All-in-one fleet and transit management system ‘improves operations’
Canada headquartered Mentor Engineering has supplied the city of Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA, with a comprehensive technology solution to improve operations for their fleet of city vehicles, including the Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST) and the police and fire departments. The city had a variety of challenges that required resolution; in the event of an emergency, the fire department, as the city’s first responders, wanted to be able to send the next available or closest unit to the scene t
Rhode Island to get Drivewyze commercial vehicle bypass service
US technology service provider, Drivewyze, is to supply its PreClear bypass service at four mobile inspection sites in key locations throughout Rhode Island. PreClear enables commercial vehicles to bypass weigh stations and temporary mobile inspection sites buy leveraging cellular networks and the internet to provide smartphones, tablet and select electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) with transponder-like functionality. The company says that, unlike other bypass programs, the cost-effective Drivewyze PreCl
Philadelphia’s transport system moves to contactless payment
US-based Xerox has been awarded a contract worth US$122 million to provide Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) with a contactless fare collection system. The system, which is to be installed on regional trains as well as buses, trolleys and subways, uses credit or debit cards to collect fares. Philadelphia is home to the USA's sixth largest urban transit network which clocks up 1.1 million journeys per day. Users of the network will soon be saying farewell to cash, metal tokens and
Hertfordshire deploys real-time public transport information system
UK transport consultants WYG have successfully collaborated with Hertfordshire County Council in the UK to provide technical expertise for the county’s real-time public transport system. The roll-out of real time passenger information (RTPI) systems across Hertfordshire over the coming weeks is the first milestone in the project and is a key part of a wider transport improvement programme. The project presented numerous challenges, not least the need to deliver the project in partnership with private secto
Speed indicator displays provide effective driver feedback
French road sign manufacturer, Elan Cité, introduces their range of speed indicator displays, which were recently chosen by the French government in a bid to reduce speeding on the country’s roads. The company says their Evolis Compact and Matrice signs are not only the ideal solution for speed reduction programmes, they also provide important traffic management information and statistics, which is quickly downloaded using GPRS or Bluetooth.
Iteris to provide on-call services to Federal Highway Administration
Iteris, US-based supplier of intelligent traffic management solutions, has been selected to provide on-call task-order based services to the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Two contracts, for support services for the Office of Operations include: Operations and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and Traffic Incident and Events Management will be released over a period of up to five years. Iteris will have the opportunity to compete, with a small group of other selected providers, on each t
Test phase of Adelaide contactless ticketing under way
The 1.1 million inhabitants of Adelaide, Australia, will shortly start reaping the benefits of a Xerox contactless ticketing system on the city’s network of 1000 buses, 26 trams and 130 railcars. In the test phase, seventy vehicles equipped with mixed ticketing consoles and validators are serving the Adelaide Hills area, where ticket office and retailer machines have already been installed. "This partial deployment represents less than 10% of the project equipment, but calls on almost all of the functions o
Norwegian study finds electric cars 'pose environmental threat'
According to a study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, electric cars might pollute much more than petrol or diesel-powered cars. Researchers found greenhouse gas emissions rose dramatically if coal was used to produce the electricity. Electric car factories also emitted more toxic waste than conventional car factories, claims their report in the Journal of Industrial Energy. However, in some cases electric cars still made sense, the researchers said.
Qatar plans intelligent transport system
Qatar is in the final stages of its plan to develop a fully integrated multimodal transportation system, says Public Works Authority (Ashghal) president Nasser Ali al-Mawlawi. The aim is to develop a fully-integrated multimodal transportation system in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016, and the country is developing tailored solutions to meet the requirement of Qatar and learning from the experiences of others.
Hong Kong’s rail terminus goes ahead
With a total area of over 380,000 square meters, the multi-storey West Kowloon rail terminus, the majority of it located underground, will be larger than most airport terminals, and capable of handling around 99,000 passengers per day. The first trains are expected to run from 2015. The Hong Kong section of the express rail link, operating at up to 200 km per hour, will connect Hong Kong with the capital Beijing over 2,000 kilometers away, passing via Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Wuhan.
Join the Ertico ITS World Congress webinar
Join the Ertico webinar at 1430 on 10 October and take a walk through the 19th ITS World Congress in Vienna. Eric Sampson, Senior Programme Adviser from ERTICO, will take you step by step through the exciting programme and tell what you’ll want to see and where you’ll want to be. Learn about the KongressNavigato app for iPhone, Android and mobile web, the first app to combine navigation through the city with guidance to the congress centre.
Visteon to provide communications equipment for US vehicle-to-vehicle pilot program
Automotive supplier Visteon Corporation, in collaboration with Cohda Wireless, is providing vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications equipment for the US Department of Transportation safety pilot program. The project potentially offers significant improvements in driver awareness including collision, hazardous road and curve speed warnings and traffic flow information. The safety pilot program is led by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and will integrate 5.9 GHz dedicated short ra
Upgrade for Northampton’s traffic management
An extensive traffic management systems upgrade is under way in Northamptonshire, where UK company Siemens is supplying Northamptonshire County Council with the latest PC SCOOT urban traffic control system and the recently-launched Siemens InView hosted fault management solution. Subsequent phases of the upgrade will see the existing analogue TC12 outstations replaced by the latest Siemens UTMC compliant UG405 outstations and ultimately the migration to a new hosted traffic management service solution. In
Presentations from 2012 Connected Vehicle Safety Workshop now available online
PowerPoint presentations from September’s Connected Vehicle public meeting in Chicago are now available for viewing on the internet. The meeting, which was organised by the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO), focused on vehicle-to-vehicle safety, the current safety pilot model deployment, development of a robust vehicle-to-infrastructure environment, connected vehicle deployment strategies, and preparation for NHTSA's 2013 decision. In addition, participants had an opportunit
Albuquerque to get regional traffic management centre
The city of Albuquerque in New Mexico is to get a new regional traffic management centre according to mayor Richard J. Berry, who has unveiled plans for a brand new facility located at Kirtland Air Force Base. The centre is proposed to be located in the Jenkins Armed Forces Reserve Center which was relocated onto Kirkland Air Force Base. The City of Albuquerque owned the property, and had been leasing it for a dollar a year to the armed services. “And now”, says the mayor, “the armed services are donating
Toyota begins testing optimised urban transport system
Japanese motor manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has begun tests of Ha:mo, an optimised urban transportation system. The tests involve TMC and its collaborative allies such as the municipal government of Toyota city, Yamaha Motor, Aichi Loop Line, Nagoya Railroad, Aichi Rapid Transit, Meitetsu Kyosho, Chukyo University, Meitetsucom, Hitachi and Meitetsu Bus. Ha:mo is the name being given to TMC-developed systems that seek to provide user, town, and community-friendly transport support through the
Successful TPEG Testfest held in Munich
September saw the first Transport Protocol Experts Group (TPEG) Testfest in Munich, Germany, where sixteen organisations active in the provision of TPEG services around the world gathered to carry out three days of intensive testing. Jointly organised by ERTICO and Traveller Information Services Association (TISA), the Testfest follows a series of interoperability test events already organised by ERTICO on various ITS services, such as cooperative mobility and eCall. Tests focused mainly on the implementat
First toll road for Moscow region
The Moscow region’s first toll road opened on 1 October 2012 on the M4 Don highway. The state-owned company Russian Highways (Avtodor) has invested US193 million to reconstruct the road before introducing the toll system, which it is planned to extend in the future. Car drivers will pay US$0.32 at night and US$0.96 during the day; truck drivers will pay from US$0.48 to US$3.8 depending on vehicle size and time of day. Drivers can pay by cash, credit cards, prepaid contactless smart cards, or via transpond
Jenoptik passes acceptance test in Malaysia
Following its receipt of an order earlier this year for the supply of supply traffic safety systems and the set up and support of local operations, and following acceptance testing, German traffic systems manufacturer Jenoptik has successfully implemented its automated enforcement system in Malaysia. The system includes the enforcement cameras and back office system; prior to implementation, the complete system was rigorously tested, from the recording of offences and transmission to the back office, to the
Slough implements Siemens Comet
Slough Borough Council (SBC) in the UK has joined the growing number of UK local authorities to deploy the latest version of Comet, Siemens’ traffic management and information system. Comet will enable SBC to meet its policy, operational and travel information requirements including the ability to set network strategies. The solution will provide a command and control system for strategic variable message signs (VMS) and car park guidance and will also provide dynamic content to SBC’s planned internet and