Features

Meteorological organisations invest millions in super-computers to crunch data for ever-more accurate forecasts but inherent unpredictability means that other methods of alerting drivers and road authorities to fast-changing weather and highway conditions are essential. For years, static weather sensors to measure factors such as surface water, ice or high roadway temperatures have been embedded in highways to provide such data. But that is changing.

Few disruptions appear on the horizon for global toll road operators, with the US poised to become a better bet for major investment, according to ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P’s) Global Ratings’ 2017 report, which rates toll road operators according to their ability to raise capital. The outlook is generally stable for business conditions and credit quality for toll roads worldwide. One positive exception is the US where the overall outlook is ‘positive’ as S&P expects traffic growth to increase

Every day 185 million vehicles – cars, trucks, school buses, emergency response units - cross one or more of America’s 55,710 'structurally compromised' steel and concrete road bridges, the highest concentration of which are in Iowa (nearly 5,000), Pennsylvania and Oklahoma. Nearly 2,000 of these crossings are located on interstate highways, according to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association's recent analysis of the US Department of Transportation's 2016 National Bridge Inventory.

In opening the session on putting MaaS ideas into practice, Hans Arby, chief executive of UbiGo, told the conference that, “MaaS can mean different things to different people. This is why we decided to run MaaS under real conditions and launch the Gothenburg pilot scheme in 2013.” The trial involved 70 households paying €130/month for 6 months with participants agreeing that 20 cars could be put into storage. More than 12,000 bookings/transactions took place during the trial and there were no drop-outs. Ac

In opening the session on putting MaaS ideas into practice, Hans Arby, chief executive of UbiGo, told the conference that, “MaaS can mean different things to different people. This is why we decided to run MaaS under real conditions and launch the Gothenburg pilot scheme in 2013.” The trial involved 70 households paying €130/month for 6 months with participants agreeing that 20 cars could be put into storage. More than 12,000 bookings/transactions took place during the trial and there were no drop-outs. Ac

Conventional cost benefit analysis (CBA) of plans for urban smart mobility initiatives needs serious rethinking, according to a recently-completed European study. The three-year Evidence Project (the Project) emerged in response to concerns about the availability and quality of documented research – including CBA – required to prove that investment in sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) can be economically beneficial. Covering 22 sectors ranging from electric vehicles to shared spaces, the Project clai

Someone once likened predicting the future to ‘nailing a jelly to the wall’. With ITS, C-ITS and V2X technology progressing at such a pace, predicting the future is more akin to trying to nail three jellies to the wall – but only having one nail. And yet with roadways having a lifetime measured in decades, that is exactly what highway engineers and traffic planners are expected to do. Fortunately, New Hampshire DoT (NHDoT) believes its technological advances may be able to provide a solution. The Central Ne

Colin Sowman picks his highlights from Asecap’s 45th annual Study and Information Days in Paris. European tolling association Asecap holds annual Study & Information Days, provides delegates with updates on the latest moves and thinking in the tolling sector and is a key meeting place for concessionaires from 22 countries. The importance of road transport to the French economy was highlighted by the country’s director general of transport infrastructures, François Poupard, in the opening session. He told th

Catering for those with disabilities can be cost-effective and improve services for all travellers, as David Crawford discovers. Clearer understanding of the economic value of accessible transport is essential if we are to speed up the current slow deployment levels, according to the Paris-based International Transport Forum (ITF), which staged a 2016 round table on the ‘Benefits and Costs of Inclusion in Transport’. It wants to see greater availability of data on levels of actual and unmet demand for acces

Andrew Bardin Williams looks at a new online biking and walking benchmark report that allows transportation practitioners to compare communities and track progress. Transportation and public health are inextricably linked. The more people are encouraged to opt out of single occupancy vehicles, the healthier the overall community becomes. Sure, fewer pollutants are released into the air and commuters spend less time in traffic, but it’s the push to get people to ditch fully motorised transportation options a

An Argentinian authority is using night-time cameras to fight criminal activity aboard buses. Instances of crimes and violence (especially on city buses or at bus stations) have motivated the city of Rosario in Argentina to improve safety and security on the Urban Transportation System – or the TUP as it is known locally. As posting a police officer on each bus would be cost-prohibitive and uncomfortable for some passengers, security cameras are being fitted to each TUP bus. This solution entailed instal

An indication of just how far beyond spot speed and red light the enforcement sector has progressed was evident in the range of new and improved equipment on display at the recent Traffex event in Birmingham. One of the key trends, particularly in the UK but also evident elsewhere, is the increase in average speed enforcement, according to RedSpeed’s managing director Robert Ryan, who predicts a big increase in installations this year. “The price point has reached a level authorities can afford,” he says, a

There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin

There is rising enthusiasm in America and beyond for the concept of truck platooning with trials being planned in several US states, as David Crawford reports. Growing numbers of US states are considering or implementing plans for trials of electronically-linked truck platooning on public road networks. This is in response to the interest being shown by the US$70bn a year road freight industry, where fuel represents 41% of the operating costs making the prospect of improving fuel economy by trucks travellin

The structure of society and the way in which our cities work will be completely transformed by Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Finland’s minister of transport and communications Anne Berner, told ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference 2017 in London. In her keynote address, Berner told a packed audience of more than 200 ITS professionals that MaaS has the potential to help governments around the world meet their big city targets such as the rate of employment, the environment, the efficient use of