Features

Radar can have distinct advantages in some transport-related situations as Colin Sowman found out during a visit to Navtech Radar. Despite tremendous advances in machine vision techniques, the accuracy and reliability of camera-based detection systems suffer during periods of poor visibility where other technologies may offer an alternative. Radar is one such technology. It too has seen significant development in recent years and according to Navtech Radar, the technology can often fulfil detection and moni

Basler’s Enzio Schneider explains why advances in CMOS technology provides new opportunities for vision-based ITS applications. Since the beginning of 2015, or even before, it seems obvious that all roads in vision-based ITS applications lead in one technological direction – CMOS. Initially perceived as a trend in vision technology, it has taken a step towards status as the new benchmark with Sony’s announcement to discontinue their CCD production. CMOS sensor technology has become the future for industrial

The EU’s UDRIVE project will investigate driver behaviour in terms of road safety and the decarbonisation of road transport, as Nicole van Nes and Silvia Curbelo explain. There were nearly 25,700 fatalities on European Union (EU) roads in 2014 or, to look it another way, roughly 70 people are killed in traffic accidents on European roads every day - and many more are injured. Around 22% of the fatalities are pedestrians, 15% will be motorcycle riders and 8% cyclists. So despite the improvements in road safe

Westminster trials scheme to detect non-qualifying motorists using disabled parking bays. The provision of disabled parking bays has become commonplace - but so has the abuse of these bays by able-bodied motorists. Now, London’s Westminster City Council is running a trial of technology that detects when a vehicle is illegally parked in a disabled bay.

Researchers from two American Universities have found the provision of parking spaces can encourage automobile use and increase traffic congestion. It is well understood that increased automobile use is linked to congestion, environmental degradation and negative health and safety impacts. Trials of smart parking technology has shown a reduction in circulating traffic (looking for parking) can ease congestion and that the cost of parking can influence commuters’ modal choice. Now, researchers at the univers

David Crawford investigates an innovative public/private partnership. Los Angeles entered the second decade of the 21st century facing major challenges to its parking operations. With a population of 3.8 million, and its car-oriented culture still predominant, the city's parking meters were technically outdated - with most only accepting coins and many regularly out of service - resulting in a substantial loss of revenue. This coincided with a number of Californian cities looking to parking income to boost

ITS New Mexico’s 2015 award has gone to the state’s Bernalillo County for establishing implementation criteria for adaptive traffic control and the installation of the state’s first system on Alameda Boulevard in Albuquerque. This uses Rhythm Engineering’s InSync Technology.

Against a background of a renewed focus on limiting the rise in average temperatures, Colin Sowman looks at a project that is taking a holistic approach to the environmental impact and safety of road transport. At the COP21 meeting in Paris last December, almost 200 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to keep the rise in global temperatures to 2°C) compared with pre-industrial levels. The transportation sector is a major contributor to the production of CO2, one of the main green

Connected vehicle technology will emerge as a sustainable reality at three sites in the US over the next four years. Jon Masters reports. Advocates of connected vehicle (CV) technology have received a welcome boost from news that the US government has committed a further $4 billion towards automated vehicle research and CV technology. This comes hot on the heels of the US Department of Transportation’s $42 million CV pilot pledge in October last year.

The FIA’s Region I president Thierry Willemarck tells Colin Sowman about his organisation’s campaigning work for the rights of road users and mobility for all. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile may be best known as the FIA and the governing body for world motor sport - particularly Formula 1 - but its influence spreads far wider than the racetrack. The organisation was founded in 1904 with a remit to safeguard the rights and promote the interests of motorists and motor sport across the world. No

Researchers Yuting Yang, Camillo Taylor and Daniel Lee have developed a system to turn surveillance cameras into traffic counters. Traffic information can be collected from existing inexpensive roadside cameras but extracting it often entails manual work or costly commercial software. Against this background the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) was looking for an efficient and user-friendly solution to extract traffic information from videos captured from road intersections.

The UK’s DVSA is utilising existing technology to identify non-compliant commercial vehicles and target repeat offenders while avoiding law-abiding companies. Enforcing the compliance of commercial vehicles (goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes and vehicles with eight or more passenger seats) on the UK’s roads is the responsibility of the DVSA (the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency). The Department for Transport created the executive agency about 18 months ago by merging the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) and t

Planned roadway improvements prompted the use of Adaptive Signal Control around Madison – a move that has proved successful as Scott Langer explains. Madison, Wisconsin’s state capital and second largest city (after Milwaukee), is the county seat of Dane County and home of the University of Wisconsin. With affordable housing, nationally ranked schools, one of the best healthcare systems, low unemployment and thriving cultural and community events, last year Madison topped Money magazine’s ‘Best Places to Li

Currently deployed technology is being used to detect motorists ignoring the ‘red-X’ signs that indicate the lane is closed, as Colin Sowman hears. With an increasing network of ‘Smart Motorways’ - all-lane running or the opening of hard shoulders during times of congestion - Highways England (HE) has identified a growing problem with ‘red-X’ compliance. The ‘red-X’ sign signifies a closed lane or lanes and used to provide a safer area for stranded motorists, emergency workers or road maintenance crews and

David Crawford looks into the near-term future for Stockholm’s rail commuters. Swedish rail operator Stockholmståg, which runs commuter services in and around the country’s capital, is claiming a world first with the introduction of its automated Pendelprognosen (commuter prognosis) service. Developed to enable the prediction of delays as much as two hours before they are likely to occur, this offers the operator the scope for much earlier remedial action than previously - for example by filling in the expe