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In an effort to reduce pedestrian accidents in the city, the Board of Road and Greenery of Gdansk in northern Poland has installed number of intelligent pedestrian crossings in the Zaspa and Przymorze districts. Talking devices have been installed at tram crossings and use induction loops installed in the tracks to detect trams and warn pedestrians, via a voice message, of their approach.

As part of a larger effort exploring the effects of roadway signage on driver behaviour, researchers from the University of Minnesota College of Design have conducted a study on the effectiveness of intelligent lane control signals (ILCS). During the study, was funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the research team used a driving simulator to test ILCS that displayed merge, speed control, and lane-closure warnings over freeway lanes. The researchers were specifically interested in d

Travelling in some Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses in Mysore, India, will now be hassle-free, thanks to the launch of what is said to be India's first Intelligent Transport System (ITS). The system will enable passengers across the city to have the arrival and departure of buses at their fingertips. It will cut down passenger waiting time provide details of bus movements either by sending an SMS or through the interactive voice response system (IVRS).

In the US, NaviGAtor 511, Georgia’s traveller information system, has partnered with Waze to provide enhanced traffic information. Waze, a crowd-sourced social GPS and real-time traffic application for smartphones and Android phones, will provide enhanced traffic data to the current 511 system, and create a special 511 user group, specifically for Georgia travelers, within the existing Waze mobile app. The arrangement was provided for under an existing marketing contract with Iteris, the firm that has opera

Swedish parking equipment manufacturer Cale Group has announced its acquisition of the Dutch Redline mobile enforcement solution, a paper-free solution built on embedded Oracle technology, which enables mobile enforcement officers to issued digital fixed-penalty notices for offences such as parking violations, and process fines. The company will develop and market the Redline system from its newly-acquired office in Woerden, in the Netherlands.

Clearview Traffic Group has announced the appointment of Stephen Ladyman as strategic advisor. Stephen will facilitate closer working relationships with government, key agencies and large enterprises across the transport sector. A former scientist and Minister of State for the UK Department for Transport, Stephen brings with him a wealth of both private and public sector experience, including Member of Parliament for South Thanet from 1997 to 2010.

Utah State University (USU) in the US has developed what it claims is the first and only wirelessly charged electric bus designed and developed exclusively by a North American research organisation. Nicknamed the Aggie Bus, the new vehicle is also the first of its kind in the world to achieve key performance standards for a wirelessly charged vehicle.

US-headquartered ITS specialist TransCore is to design, implement, and maintain a state-of-the-art, radio frequency identification (RFID)-based parking and car/bus terminal access control system for authorised staff personnel of the New Doha International Airport Authority. The company was selected by Amana-Walbridge Joint Venture to install the system that will be operational during the second quarter 2013.

The Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) is increasing its investment in the development of electric vehicles and machinery, battery systems and components. In addition to the expansion of the vehicle laboratory in Otaniemi, a new battery laboratory was opened in September to support the research and development of electric commercial vehicles. The laboratories will provide an opportunity to integrate the study of electric vehicles and their power generating components, such as electric motors, elect

Denmark’s second largest city has installed the BlipTrack Bluetooth based traffic monitoring system to monitor travel times and traffic flow. The sensors have been installed at strategic locations around the city and following eight months of testing, the company says the non-intrusive system provides the same information as alternative and more expensive solutions such as ANPR and loops. Sixty sensors are currently installed around the city to monitor travel times, detect changes in traffic patterns and w

In a bid to help its 500,000 subscribers avoid traffic, Shanghai OnStar, the Chinese joint venture between General Motors, SAIC, and Shanghai GM, has announced the launch of a new feature. Aptly named Avoid Traffic, the service is an improvement to turn-by-turn navigation that utilises real-time traffic information to route users around traffic congestion via OnStar’s familiar turn-by-turn voice commands.

A poll carried out by the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA) reveals that machine vision companies have overall positive business expectations for 2013 business in Europe. In a quick survey conducted by the association in October, 56 per cent of the participants expect their own business to grow above five per cent next year, and another 13.3 per cent think their sales will increase up to five per cent. Only eight per cent of the participants expect their company’s business to decline in 2013. Asked

The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) at the George Washington Bridge (GWB), first installed in 1997, is to be replaced by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as part of a road improvements being planned throughout the region. The ITS provides information on traffic conditions, estimated travel times, and lane restrictions to motorists via electronic signs on roads leading to the GWB. An estimated 101 million vehicles crossed the world’s busiest crossing in both directions in 2011. Work on t

Drivers in Malta can soon expect to see improvements in traffic management, with the launch of an intelligent traffic management project to control traffic systems on arterial roads. Austin Gatt, Malta's transport and communications minister, has revealed the launch of the new intelligent traffic control project on the island's major urban routes within the coming months. The system will work to control traffic flow via new variable message signs, CCTV cameras and traffic light optimisation.

Cape Town’s public transport commuters can now use their cell phones to access real-time timetables and plan their routes, whether they are travelling by train, taxi, MyCiTi buses or the city’s Golden Arrow Bus service. FindMyWay is a free public service website that brings together all the modes of transport within the city, so that commuters can easily access the information in one place. Logging on to www.findmyway.mobi and www.gometro.co.za from a cell phone with an internet connection gives commuters

Spanish telecommunications provider Telefónica and US-headquartered smart parking solutions supplier Streetline have joined forces to offer telematics-enabled smart parking services that allow cities to optimise parking management, while reducing vehicle traffic. The companies have reached an agreement to jointly market M2M (machine to machine) products designed to target the growing smart parking market, initially in Europe and Latin America. The solution will be part of the Telefónica Smart City platform

Video surveillance, access control and licence plate recognition could soon be available to a broader user base. Montreal-headquartered security industry and IP solutions provider Genetec has entered into a strategic multi-year alliance with Microsoft to develop powerful Windows Azure-based hosted security solutions including video surveillance, access control and licence plate recognition (LPR) as a service. The new cloud-based security solutions will be built on Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud-computing

IBM researchers are piloting a system with the City of Lyon, France which will be used to help traffic operators in its transportation management centre to evaluate an incident and make more informed assessments about which actions would restore traffic flow. Using real-time traffic data, the new analytics and optimisation technology can help officials predict outcomes and analyse ways to resolve problems. The researchers say that, although traffic management centres have sophisticated video walls and colou

Motorists using the M90 in Scotland will face the country’s first variable speed limits in three weeks time when a new traffic control system is launched on the road north of the Forth Road Bridge. The intelligent transport system, which goes live on 4 December on the M90 northbound, has been installed as part of construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing, which is due to open in four years time. Speeds will be automatically lowered by traffic sensors under the road surface when they detect congestion,

Dutch camera enforcement supplier Gatso has been awarded the first of four contracts to be issued over the next two years as part of the EG100 framework agreement for the replacement of 300 to 550 fixed installations in the Netherlands. Gatso will deliver, install and maintain 94 fixed speed and red light enforcement installations, utilising their latest T-Series enforcement system, which Gatso says captures clear images of moving vehicles in all conditions, and adapts and expands easily to meet future traf