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David Crawford considers the finding of a passenger attitude survey in nine cities worldwide. Three quarters of regular users of public transport in nine capital and other major cities worldwide believe that electronic ticketing would make travel easier; while an overwhelming 92% would welcome paperless travel in any form, according to a recent consumer survey from global management consultants Accenture. Of the 4,500 urban travellers aged over-18 who were quizzed, some 90% routinely used public transport.

David Crawford looks at some radical thinking that could see self-financing mass transit in Florida. Toll and transit agencies in the Tampa metro area on the west coast of the US State of Florida, have joined forces to put forward a pioneering combined bus and toll lane (BTL) scheme. The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority is working in partnership with regional bus operator Hillsborough Area Regional Transit on the plans of which should be finalised this autumn. The Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Author

The 2013 European Congress in Dublin saw the official launch of ITS Malta, the world’s latest national ITS association. ITS Malta’s David Seisun said: “This is the first step in becoming an internationally recognised institution that focuses on Intelligent Transport Systems. Malta has always kept a small step back when it comes to ITS yet now with the help of the Government, ITS (UK) and other ITS organisations all over the world we have set sail with this organisation.”

Another newcomer, and still something of a fledgling organisation, is ITS Ethiopia. Posed in future tense, the association’s website says it will be a legally constituted non-profit institution with bylaws and a board of directors elected by members. Currently it is using the experiences of other ITS Societies to help craft a suitable legal framework. The association aims to promote and advance the implementation of applicable ITS technologies through research and development as well as project planning and

ITS United Kingdom has elected Sharon Kindleysides of Kapsch and Dr Alan Stevens of the UK Transport Research Laboratory as chair and vice chair respectively. Kindleysides, who heads up Kapsch’s UK office has previously served as ITS (UK) vice chairman. She said she was particularly looking forward to “explaining and demonstrating how ITS can bring tangible benefits to the lives of the travelling public whilst helping transport bodies save money.” One of Kindleysides’ first duties was to sign a Memorandum

It is a busy period for ITS Australia which has just hosted a successful Perth Showcase including a site inspection to a Traffic Operations Centre. An evening showcase attended by more than 60 members heard about ITS activities currently underway including recent improvements ITS is delivering to Western Australia’s road network. The association’s summit is scheduled for September which will not only examine intelligent transport systems but also integrated thinking and action on vehicle emissions and air q

ITS South Africa is preparing for the biennial i-Transport Conference and Exhibition which takes place on 3-4 September 2013 at the Gallagher Convention Center in Midrand. The conference has the theme ‘Enabling ITS Integration’ and is designed to bring together the country’s key ITS stakeholders to benchmark against global best practice, share experiences and identify new opportunities and solutions.There will be four parallel sessions: ITS and Public Transport; Traffic Management and Operations; ITS Lifecy

ITS America is calling for input from ITS professionals worldwide to complete a 10-minute survey focusing on ITS deployment in developing and emerging economies. The results will be used to update the content of the PIARC World Road Association ITS Handbook and to help transform the contents it into a series of web-based modules on key ITS topics. Those wanting to participate in the survey should go to: www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1228759/PIARC

Public transport passengers in Sydney, Australia, have enthusiastically welcomed the city’s new Opal smart card, being progressively rolled out across ferries, trains, buses and light rail in the greater Sydney area, with 10,000 already issued since trials began in December 2012. By 2015 the Opal system, being installed by the Cubic-led Pearl Consortium for Transport New South Wales, will cover 42 ferry wharves, more than 300 train stations and more than 5,000 buses and light rail systems.

In an effort to improve student safety at school bus stops, Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) in Georgia, US, is introducing an automated stop-arm enforcement program utilising a safety camera system that monitors and detects drivers who illegally pass school buses, endangering the lives of children as they enter and exit the bus. Developed by Redflex, the Student Guardian safety camera system consists of a single enclosure installed approximately six feet behind the stop-arm, monitoring traffic in both

The country-wide electronic toll collection (ETC) system is Belarus has begun operations, replacing the manual tolling system on 815 kilometres of the country’s road network. The US$353 million contract was awarded to Kapsch TraffiCom in 2012. The system, based on Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) technology, comprises 56 tolling and enforcement gantries and 48 customer service points, together with two modern data centres were implemented, 500,000 on board units for automatic payment and sixteen

Hot on the heels of committing an extra US£760 million to drive forward the market for ultra low emission vehicles, the UK Government has made an extra US$56 million available to offset the cost of installing infrastructure for recharging electric vehicles (EVs). Money will be made available to dozens of local authorities, National Health Service trusts and train operators to provide charging points on their property and town and city streets. Transport minister Norman Baker commented: “With hundreds of new

TransCore is to convert legacy automatic vehicle identification (AVI) toll systems to SunPass interoperable and toll-by-plate all electronic toll systems on three causeways in Miami-Dade County in the US. The contract, worth around US$13 million, includes the Broad Causeway for the town of Bay Harbor Islands and the Rickenbacker and Venetian Causeways for the Miami-Dade County, all to be operable by spring 2014. For the town of Bay Harbor Islands, TransCore will convert a bi-directional cash toll plaza to

US intelligent traffic management specialist Iteris has improved financial results for its fiscal first quarter ended 30 June 2013, with total revenues total revenues in the first quarter of fiscal 2014 increased by 4 per cent to US$17.0 million compared to US$16.3 million in the same year-ago quarter. The increase was primarily attributed to a 5 per cent increase in both roadway sensors and transportation systems revenues.

A group of Dutch and British scientists at the UK’s University of Birmingham has discovered the secret algorithm used to identify the identity of each unique ignition key used to start luxury and exotic cars such as Porsches, Lamborghinis, Audis and Bentleys, all part of the German Volkswagen Group. The scientists, Baris Ege, Roel Verdult and Flavio Garcia had hoped to publish the paper at the USENIX Security Conference in Washington next month but Volkswagen sued to prevent them from disclosing key details

Nearly 15 million vehicles a year using New Hampshire’s I-93 will enjoy faster travel times, better fuel economy and a safer roadway, following the opening of open road tolling (ORT) at the Hooksett toll plaza. Six traditional toll lanes were removed from the centre of the existing toll plaza to permit installation of an ORT system using Schneider Electric’s SmartMobility tolling solution and remote operations and maintenance system (ROMS).

According to Frost & Sullivan, BMW's ibrand could have a halo effect as did the Prius for Toyota. It could boost the market for electric vehicles which has had a slow uptake rate and also position BMW's brand as the most innovative premium OEM. Commenting on the launch of the new BMW i3, the electric supermini for sale in November, Frost & Sullivan said: "BMW is the first of the traditional premium manufacturers to take a leap of faith into the EV space with the i3. Like most car companies, BMW also sells 7

Minnesota-based Smart Signal Technologies has installed its new iMonitor software on 52 intersections for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to improve traffic signal performance along the Twin Cities’ congested signalised arterial corridors. Utilising already-installed controllers and detectors, iMonitor enables agencies to gather high resolution real time information to measure and monitor signal and corridor performance and calculate accurate travel times and queue lengths in real time

Turkey was able to ride out 2008 financial crisis and is now in a position to pour billions of dollars into its infrastructure. The Turkish government has set an ambitious 2023 vision that will vastly transform the transportation sector in the country. The Turkish Railways Authority and General Directorate of Highways plan to build more than US$100 billion worth of highway and railway lines in Turkey between now and 2023, while international consortia have already begun working on major projects such as the

David Crawford reviews current developments and legal/financial issues facing tunnel management in Virginia. This autumn the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in the US will defend its plan to introduce tolling on the Elizabeth River tunnels linking the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth in the State’s Hampton Roads area. The tolling, which is due to start from February 2014, will be examined by the State’s Supreme Court later this year. The anticipated toll income, along with loans and bonds, is