Air Quality & Weather Systems

Extreme weather conditions cost the EU’s transport system at least €15 billion (US$18.44 billion) per year according to a a study carried out by the Finnish VTT Technical Research Centre. The study reveals that the greatest costs incurred are from road accidents, with the associated material and psychological effects. Costs arising from accidents are expected to decrease in volume, although time-related costs attributable to delays are projected to increase. In part, this last effect is due to climate chang

Traffic management centres (TMC) have traditionally served to provide surveillance and responses to traffic incidents and recurring and non-recurring changes in road networks. Typically, a TMC collected field data from the roadway and transit infrastructure and provided the integration necessary for operators to see what was happening and then coordinate a response. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) guided operators on how to respond to a given situation. It eventually became impractical for TMC operat

TomTom has announced a partnership with MapQuest, wholly owned by AOL, to power the company’s mobile app with TomTom maps. Available for Android and iOS, MapQuest’s free apps provide access to a wireless version of the well-known MapQuest website.

Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Sherri H. LeBas has announced the New Orleans Core ITS project that will outfit the I-10 corridor, from Kenner to the Central Business District (CBD), I-610 and US 90 Business with 24 new surveillance cameras and eight dynamic message signs. These will be monitored and operated by staff at the regional transportation management centre. The aim is to improve travel by helping drivers avoid traffic congestion and use alternate routes, ultimately

Ireland's National Transport Authority (NTA) has launched a journey planner service via its public transport brand, Transport for Ireland. The service will inform users of the best public transport routes to take in Dublin. At end of June 2012, the website for Journey Planner was launched, along with an application (app) for Android-based smartphones, and an iPhone version will be launched shortly.

Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider has kicked off a statewide digital message board campaign to help reduce roadway fatalities occurring this year. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDoT) has started to rotate four key traffic safety messages daily starting, in conjunction with a social media and internet page presence. As of July 5, provisional crash data reports 479 fatalities have taken place on Illinois roadways this year, as compared to 418 during the same timeframe last year.

Pennsylvania's 511PA system, which provides free travel information including construction alerts and real-time traffic cameras, reached a milestone in June of two million total website visits, PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch has announced. The 511PA telephone system has received more than 1 million calls and more than 15,000 people have signed up for personalised text or email alerts.

Telvent GIT has been awarded a contract by Almabani General Contractors to implement the SmartMobility Road Suite solution on the extension of roads in Arriyadh Old Airport area. The project, led by the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh, will extend the existing north-south and east-west highways for more than 11km including construction of three tunnels. Telvent’s SmartMobility Road Suite, based on the company’s control and data acquisition system (OASyS SCADA), will allow centralisation of

A new vehicle routeing initiative has arisen to help improve emergency response and relief following natural disasters in Japan. David Crawford reports Japan’s national ITS group ITS Japan and the country’s leading automotives have agreed on a new combined approach to the organisation of traffic management and emergency response in the wake of major natural disasters. A new, robust traffic information platform using probe data obtained from vehicles to support traffic flow will build on the shared experienc

IBI Group, a provider of toll and traffic management solutions for government agencies, highway operators and concession companies, and Cellint Traffic Solutions, a provider of real-time road traffic information based on cellular data, have announced a cooperation agreement that builds on their current regional traffic data system project in Vancouver, Canada, funded by TransLink, the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure, and Transport Canada. Cellint's TrafficSense provides traffic