Features

Beginning in June 2011, Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) began replacing 14 deteriorated bridge superstructures on Interstate 93 throughout the city of Medford. The project has been called the 93 FAST 14, and because of its impact on the travelling public Mass DOT has implemented the use of Smart Work Zone technology.

Designed to save lives in work zones, the RoadQuake temporary portable rumble strip, from Plastic Safety Systems, is a transverse rumble strip. Drivers crossing over it feel a significant bump and vibration and hear an audible alert. As the company says, most drivers will react to warnings by driving more cautiously and with more awareness. RoadQuake can be installed in minutes without special equipment, adhesives or fasteners.

Work Area Protection has announced the ArrowMaster Pro-Line Solar-Assisted Advance Warner, a versatile, low-operating-cost arrow board that provides maximum visibility while directing traffic through construction zones. It was designed to allow the panel to travel parallel with the towing vehicle to cut wind resistance, fatigue and maximise fuel economy. The centre frame support is continuous from front to rear to reduce stress fractures caused by towing and rough roads. The company says that ArrowMaster bo

Impact protection vehicles, often the only form of protection between workers and traffic in many road maintenance and repair operations, are designed to arrest an errant car or truck. Truck-mounted attenuators have been used for many years, but as Brent Kulp of Traffix Devices points out, advances in trailer attenuators, such as on his company's Scorpion, provide the same protection, at lower cost but with much greater flexibility. He points to the Scorpion's unique curved design, which not only redirects

Everyone in the road transport industry in Australia is talking road pricing - everyone, that is, except the politicians. Christine Keyes reports. At the end of 2008, Australia's road transport industry was wringing its collective hands, unable to raise more than $100 million from an individual bank for any Public Private Partnership (PPP). The A$750 million Peninsula Link project, announced by the Victoria Government in March 2009, was the first road project in the country to be put out to market as an ava

In the UK alone, Dorman has sold over one million cone lights, which, when dropped onto a road cone, automatically activate an on/off switch. However, the lamp will only illuminate in the hours of darkness or in low light levels (managed by the photocell switch) caused by bad weather. The company has now developed the ConeLite Synchro, a low-intensity lamp unit to complement the company's highly successful super-bright LED SynchroGuide cone lamp. When placed in a line, both models provide sequential fla

This innovative overhead LED warning trailer from Adolph Nissen Elektrobau is designed for use where there are high truck volumes. The Pharos is a mobile three-tier VMS system for long-distance advanced warning. The top sign can be raised to a height of over 7m, enabling it to be seen evenby motorists driving behind a truck.

Transpo Industries launched a unique concept in work zone intrusion protection last year. The SonoBlaster impact-activated safety device warns both roadway workers and errant vehicles simultaneously. When impacted, the unit's built-in CO2-powered horn blasts loudly (125 dB) for 15 seconds, signalling crews that their work zone has been violated. This provides critical reaction time to move out of harm's way. The company says there are also resultant safety benefits for the driver, who may be able to take ev

The European Commission is placing too much emphasis on the use of demand management, according to the FIA. Here, Wil Botman, Director-General of the FIA's European Bureau, explains why. Towards the end of last year, the European Bureau of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) released a statement which criticised the European Commission's (EC's) approach to urban traffic congestion following the adoption of the Action Plan on Urban Mobility. In particular, the FIA voiced concerns over what it

Tasks that should always be undertaken using the protection of a truck or trailer-mounted attenuator, but frequently aren't. That's why Dutch company Trafiq attracted so much international attention last year when it developed and launched the Mobile Automatic Roadblock System (MARS). Not only does the system provide complete safety for highway workers, it automates the entire process. And on top of that, because of the speed at which it deploys and collects cones, MARS provides substantial cost savings com

In an article which has implications for the European Electronic Toll Service, ASECAP's Kallistratos Dionelis asks whether the approach we currently take to major ITS system implementations is always the best or healthiest. I was asked recently to write a paper on the technology-oriented future of transport. To paraphrase, I started with: "The goal of European policy-makers is to establish a transport system which meets society's economic, social and environmental needs, satisfying in parallel a rising dema

A guaranteed way to get drivers to slow down and comply with work zone speed limits is to use average speed cameras. Deployed in the UK for over a decade now, they have had a huge impact, not least in achieving around 99 per cent compliance with speed limits. It's not difficult to understand: when someone knows that if they speed through a work zone it is absolutely guaranteed that they will be caught, fined and have points on their licence, only a total fool would. In the UK, SPECS average speed cameras we

OmniAir's Tim McGuckin writes about progress with the Electronic Payment Services National Interoperability Specification, which aims to provide the US with payment capabilities at lane level using any ETC component protocol. The OmniAir Consortium was founded to advance US national deployment of open, effective and interoperable transportation technology systems. Through its member-defined programmes, companies and individuals join to work for open standards, interoperability, third-party certification and

From the roadside James Foster compiles some eye-catching news, deployments and product picks from the work zone

Kapsch's Dietrich Leihs talks about the true fundamentals of urban pricing. In some Italian and German towns and cities, the solution to congestion is an outright ban on certain types of vehicles. As far as Dietrich Leihs is concerned, any attempt to sweeten the pill that is congestion charging is only ever going to be a partial success at best.