Features

Need for a temporary communication fix during a construction project has led to rapid deployment of a permanent but simplistic wireless broadband network in Chandler, Arizona When a major construction project was expected to disrupt highway communications in the city of Chandler, Arizona, the city’s engineers went looking for a simple solution. They needed a way of maintaining data connections with three consecutive intersections along Arizona Avenue in Chandler while construction necessitated the severin

Taking advantage of the attendance of the heads of ITS Asia-Pacific, ITS America, Ertico – ITS Europe, and ITS Malaysia as the host nation of the recent 12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum in Kuala Lumpur in April, ITS International initiated a round table discussion on the big ITS issues confronting the individual regions. For such a diverse collection of advanced and emerging nations spanning the globe, in terms of the advancement of ITS, a common single issue emerges above all others

Perceptions of machine vision being an expensive solution are being challenged by developments in both core technologies and ancillaries. Here, Jason Barnes and David Crawford look at the latest developments in the sector. A notable aspect of machine vision is the flexibility it offers in terms of how and how much data is passed around a network. With smart cameras, processing capabilities at the front end mean that only that which is valid need be communicated back to a central processor of any descripti

Convergence of electron-powered vehicles with connected vehicle technologies could mean that only a few decades from now the idea of owning a vehicle will be entirely alien to the road user. By Technolution chief scientist Dave Marples with Jason Barnes Even when taken individually, many of the developments going on and around vehiclebased mobility will bring about major changes in transportation. Taken collectively, the transformations we might expect are nothing short of profound. Enumeration of the influ

APT Controls Group CEO Dermot Murphy introduces a new suite of parking solutions and explains the benefits of barrier free parking systems Following its acquisition of Parking Applications in September 2011, the APT Controls group is launching a new barrier-less parking and payment solution called Veri-park. This is based on proven automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology and flexible payment channels. At present the concept of barrier-less parking using ANPR is still a relatively new one, which

Wave and pay credit and debit cards have arrived. In the parking sector, authorities and operators quick to accommodate new contactless payment technology are already benefitting We’re on the edge of a contactless revolution,” declares Parkeon’s parking director for the UK and Ireland Danny Hassett. Parkeon reports a groundswell of customers gravitating to contactless credit and debit card payment for parking, and the company is by no means alone in this. Use of ‘wave and pay’ technology is on the verge of

Hong Kong’s Route 8 now features an extensive and advanced traffic control and surveillance system developed to overcome challenges of great scale and complexity, write Delcan vice president Rex Lee and MD Joseph Lam

David Crawford reviews technological progress with automatic incident detection Highway safety problems are likely to intensify given recent predictions of future traffic growth across the world. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that currently over 30,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries occur as the result of accidents on the nation’s roads each year. These figures will increase with the number of kilometres travelled each year in the US expected to gr

An unusual technology collaboration. David Crawford investigates Early in January 2012, the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) rolled out the first borough-wide implementation of its pioneering Bus Time online mobile real-time tracking service. The system allow commuters to track each bus on every route in real-time on the internet, via smartphones and by text messaging to a mobile phone. The MTA chose Staten Island for its first live launch due to it being the only one of the five Ne

Introduction of a fleet tracking system has provided expected headline benefits. But it is the intangibles that have been most valuable Crescent Electric Supply Company (CESC) was founded in 1919 and is one of the largest independent distributors of electrical hardware and supplies in the US. Based in East Dubuque, Illinois, the company has 120 distribution facilities in 27 states, serving contractors, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) needs of commercia

A substantial portfolio of resources is available and expanding, to help employers and professionals build essential skills for current and future needs – the ITS Professional Capacity Building Program. Pete Goldin reports. The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) views ITS as key to the future of transportation, as is evident from the department’s ITS Professional Capacity Building (PCB) program. This is a further manifestation of USDOT’s commitment to ITS. The PCB program provides anyone in the transpo

Canada’s 407 tolled highway allows non-stop travel and a fast and efficient way of paying for it. Ontario’s 407 ETR highway features one of the most advanced barrier-free and all- electronic toll collection systems in the world. The company that operates the road launched the latest phase of its strategy to provide end-to-end automation in summer 2011. A self-service website is now available, allowing users to view and pay charges online using technology supplied by the international market leaders in e-bil

High road toll increases threaten new regulation, but states should be free to use toll revenue for Interstate improvements. Bob Poole reports Large toll rate increases have been implemented recently by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, justified in part to help pay for its World Trade Center project. In response, a bill was introduced in Congress that would allow the Secretary of Transportation to regulate tolls on every bridge on the country’s Interstates and other federally aided highways. F

Andrew Bardin Williams investigates tolling on the federal Interstate system as maintenance and upgrade requirements increasingly outpace funding The I-95 corridor through North Carolina is one of the most heavy trafficked interstates in the US, seeing upwards of 46,000 vehicles per day in some stretches-and North Carolina’s Department of Transportation (NCDOT) estimates this number will to rise to 98,000 vehicles per day by 2040. Along with the rest of the federal interstate system, the North Carolina str

Russia’s transport systems are developing on a grand scale with ITS central to the plans, thanks in no small part to a recently relaunched ITS Russia. Jon Masters interviews the organisation’s chief executive officer Vladimir Kryuchkov Over coming years many of the biggest deployments of new technology for transport are likely to be seen in Russia. For a political and economic superpower, the world’s biggest country has only recently started to harness ITS for the good of its transport networks. But the sca