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In line with its maxim ‘infrared everywhere’, thermal imaging camera supplier FLIR expects to increase its sales within the automotive sector, particularly to companies like Audi, BMW and Rolls Royce, in order to boost manufacturing numbers and cut per unit production costs. The company has developed a new initiative with Mercedes Benz in which many of the car maker’s new S-Class vehicles will contain a FLIR thermal imager that will scan the road ahead, during the darkness of night, and alert when it sees h

A new source of traffic information will shortly be available to drivers on the central expressway in Collin and Dallas counties, Texas, with the implementation of the 511 system which will provide travel information by telephone and on the web. The system is due to be tested from the end of April and will be formally launched in the summer. The project involves several cities and transportation agencies that are combining their information for the first time. "The idea of pulling it all together at one l

Buckinghamshire-based Traffic Technology has successfully retained its traffic data collection contract with West Berkshire District Council. The company will carry out permanent traffic surveys from around thirty-three sites in West Berkshire, as well as ad hoc traffic and parking surveys, pedestrian crossing studies and journey time studies on behalf of the Council for the next two years, with an option to continue for a further two years. Data from parking surveys is used to inform future parking strateg

Three Belgian regions, Polis members Brussels and Flanders, together with the Walloon region, have agreed on a road user charging test project, to study the impact of such a tax on driver behaviour. The will use 1200 participants from different socio-economic groups within the Brussels Regional Express Network (GEN) area to asses the behavioural change that would be induced by the charge. The tests will investigate the impact on mobility, choice of routes, choice of modes, and will investigate the link betw

German car manufacturer BMW has teamed up with connected services specialist WirelessCar and its local service partner China Unicom to introduce BMW ConnectedDrive services to China. BMW’s services include emergency, breakdown, and concierge calls as well as remote door unlock, traffic information and further internet-based services. WirelessCar’s solutions are provided via its telematics service delivery platform (TSDP), a comprehensive off-board platform based on the open framework next generation telema

As part of a growing effort to use technology to manage traffic on roads and highways without building more roads, for the last six months Florida’s Palm Beach County has been using Bluetooth readers to determine how long it takes motorists to travel along its corridors. "We're adding more capacity through technology rather than asphalt," said Dan Weisberg, Palm Beach County's traffic engineer. "We can't build ourselves out of congestion. We need to be smarter about what we have and manage it." In collabor

Image Sensing Systems (ISS) is to integrate Exacq Technologies’ exacqVision video management system (VMS) with CitySync licence plate recognition (LPR) software, enabling users to utilise CitySync’s industry leading LPR solution directly from the exacqVision client. License plates are scanned using CitySync’s line of specially configured IP cameras and the CitySync software running on a third party computer or directly on select exacqVision servers. Licence plate information is converted to serial data whic

Vysionics, UK-based traffic solutions provider is taking advantage of Traffex to launch Vector, its latest ANPR camera which the company says captures and reads vehicle number plates across two lanes in all conditions. The camera provides a common platform for multiple ANPR applications, including: • Average speed enforcement • Bus lane enforcement • Level crossings and red light enforcement • Yellow box violations • Tolling • Journey time measurement. Vector combines a wealth of ANPR experience into a sing

The LightingGale centralised street light management system developed by intelligent street light management solutions provider Cimcon Lighting has been approved by the UK’s Supplier Volume Allocation Group (SVG) under the UK’s Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC) for use in Settlement. Administered by Elexon, the BSC defines and governs the “balancing mechanism and imbalance settlement processes” for electricity in the Great Britain, and is vital to the successful operation of Great Britain’s electricity tr

Nettropolis and the MobiCloud consortium are to deploy innovative mobile cloud services for the Karlsruhe Public Transport Authority (Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe or VBK), as part of the MobiCloud project, an initiative funded by the European Commission under the ICT Policy Support Programme (PSP) Competitiveness and Innovation framework Programme (CIP). The MobiCloud platform aims to make public transport greener, safer and more efficient by using standard smartphones and tablets to improve coordination betw

International Road Dynamics (IRD) is to supply a new GPS tracking system for the City of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The implementation will be phased in, with public works vehicles being the first to have tracking installed. IRD’s FleetSphere telematics system will provide the city with comprehensive fleet and asset information for all city vehicles. The city plans to work closely with IRD to meet the goals of improved citizen services, better resource utilisation, and cost containment. “IRD is pleased to have t

Austrian intelligent transportation and tolling solutions supplier Efkon Group has been awarded two major tolling contracts in Germany and Malaysia. As one of the main suppliers to the German truck tolling system, Efkon has received a follow-up order for the delivery of on-board units (OBU) for the satellite-based truck tolling system in the country. The OBU is installed in a vehicle to ensure the automatic payment of toll charges in electronic toll collection (ETC) systems. Efkon, one of the main supplier

Gatso has been awarded a second contract for the implementation of combined speed and red-light enforcement cameras in the Netherlands. The contract is part of the EG100 framework agreement, which comprises the replacement of 300 to 550 fixed installations throughout the country. The new contract covers the delivery, installation and maintenance of 143 T-Series based fixed installations, bringing the number of cameras to be delivered under the framework agreement to 237 systems. Installation is due to be c

In two contracts totalling US$13.5 million, Spanish consulting and technology provider Indra is to equip Metro Manila, the Philippines’ main metropolitan region, with more than 11 million residents, with its urban traffic control system. The company will also upgrade the toll collection system for the 90 kilometre long Manila North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), one of the most important motorways in the Philippines, carrying more than 160,000 vehicles each day. For the urban traffic control project, in a consort

European route and trip planning software solutions provider, PTV Group, is expanding its sales and services into Scandinavia, to take advantage of current market demand. Several Scandinavian companies, including Finnish companies DSV and Itella, and Abax, Norway, already benefit from PTV software and consulting services for transport, logistics and geomarketing, utilising the company’s route planning software Map&Guide and the component based xServers. “It was our desire to change the reactive market appr

Cyclists across England are set to benefit from safer roads thanks to a £40 million (US$60.9 million) boost to improve dangerous routes and junctions announced by Transport Minister Norman Baker. The money will be made available to improve the design and layout of roads at 78 locations across the country, with all schemes due for completion within the next 12 months. The schemes are a mix of improvements including the reallocation of road space, significant simplification of road layouts, changes in priorit

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) has started work on a much-needed congestion relief project, using technology to improve traffic flow along a thirteen mile stretch of Route 22 in Somerset and Union counties. The US$7.77 million project will improve mobility along the entire corridor through the creation of an integrated system interconnecting eighteen traffic signals into one controlled traffic signal system (CTSS). This includes the complete replacement of the existing traffic signal sy

Portland, Oregon, public transit services provider plans to begin testing the new TriMet tickets mobile app later this spring that will allow riders to conveniently buy and use fares from their smartphones. The agency is now taking applications from volunteers for the beta test of the mobile ticketing app designed by local software company GlobeSherpa. Bus, Max and Wes commuter rail passengers will be able to buy fares instantly, anywhere, at any time using an iPhone or Android phone, by downloading the fre

In the US, a new car-sharing program provides businesses with on-demand access to both vehicles and office space. The Zipcar car sharing network, and workspace provider Regus have teamed up to offer a new national program to help businesses of all sizes across the country save money by paying only for what they use. Regus offers their customers the freedom of working when and where they want, while, by giving users on-demand access to a car, Zipcar for Business offers all the benefits of car ownership with

According to the 2012 Congestion Index from satellite navigation specialists TomTom, motorists in Bristol and Belfast now face the slowest moving traffic in Britain. Even London’s infamous rush hour is less congested than peak-time jams in cities like Manchester and Nottingham, the annual global traffic figures found. The index shows that the average journey for drivers in Belfast takes 32.1 per cent longer than it would do if traffic moved freely, while in Bristol, journeys take 31 per cent longer. Londo