Search

As part of the Heart of Slough improvement project, new traffic intersections across seven key sites in and around Slough, UK have been equipped with a total of 162 Siemens WiMag wireless magnetometer sensors by Siemens to help improve the management of traffic using the A4 and travelling to and from the town centre. Complementing the company’s proven loop and radar detection solutions, the sensors provide the Heart of Slough project with an alternative traffic detection system that uses magnetic disturbanc

The first results of a smarter traffic pilot, conducted in the Dutch city of Eindhoven by IBM and NXP Semiconductors demonstrate how the connected car automatically shares braking, acceleration and location data that can be analysed by the central traffic authority to identify and resolve road network issues, say the companies. “The trial successfully showed that anonymous information from vehicles can be analysed by local traffic authorities to resolve road network issues faster, reduce congestion and impr

The US City of Greenville has begun phasing in new vehicle detection technology at its traffic signals. The state-of-the-art traffic sensors are expected to provide numerous benefits to motorists including improved safety, cost savings, greater mobility and increased productivity. The city’s 115 vehicle-activated signalised intersections currently have more than 900 in-road sensors that detect the presence of vehicles. The loop detectors, which have been widely used throughout the US for more than four de

The latest release of traffic signal controllers from US headquartered manufacturer and supplier of intelligent transportation systems, traffic control equipment and parking guidance solutions, McCain, effectively brings the open architecture, modular design, and advanced functionality of the Model 2070 controller platform to NEMA TS 1/TS 2 Type 2 and NEMA TS 2 Type 1 applications, says the company. Both the 2070EN1 NEMA controller and the 2070EN2 NEMA controller have been designed to fully comply with the

The synergy between two European transportation projects, the optimised CO-Modal PASSenger transport for reducing carbon emissions (Compass) and Optimising Passenger Transport Information to Materialise Insights for Sustainable Mobility (Optimism) has prompted the release of a joint newsletter to report their activities and findings. Both projects share common objectives. Through the scientific analysis of social behaviour, mobility patterns and business models they propose a set of strategies, recommendat

Driver risk management company DriveCam is to implement its DriveCam driver risk management and fleet management solution across Greyhound Lines’ entire fleet for a five-year service contract term. Following successful trials in its BoltBus fleet, Greyhound decided to deploy DriveCam across its entire fleet. Greyhound is now able to take advantage of DriveCam’s suite of safety and compliance services, reinforcing its safety platform. Using its Driver Science Engine, DriveCam combines data and video analytic

UK drivers with plug-in vehicles are set to benefit from a US$57.3 million funding package for home and on-street charging and for new charge points for people parking plug-in vehicles at railway stations. The coalition government will provide 75 per cent of the cost of installing new charge points. This can be claimed by: people installing charge points where they live; local authorities installing rapid charge points to facilitate longer journeys, or providing on-street charging on request from residents

Police cars in Laval, Canada have been equipped with dashboard-mounted directional traffic radar systems in a bid to reduce speeding in the municipality. The BEE III devices, supplied by MPH Industries of Kentucky, USA, through their Canadian distributor 911 Pro, have been installed in ninety vehicles, and, according to Constable Nathalie Lorrain, around 200 police officers will be trained to use the units. Lorrain said Laval police previously depended on hand-held laser units to be able to monitor speeding

Siemens’ dual function smart card has been awarded the MasterCard Transport Ticketing Award 2013 in the category ‘Ticketing technology of the year’ at the recent Transport Ticketing Conference in London. The award marks Siemens UK launch of integrated mobility and eTicketing, part of the company’s expanding portfolio of ITS and city solutions. According to the company’s business development manager, Andy Gill, electronic ticketing from Siemens makes it easier for people to switch between different means of

Israeli telecommunications company Accel Telecom has partnered with navigation and traffic app supplier Waze to launch Voyager, which it claims is the first standalone connected car smartphone device that can be easily installed in any car and operates using an existing phone number via a twin-SIM. The company says Voyager is a dedicated connected car smartphone device that provides drivers with a safer and superior connected car experience. The device combines android based smartphone technology with an HS

A new study from the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) aims to review pedestrian and cyclist solutions on major roads, with or without a central barrier, where the permitted speed limit is between 70 and 90km/h. Reconstructing an existing road with a central barrier is primarily considered as a road safety measure which reduces the risk of head on collisions. A negative effect of this type of design is that conditions for cyclists and pedestrians become difficult, especially when

The New York State Thruway is converting two mainline and one side toll plaza to all electronic (AET) or cashless toll collection, in a drive to contain spiralling employee costs and debts caused by a reduction in traffic. Although the original plan called for open road tolling (ORT) plus a cash toll plaza, the Request for Proposals for the new bridge allowed bidders to propose AET during the construction if that reduced disruption of traffic. Work is now starting on the new bridge which under the contract

A $US30 million plan to improve transport links in the UK town of Worcester has been given the go-ahead by local transport minister Norman Baker. The government is backing it with US22 million of funding. The project will improve access to rail travel, upgrade traffic signals and make it easier to walk and cycle in the area. Intelligent transport systems which provide better information to bus passengers and road users will also be installed and a smarter choice scheme will encourage transport users to look

The Moovit crowd-sourced app for public transport information is now available in beta in the UK, including complete coverage across England, Scotland, and Wales. Already operating in the US, Canada, and Western Europe, Moovit is said to be the first public transport application to harness the power of the crowd, using real-time user-generated information to improve public transport trip planning and navigation. In addition to schedules, trip planning, and step-by-step navigation, Moovit collects and shares

The US Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s first hearing of the 113th Congress focused on the importance of infrastructure to the US economy and examined the role played by the Federal Government in ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable infrastructure. Chairman Bill Shuster highlighted how the quality of the nation’s infrastructure affects the lives of Americans in many ways on a daily basis, and how the Federal role in ensuring a strong transportation network is firmly rooted in the first day

Sweden’s supplier of RFID solutions for rail applications, TagMaster, has been awarded a major new contract by Alstom Transport in France to develop and supply RFID systems to Alstom’s signalling division. Both companies have signed an agreement that will see TagMaster develop a customised version of its heavy duty (HD) RFID reader which, together with HD ID tags, will be used to provide positive train detection functionality as a sub-system in the Alstom Urbalis communications based train control (CBTC) si

Officials in Texas and Oklahoma say their electronic toll systems could be interoperable in 2014. Chairman of the Team Texas Interoperability Committee Clayton Howe says the exact timing will be up to Oklahoma to decide but indications are it could be up and running by the end of the year. Interoperability will mean Texans will be able to travel Oklahoma's turnpikes and receive their tolls on their Texas accounts. Similarly, Oklahoma drivers will be able to drive on Texas tollroads and be billed to their Ok

Oxford University scientists have developed a self-driving car system that can be installed in existing cars and can cope with snow, rain and other weather conditions. Developed by a team led by Professor Paul Newman at Oxford University, the new system has been installed in a Nissan Leaf electric car and tested on private roads around the university. The car will halt for pedestrians, and could take over the tedious parts of driving such as negotiating traffic jams or regular commutes. The car alerts the

Said to be the biggest congestion charge scheme to launch in any city, the London scheme got off to a smooth start ten years ago on 17 February 2003, much to the surprise of London's then mayor Ken Livingstone, who ten years later says “it turned out better than I expected.” None of the anticipated pre-7am congestion as drivers attempted to avoid the charge happened, and by the end of the first day 57,000 drivers had paid it. The main problem seemed to be that buses were all running ahead of time and had t

In Minnesota, US, the most common measure for snow management performance is the time it takes to completely clear a roadway after a snow event ends. Currently, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) relies on visual inspections by its field crews to estimate this bare pavement recovery time. To help MnDOT more accurately and reliably estimate the performance of its snow management activities, researchers from the University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) have developed a prototype process that uses