Hawaii Traffic data collection award for IRD
International Road Dynamics (IRD) has been awarded a contract, valued at over US$1.4 million, by the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) to provide Enhanced Vehicle Classification (EVC) data collection.
Advanced in-vehicle user interface - future developments
Dave McNamara and Craig Simonds, Autotechinsider LLC, look at human-machine interface development out to 2015. The US auto industry is going through the worst crisis it has faced since the Great Depression. But it has embraced technologies that will produce the best-possible driving experience for the public. Ford was the first OEM to announce in-car internet radio and SYNC, its signature-branded User Interface (UI), is held up as the shining example of change embracement.
National funding cuts cause fragmentation of US ITS market
Paul Everett, Research Director with IMS Research, looks at how ITS deployment varies across the US and what this means in terms of market potential for systems manufacturers and suppliers At the end of 2010, the US will have a total resident population of close to 310 million, rising to an estimated 439 million by 2050.
Mile Traffic wins pan-European contract
Germany-headquartered Mile Traffic and Travel has been awarded a new multi year contract from BMW to provide next-generation real time traffic information throughout Europe.
Australia's ground breaking average speed enforcement
The speed enforcement system on the Hume Highway in Australia combines both spot and point-to-point solutions. Here, Redflex's Peter Whyte discusses its implementation. The Australian State of Victoria has achieved notable success in reducing casualty rates since launching a three-pronged road accident prevention initiative in the late-1980s.
Multi-operator, multi-mode integrated travel information
David Crawford looks forward to the completion of Stockholm's JustNu project. End-2010 is the target date for delivery of the final stages of Stockholm public transport authority (PTA) Stockholms Lokaltrafik (SL)'s ambitious JustNu (Right Now) integrated travel information system. Installation began in 2004, and the result will represent a large-scale and highly exportable solution to the need for harmonisation of traveller information in urban regions with multiple transport operators.
TagMaster wins New Delhi access project
TagMaster has received an order for a vehicle access control system in India related to the Commonwealth Games 2010 being held in October this year.
Sirit to be acquired by Federal Signal
Leading provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, Sirit, and Federal Signal Corporation have signed a definitive agreement whereby Federal Signal will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Sirit for cash consideration of CDN$0.30 per share (US$0.29) by way of a court approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (Ontario).
Cooperative systems and privacy not mutually exclusive
Are co-operative systems and personal privacy mutually exclusive? Not necessarily, says Neil Hoose. But the more advanced the application, the greater the concession of privacy may have to become. ITS Stockholm in 2009 and the Cooperative Mobility Showcase event which took place alongside Intertraffic in Amsterdam in March this year both featured live, on-street demonstrations of safety and driver information applications that used Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications,
Cooperative road infrastructures - progress and the future
Robert Bertini, deputy administrator of the USDOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, discusses the research and deployment paths of cooperative road infrastructures. High-level analysis by the US's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the potential of Vehicle-to-Infrastructure/Infrastructure-to-Vehicle (V2I/I2V) and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) technologies indicates that V2V could in exclusivity address a large proportion of crashes involving unimpaired drivers. In fact,
Call for a new vision for ITS in America
An ITIF report published at the beginning of this year stated that America is falling behind other developed nations in terms of ITS technologies and their deployment to address safety, congestion and environmental challenges. The report asked for a stronger commitment from the US federal government (see 'Just crawling along', interview with senior ITIF analyst Stephen Ezell, ITS International March-April 2010, pp.NA1-NA2) in order to address what it sees as increasing disparities with other countries. The
Idris paves the way for loop based speed enforcement
With the Idris system now validated as a speed verification tool, the way is open for loops to be used in more complex enforcement applications. Diamond Consulting Services (DCS), developer of the Idris inductive loop-based vehicle detection and classification system, has recently successfully conducted validation trials which, the company says, open the way for Idris to be used for speed verification and loop-based sensors to be used for more complex applications such as speed-on-green and differential spe
RTMS G4 being deployed for 2010 Winter Olympics
Image Sensing Systems (ISS) has provided RTMS G4 radars for traffic management on the Sea to Sky Highway for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.
ITS needs continuity at the policy-making level
ITS needs to be sold to politicians in plainer terms and we need to be encouraging greater continuity at the policy-making level says Josef Czako, chairman of the IRF's Policy Committee on ITS. At the ITS World Congress in New York in 2008, the International Road Federation (IRF) held the inaugural meeting of its Policy Committee on ITS. The Policy Committee's formation, says its chairman, Kapsch's Josef Czako, reflects an ongoing concern over the lack of deployment of ITS technology on roads in anything li
Santiago migrates to Siemens PC SCOOT
Siemens’ largest Urban Traffic Control (UTC) system installation has been upgraded to Siemens PC SCOOT.
Growth of legislation in favour of US enforcement market
The automated road safety enforcement industry in the United States had a very robust 2010. The industry continued to grow to the point that providers now have nearly 5,000 cameras deployed in 25 of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, with more than 650 communities utilising such life-saving technology. Intersection safety cameras are the most common application but more communities are also implementing road safety camera programmes to deter excessive speeding. Deploying cameras to protect children
Include ITS in policy decisions from the start, not as an afterthought
DG TREN's Fotis Karamitsos, on why the European Commission's new ITS Action Plan is looking to the past for future direction. The European Commission's (EC's) new Action Plan for the Deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems in Europe, which was announced as 2008 drew to a close, intends that transport and travel become 'cleaner; more efficient, including energy efficient; and safer and more secure'. At first sight, that wording might be interpreted as marking a significant policy shift within Europe, wit
Vehicle detector
Swedish company ABC-CAD Elektronik has announced a new vehicle detector, the ABC043. The device, which has a built-in PIC processor for intelligent control, features automatic calibration with the attached loop. Sensitivity and trigger level can be adjusted in 10 different states. A 10 LED bar graph shows the signal level and can be used for adjustment of sensitivity, trigger level and pulse/presence.
Ability to keep in touch on US buses woos travellers
David Crawford finds evidence of a new trend in American intercity travel: that better access to data sources on the move is tempting passengers away from air travel and onto surface modes. In the US the ease of use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) is successfully wooing long-distance travellers away from airlines and onto surface public transport, according to just-published research. Using data from field observations of 7,028 passengers travelling by bus, air and train in 14 US states and the Distri
Ability to keep in touch on US buses woos travellers
David Crawford finds evidence of a new trend in American intercity travel: that better access to data sources on the move is tempting passengers away from air travel and onto surface modes. In the US the ease of use of Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) is successfully wooing long-distance travellers away from airlines and onto surface public transport, according to just-published research. Using data from field observations of 7,028 passengers travelling by bus, air and train in 14 US states and the Distri