Air Quality & Weather Systems

Variable message signs have been installed on the Danish E20 highway between Odense and Copenhagen to give truck drivers real-time information on available parking areas. The highway, part of the Scandria corridor, carries some of the highest commercial vehicle volumes and connects capitals and metropolitan regions along the shortest route from Scandinavia via Central Europe to the Adriatic Sea. In the interests of road safety, truck drivers must adhere to strict travel and rest times.

European companies which have shared CO2 data and information on policies, strategy and intentions to reduce CO2 emissions from transport operations have been awarded the ‘first leaf’ by Green Freight Europe (GFE). The award is part of a four-tier labelling program by GFE that recognises and benchmarks members based on their efforts and measures to further improve on CO2 reduction. Heineken, IKEA, DHL, Hewlett Packard, Proctor and Gamble, TNT Europe, UPS and P&O Ferrymasters were among the first recipien

Siemens is to supply North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) with its new Stratos integrated highways management solution. The new contract, with the largest county in England, will deliver real time UTC and SCOOT adaptive control for 43 sites in Harrogate and a further 10 sites in Scarborough by means of a hosted UTC SCOOT service, whilst sign and car park management will be provided for both towns by the cloud hosted Stratos car parking management module. The project will also deliver a new IP commun

Messaging solutions provider SESA recently signed an agreement to develop NTCIP compliant lane control signs (LCS) incorporating a conflict monitoring system as a vital design criterion. This system will automatically change lane signals that correspond to the counter flow mandate. In multi-lane counter flow commute lanes, if a green arrow is displayed on one LCS, the LCS on its reverse must display a red cross. Timing on all LCS signs will be identical. Additionally flashing red crosses will be in

The Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT’s) Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) and Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) Program - designed and implemented by Delcan Technologies, a Parsons company, in partnership with Iteris - recently received the Best of ITS award from the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America). Honoured as the Best New Innovative Practice in the Sustainability in Transportation category, MDOT was recognised for the program’s leading-edge technology as we

Four of the latest variable message signs (VMS) are to be installed around junction 35 of the M6 motorway at Carnforth, giving drivers better warnings of incidents and other information about the motorway such as weather conditions. As part of the work, new CCTV cameras will be mounted on the VMS signs and standalone masts, allowing Highways Agency traffic officers at the North West Regional Control Centre at Newton-le-Willows to monitor and manage motorway incidents more effectively. A similar, US$2

A report on the role of speed in vehicle crashes in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, makes a number of recommendations to isolate speed as a causal factor in crash rates by improving data collection and conducting specific research to identify the triggers for speeding, particularly in rural and regional areas. The report, by the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety (Staysafe) also looks at the appropriateness of speed limits and approaches adopted in other jurisdictions and the adequacy of existing

Colin Sowman catches up on some of the latest research around outdoor pollution and looks at options available to authorities in areas of poor air quality. Iair quality hasn’t already reached the top of the agenda in transportation department meetings in your area, it probably soon will with national, trans-national and even global bodies calling for authorities to reduce pollution levels.

Temporary intelligent transport system (ITS) solutions provider, Mobile Visual Information Systems Ltd (MVIS), has supplied the BAM Morgan Sindall joint venture with a temporary over-height detection solution for use on the M62 and M1 junction 39 to 42 smart motorway project. Developed by MVIS and its partner, Intellicone temporary work zone safety system creator, Highway Resource Solutions (HRS), the over-height detection solution is part of the partners’ work-zone safety portfolio, the first temporary

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has begun work on installing an active traffic management |(ATM) system on interstate 66 through Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties from the Washington, DC line to Route 29 in Gainesville. Designed and built by TransCore, the system is intended to improve safety and incident management and will include new sign gantries, shoulder and lane control signs, speed displays, incident and queue detection, and increased traffic camera coverage.