Field hardened communications for ITS
RuggedCom will use its appearance at the ITS America Annual Meeting to highlight a range of field hardened communications products for ITS. As the company points out, creating a reliable, citywide communication network to meet the demand for real-time information and support the growing need for mobility is no easy feat. But its solution, which will be featured on the company’s booth, can ease the pain; WiMax 4G Broadband can cost effectively extend the network and seamlessly integrate into existing infrast
Strasbourg to test contactless mobile services
The French city of Strasbourg is one of the nine chosen by the government to test mobile contactless services. The city council and the Communauté urbaine de Strasbourg (CUS) hope to develop several applications for general use, such as paying for parking and public transport tickets and sending out geolocalised information on traffic or availability of places in car parks.
New car-to-x communication platform demonstrated
NXP Semiconductors this week gave a live demonstration of car-to-x (C2X) communication on a public road in the Netherlands. With this demo, NXP says it is the first semiconductor company to take the step from showing concepts to actually demonstrating an automotive-ready hardware platform for connected mobility. The company has co-developed the C2X platform with Australian-based Cohda Wireless. Combined with telematics for location-based services and networking security, the platform enables the fully conne
Path to tolling interoperability
Federal Signal Technologies (FSTech) will come to the ITS America Annual Meeting with a focus on tolling interoperability. As the company points out, it has always been a proponent of providing multi-protocol systems and solutions for open road tolling. These systems allow agencies and integrators to leverage legacy tag populations while providing a forward look towards adoption of new technology platforms as they arrive. With the development and release of Sirit IDentity readers, PIPS Cameras, Idris Lane S
Efkon innovates with I-to-I Reader for smart ANPR
Austria-headquartered Efkon has announced its latest innovation the Image to Information (I-to-I) Reader, an innovative product, which builds on technology proven in practice. As the company points out, the processes for the license number analysis and the camera control used by the I-to-I Reader have already been in use in car park and access management, toll enforcement and vehicle search worldwide. Latest components and a further development of the procedures now made it possible to offer all this in an
European sat nav competition starts today
Starting today, the European Satellite Navigation Competition 2011 will once again welcome companies, start-ups, research institutions, universities, and even individuals all over the world to submit their innovative ideas in the field of satellite navigation. The overall winner, the Galileo Master, will be chosen from the winners of more than 20 regions, and will receive a €20,000 prize and the opportunity to realise their project during a six-month incubation programme.
Latest Innovations from Daktronics
With brand new high-resolution dynamic message signs in the works, Daktronics says it is prepared to connect with industry professionals at the ITS America Annual Meeting and Conference. This year, the company will share its latest solutions for using full-colour DMS to boost message comprehension in roadway applications. Amongst its other full-colour DMS offerings, Daktronics engineered the new Vanguard VX series DMS with a focus on sharp graphics capability and valuable serviceability for which the compan
Telvent wins new traffic management contract in China
Telvent has announced the award of a contract from the Beijing Traffic Police to help to expand Beijing’s urban traffic management system. The company will implement its Telvent Smartmobility Traffic technology on more than 200 traffic junctions, which will enable Beijing authorities to improve traffic flow, increase drivers' safety and reduce air pollution.
BMW Group selects AeroVironment for EV charging in major US cities
AeroVironment has announced that the BMW Group has selected it as the preferred provider of electric vehicle charging equipment, accessories and installation services supporting the introduction of the all-electric BMW ActiveE. This vehicle is the second phase of the BMW Group's electro-mobility development strategy and brings all-electric technology to a new class of luxury vehicles. ActiveE vehicles will be distributed in the major metropolitan markets of Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, San
Anniversary year for Traficon
Traficon’s appearance at this year’s ITS America Annual Meeting coincides with the company’s 20th birthday, and its booth will feature a wide range of video detection products and solutions. Among them will be the company’s Video Image Processor (VIP) that combines traffic flow monitoring and automatic incident detection functionality in one single board. The VIP-T module analyses images from analogue cameras while the VIP-IP can connect to a broad range of IP cameras, supporting both MPEG-4 and new H.264 v
Canadian bridge features sophisticated tolling
In Canada a new private toll bridge that links Montreal with Laval is now open to traffic. The bridge was opened two months ahead of schedule and features a sophisticated electronic tolling system. Bridge users mount transponders to their vehicles to pay for each crossing.
ARTBA highlights transport's importance to US
New data available from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) highlights the importance of transportation spending to US economic growth. This information can be sourced through a new Internet resource set up by ARTBA. The data has been revealed at a time when the multi-year highway/transit authorisation bill is still being discussed in the US Congress. The US secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, said at the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2011 that he hopes a six year authorisation bill will
Intertraffic Istanbul looking strong
The organisers of the sixth Intertraffic Istanbul event expect the exhibition to be a major success. The exhibition space has doubled in size and the organisers say that this will provide an important platform for traffic professionals from Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The show features over 9,000m² of exhibition floor space and outside demonstration area. In all 200 exhibitors will attend from 15 countries. The international trade fair for infrastructure, ITS traffic management, safety and parking wil
Jakarta's chronic congestion
Indonesia’s capital Jakarta suffers a heavy economic penalty for its chronic traffic congestion. This has been revealed by a new report from the Jakarta Transportation Agency, which says that the city loses some US$3.2 billion/year from traffic congestion. To deal with the problem the city authorities have a series of plans to upgrade the road system. The plans include building flyovers and widening roads, as well as constructing a further six inner-city toll roads.
Econolite expands partnership with TrafficCast
Econolite has expanded its partnership with TrafficCast International and will integrate real time data from the TrafficCast BlueToad travel time module into its Centracs Advanced Transportation Management System (ATMS).
GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA handsets grew 97 per cent in 2010
According to a report by Berg Insight, global shipments of GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA handsets increased almost 97 per cent in 2010 to 295 million units. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.8 per cent, shipments are forecast to reach 940 million units in 2015. The attach rates for wireless connectivity technologies in handsets including GPS, Bluetooth and WLAN are increasing steadily as the adoption of smartphones accelerates. These connectivity technologies are already a standard feature on hi
McCain adaptive signal control reduces congestion on busy San Diego arterial
McCain has announced results measuring the effectiveness of its adaptive signal control software deployed on the city of San Marcos's new 'smart corridor'. The study revealed the system significantly improved traffic flow on San Marcos Boulevard, the second busiest arterial in San Diego County, California.
Safer roads worldwide
The International Roads Assessment Programme (iRAP) has appointed the Transport Research Foundation (TRF), the parent of TRL, as a new Centre of Excellence. A UK charity, iRAP has established a new way to inspect and measure the safety of roads. It recommends high priority improvements which will save the most lives for the money available. The iRAP methodology is being used by development banks and countries worldwide. During the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety, 2011-2020, iRAP has set out its goal to
Global perspective on the acceptability of road pricing
As part of its activities, the UK RAC Foundation (Royal Automobile Association) has published a research report, 'The Acceptability of Road Pricing' by Dr John Walker, which shows that paying for roads as you use them is common across the globe and that a significant number of schemes in operation have met a broad range of objectives without being prohibitively expensive. They have also been largely technically successful and once in place tend to gain public acceptance and support.
Partnership will deploy Zipcars at apartment blocks
Equity Residential, a leading US owner and operator of apartment properties, and Zipcar have announced a strategic partnership that will expand the presence of Zipcar's car sharing services at Equity Residential apartment properties. As part of this agreement, Zipcar, which claims more than 560,000 members and over 8,000 vehicles in urban areas and college campuses throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, will provide vehicles onsite at Equity Residential properties in New York, Boston,