Air Quality & Weather Systems

A remote diagnostic system for variable message signs keeps Caltrans staff safer and makes them more efficient. District 12 of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) maintains roads in Orange County including 292 route miles of freeway lanes and 240 directional miles of full-time high occupancy vehicle or carpool lanes. All of these lanes are controlled from the district’s transportation management centre (TMC) using a network of 58 variable message signs (VMS) positioned alongside or abo

In an effort to reduce the high number of accidents on India's first six-lane, high-speed, access controlled tolled expressway, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has decided to install a surveillance system involving speed cameras and digital message signs. According to a tender notice issued by the MSRDC, a total of 84 high-speed cameras will be installed at seven locations on the 93 kilometre road. The GPRS-based system will also record details such as the vehicle’s registrati

Kapsch TrafficCom has been selected by North Tarrant Express (NTE) Mobility Partners Segments 3 LLC to provide the toll collection, intelligent transportation and network communication systems for the NTE extension project. The NTE extension is approximately ten miles long, and runs along I-35W north of the city of Fort Worth. Kapsch will deliver ten all-electronic toll zones, including dynamic sign equipment and road sensors that provide the data to enable dynamic toll charges based upon actual traffic

The results of a two-pronged investigation by researchers from the Minnesota Traffic Observatory at the US University of Minnesota on the safety related effects of flashing LED stop signs have just been released. They conducted two studies: a statistical study to compare the crash frequency after installation of a flashing LED stop signs at 15 intersections to a prediction of what that crash frequency would have been had the flashing LED stop signs not been installed; and a field study using video to exa

TrafficLand, US distributor of live traffic video is to install its TLX™ video aggregation technology in Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) highway operations centre to distribute real-time video from its road-side camera network to multiple stakeholders in the region. Under the agreement, TrafficLand will serve live video from 375 MassDOT traffic cameras to the DOT website. The number of cameras will expand to 500 by the end of 2014. TrafficLand will also provide specialised access

A specially adapted Sideway-force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine (SCRIM) manufactured by UK company WDM and used by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to survey the country’s road network has been, says NZTA ‘a very efficient and effective safety strategy’. SCRIM measures wet road resistance and uses lasers to scan the road surface. Video technology helps delivers a complete set of highway asset data. WDM has also helped NZTA develop the first state highway skid resistance policy. As a r

Driving through a road construction zone usually involves obeying flashing signs or traffic signals. Japan has another answer to moving motorists through a road construction zone –battery powered robots. Called Anzen Taro, which roughly translates to ‘Safety Sam’, the dead-eyed entities range from electronic cartoons to crude scarecrows and disembodied torsos and are used to control traffic around government-funded construction sites in Japan. Their complexity varies from a simple metal plate to clothed

In a deal that will see their traffic and weather solutions offered outside the transportation market, Iteris has entered into an agreement with Tinga to provide Iteris’ products on Tinga’s Air Exchange (Airex), a cloud-based independent marketplace that gives investors on-demand access to financially actionable information and reports. Under the agreement, Iteris’ traffic and weather information products and services are offered on the Airex online marketplace, opening new markets for Iteris to deliver

A consultant's report prepared for the Australian Capital Territory ACT) Roads department found that a full-scale rollout of intelligent transportation systems could cost about US$79 million but save US$116 million per year through lower rates of accidents and traffic delays. The government has included plans for a traffic management centre in its infrastructure, to be considered for future budget funding. The centre could eventually be linked to a network of cameras, road weather monitoring stations, v

The first smart motorway scheme in the UK’s south west has been officially launched, covering seven miles of motorway around the Almondsbury interchange and including junctions 19-20 on the M4 and junctions 15-17 on the M5. It is designed to help reduce congestion and improve safety and journey times by introducing variable speed limits and opening the hard shoulder during busy traffic periods. The improvements to the M4 and M5 use a range of technologies and operational systems to reduce congestion and