Air Quality & Weather Systems

A research project that gathers information on vehicle emissions in Birmingham got under way last month as part of the UK Government’s ongoing efforts to meet EU air quality targets. In December 2015, the UK Government announced plans to introduce Clean Air Zones in cities, including Birmingham, by 2020. These zones will not affect private car owners, but would aim to discourage the most polluting vehicles, such as old buses, coaches and lorries, from entering the zone. The new project, developed by B

The City of Houston has awarded Trafficware Group a contract to upgrade the city’s central traffic management system, a project that also includes converting all 2,500 intersections from older technology to Trafficware’s Patriot V76 traffic control software and upgrading to its transportation management platform, ATMS.now. The new ATMS.now software platform will allow the City to integrate a number of devices so they no longer have to operate as disparate systems and can react quickly to incidents and c

SES America’s energy efficient M6000 series of dynamic messaging signs, which require no cooling or ventilation systems, has received full approval for application on the Georgia highway system. The M6000 comes in assortment of sizes and is available in both colour and amber with the latter offered in solar or mains power versions.

In an effort to reduce the number of accidents caused by slippery road conditions, Swedish companies Nira Dynamics and Infocar Training have equipped a fleet of 80 vehicles with software for detecting road surface conditions in real-time. Road surface information (RSI), developed by Nira, continuously monitors the quality and tyre grip level of the road surface, without stereo cameras, adaptive suspension or other expensive sensors. Using sensor fusion based algorithms, RSI determines the level of road r

A village in Derbyshire, UK, is tackling the issue of speeding drivers by installing the latest Swarco Traffic moveable vehicle activated signs (MVAS), lightweight portable signs designed specifically for parish councils to improve road safety and encourage safer driving speeds. Signs are installed at either end of the main road through the village, although there are three pairs of locations where the signs can be placed. Approved for use by Highways England, they are simple to deploy, feature a besp

A study by the US Federal Highway Administration’s Highways for Life has found a small but consistent reductions in mean and 85 percentile speeds on dangerous bends through the use of Tapco’s BlinkerChevron dynamic curve warning and guidance system (DCWGS) instead of static warning signs. The system's detects oncoming vehicles up to 90m (300ft) from the curve and will trigger the flashing LEDs on the signs if the vehicle’s speed exceed a predetermined level to warn the driver of the dangerous curves with e

A study by the US Federal Highway Administration’s Highways for Life has found a small but consistent reductions in mean and 85 percentile speeds on dangerous bends through the use of Tapco’s BlinkerChevron dynamic curve warning and guidance system (DCWGS) instead of static warning signs. The system's detects oncoming vehicles up to 90m (300ft) from the curve and will trigger the flashing LEDs on the signs if the vehicle’s speed exceed a predetermined level to warn the driver of the dangerous curves with e

Idaho Transportation Department’s (ITD) research program has initiated a project to evaluate an innovative new wildlife-detection system that may bring improved safety to area highways and reduce personal injury and property damage. The project is the result of a request from ITD’s northern Idaho office, and is a partnership between ITD and the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) of Montana State University. Collisions between wildlife and vehicles can be a big problem, and common in rural states such