,000 in 2013 to 2.36 million in 2020, representing a CAGR of 48 per cent. Asia-Pacific will exhibit the strongest growth, driven by mounting pollution issues in its many megacities; however, true mass-market uptake will only start happening in the next decade.
Siemens constructing driverless subway in Riyadh
A consortium of Siemens, US company Bechtel and local construction companies Almabani and Consolidated Contractors Company has been awarded a subway contract worth US$10 billion by the Riyadh High Commission for Urban Development (ArRiyadh Development Authority).
Siemens, whose share of the deal is worth around US$2.1 billion, is supplying subway rolling stock, electrification systems and signalling technology for driverless operation, as well as system integration.
eCall system interoperability tested and proven
More than thirty vendors from all over the world gathered at the second eCall Testfest, organised by Ertico-ITS Europe and ETSI to test the interoperability of the vendors’ eCall implementations.
The event, hosted by CETECOM, was supported by the HeERO project and the European Commission and proved to be important, not only in terms of attendance numbers, but it also demonstrated that eCall is nearing deployment.
Award-winning Manchester Metrolink
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and Thales recently scooped awards at the recent Light Rail Awards for the Manchester Metrolink extension, where the Metrolink was awarded UK Light Rail Project of the Year, and the Metrolink operator RATP won Operator of the Year. In addition, the M-Pact Thales (MPT) consortium was named European Supplier of the Year.
AGD Systems' Intelligent radar keeps London on the move
Intelligent radar detection solutions supplier AGD Systems is to supply the UK’s Transport for London (TfL) with its new 316 stop-line radar traffic detector, designed for the detection and monitoring of stationary vehicles at road junctions.
The frequency modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) 316 utilises the latest planar antenna technology and an advanced, embedded digital signal processing engine to accurately and reliably detect stationary vehicles at the stop-line of busy intersections.
Cubic completes launch of Manhattan’s bus hardware subsystem
Cubic Transportation Systems has delivered the on-time installation of its bus hardware subsystem (BHS) for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority MTA Bus Time, the authority’s customer information system for bus location and arrival times that will be accessible by passengers using an internet browser-based map, a mobile phone-based application and a text message-based service.
USDOT to hold public meeting on connected vehicle applications
The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is to hold a two-day public meeting on 22 and 23 October at the Detroit Metro Airport Marriott to seek stakeholder input on the intelligent network flow optimisation (INFLO) bundle of applications.
The USDOT's dynamic mobility applications (DMA) program identified the three applications, queue warning (Q-WARN), dynamic speed harmonisation (SPD-HARM) and cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) as high priority for the connected vehicle research program.
Danish city uses cell phone data to reduce travel times
The Danish city of Aarhus is using the anonymous data from drivers’ Bluetooth-enabled cell phones and GPS systems to assist them in reducing traffic congestion.
Using Blip Systems’ technology and placing the small sensors in the road network, the road authorities can obtain traffic flow data in real time and proactively manage the road network to minimise delays and congestion.