Air Quality & Weather Systems

In a bid to reduce high levels of congestion on the Kwinana Freeway near Perth in Western Australia, the government is planning to introduce a smart motorway by converting the emergency stopping lane to a full-time running lane. The concept is similar to the smart motorways in use in the UK which use variable speed limits during busy times to manage congestion. The US$25 million (AU$47 million) project is expected to start in 2018-2019 and will also include: in-road detectors and full CCTV coverage to provi

As part of its multi-year contract with the City of Calgary in Canada, SES America recently delivered a large 27.5 ft long Messenger 6000 full matrix dynamic message sign (DMS). Installed on the Deerfoot Trail, the sign replaces an older obsolete DMS and was successfully integrated with the city's NTCIP traffic management software. The DMS is capable of displaying large font and graphics and is equipped with nine front access doors to guarantee ease of access and maintenance to all components. All component

The Cobb County Department of Transportation (CCDOT) in Georgia, USA, has activated six full-colour dynamic message signs (DMS) in the metropolitan Atlanta area in a bid to improve travel times and enable motorists to choose less-congested routes. The LED signs have been installed on Cobb Parkway, South Marietta Parkway, Roswell Road and Spring Road to provide travel time information for common destinations and indicate the congestion level related to specific routes in real time. Travel times on I-75 and C

The Milford Road Alliance, a partnership between the New Zealand Transport Agency and Downer NZ to ensure the safe and efficient management of activities on State Highway 94, is to implement new and enhanced weather forecast services from MetService. Climbing through the Southern Alps, State Highway 94 is one of the highest highways in New Zealand. It includes the Milford Road which stretches from Te Anau through Fiordland National Park to Milford Sound and the high-altitude alpine conditions, a steep and r

The UK government has published a draft plan to improve air quality by reducing nitrogen dioxide levels in the country. The options now open for consultation on reducing nitrogen dioxide in our towns and cities are designed to reduce the impact of diesel vehicles, and accelerate the move to cleaner transport. Local authorities are already responsible for improving air quality in their area, but will now be expected to develop new and creative solutions to reduce emissions as quickly as possible, while avoid

A UK Green MEP has attacked the failure of consecutive UK governments to take action on air pollution, while public transport costs continue to rise. Keith Taylor, Green MEP for the South East, says new government figures released in response to a written question by Caroline Lucas MP, show the cost of motoring, including purchasing a vehicle, has fallen by 20 per cent since 1980, while rail fares have risen by 63 per cent and bus and coach fares are up by 64 per cent. According to a report by the Royal Col

Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) has renewed its traffic data services contract with Inrix and will also employ Inrix Dangerous Slowdowns, a newly launched service that warns drivers and DOTs of sudden reductions in speed or stopped traffic on the road. Dangerous Slowdowns is part of the new Inrix Safety Alerts product suite which also includes Inrix Incidents and Inrix Road Weather, to provide real-time insight on roadways to inform drivers and make roadways safer. The Safety Alerts product suite co

London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has presented its ranking of 35 ‘green’ cities, sponsored by smartphone chip maker Qualcomm. The report ranks 35 global cities based on their level of progress towards achieving this goal, finding that:

Automotive technology company Continental is working in partnership with French national weather service Météo-France on a project which will expand its electronic horizon, or eHorizon, for use as eHorizon.Weather to provide real-time weather information. Vehicles equipped with eHorizon.Weather supply exact weather information to optimise short-term forecasts and integrate real-time, location-specific weather data to alert drivers in advance of critical weather conditions. Continental is currently testing t

New York-based aggregator of multimode transit information, Roadify Transit, has entered into distribution and technology partnerships with several digital signage companies, including AVI Systems, Capital Networks, IKE SmartCity and others. These organisations are now able to incorporate location-specific displays of transit arrivals and service conditions into their customers' digital signage networks. Roadify Transit aggregates transit data from more than 400 agencies, bike share programs and car ride se