Features

Will the relentless growth of Google lead to it becoming the ultimate provider of travel information services? Huw Williams investigates Google’s strategy and David Crawford discovers what two principal rivals are doing to keep pace. In the first weeks of 2012 one company staked two divergent claims on the future of transport. One is the science fiction of only a decade ago, turned into reality: the driverless car. The other seems more prosaic, yet in its own way is just as significant a marker of the futur

Innovative use of truck weighing technology is growing as strategies aimed at reducing numbers of overweight vehicles gather momentum. Business is generally good at present in the truck weighing sector in general, and weigh-in-motion (WIM) technology in particular, according to leading suppliers of systems serving to help reduce overloading. Strategies aimed at deterring excessive truck loading – cutting damage to road networks and risks to safety – vary considerably worldwide, with some governments draggin

Applications of long range radar technology are demonstrating its effectiveness as a first line of defence for highway managers – adding greater resilience and capability to existing systems. Development efforts are bringing long range millimetric wave radar to the fore as a very useful tool for managers of highway networks. Application of radar for wide area monitoring in traffic management remains in its infancy. But recent projects are demonstrating how it can now serve to enhance detection of incidents

A project aimed at proving the viability of satellite-based goods tracking in Europe has come to a close – establishing everything necessary for commercial services to flourish. A landmark stage was reached in tracking of goods across Europe in December last year, with conclusion of the Scutum project – ‘Securing the EU GNSS adoption in transport of dangerous materials’. This has validated the accuracy and reliability of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) for goods tracking and se

Major suppliers of enforcement technology highlight the countries, regions or cities that they consider to be leading the way in reduction of road traffic violations. The French government’s ambitious programme of enforcing traffic law violations has proven to be an unrivalled success and is continuing to bring improvements in road safety with innovative enforcement technology.

David Crawford is encouraged by the spread of 'soft' speed policing 

Changing needs of mature and emerging economies are demanding more rigorous enforcement services. Gatso’s managing director Timo Gatsonides spells out the challenge to Jason Barnes. As geographical markets mature and saturate, it might seem that the only thing for suppliers to do is to look further afield in search of new opportunities. The automated enforcement market in north western Europe could be a case in point, but Gatso’s managing director Timo Gatsonides begs to differ. The sheer number of new syst

David Crawford investigates traffic signal priority initiatives developing for better bus travel on the US Pacific Coast Transit patronage rises by an average of 35% along commuter corridors equipped with bus rapid transit (BRT) systems, according to the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA). BRT as defined as bus transit enhanced with ITS systems for better services, is winning new passengers attracted by opportunity to avoid increasing fuel costs and traffic congestion.

Deploying speed cameras in urban areas saves vast amounts of money as well as lives, according to a two-year cost benefit analysis carried out in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona, with an extensive urban area, is typical of many cities in the developed world. There are over 10,000 motor vehicle accidents annually with more than 12,000 people injured every year and less than 50 deaths. Economically, the cost of traffic accidents in Barcelona is over €300M a year.

In the first study of its kind in Qatar, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha (WCMC-Q) have found a dramatic decrease in fatal motor injuries following the deployment of speed cameras. The research – Motor vehicle injuries in Qatar: time trends in a rapidly developing Middle Eastern nation – has been published in the peer-reviewed British medical journal, Injury Prevention. Most speed cameras in Qatar were installed during 2007, giving researchers the opportunity to examine injury rates befo

The 'ITS Champion Award' was presented to US Representative Rush Holt at the ITS Roundtable held on 29 January in Washington, DC.

Continental has become a leading player in vehicle technology and telematics. The firm’s executive board chairman Elmar Degenhart describes to Jason Barnes Continental’s views on the ‘megatrends’ of the automotive industry Strategic moves to diversify Continental’s business from rubber-related products began in the late 1990s with the acquisition of ITT Teves and its brake business. This brought on board know-how relating to the then new electronic stability control (ESC) systems which today form an import

The use by MDOT of 90-foot concrete poles on which to mount CCTV equipment reduces the number of poles needed to monitor a given area and incidences of occlusion

In April this year, ITS Malaysia will host the 12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur to further advance ITS cooperation and coordination between member countries in the region. In 1999, just a year after construction of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers was completed, Kuala Lumpur hosted the 3rd ITS Asia-Pacific Forum. A great deal has changed in the intervening 13 years, not least the scope and importance of the Forum’s programme. The 12th running of this event, being held from 16-18 Ap

A new traffic management solution is attempting to bridge the gap in information available on freeways and arterial roadways. Andrew Bardin Williams reports. Agencies responsible for national networks of roads around the world have the ability to measure, analyse and disseminate accurate travel information to drivers. Millions of dollars go into data collection infrastructure to collect traffic congestion and travel time information on major freeways or highways. For example, a driver on the I-210 in the Lo