Features

The Transport Research Laboratory has unveiled an innovative semi-autonomous vehicle prototype. It offers improves in environmental performance and safety but also displays some shortcomings. Mike Woof reports. The UK's Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has been working on an innovative project to develop a prototype vehicle intended to reduce fuel consumption. Based on a Ford Escape hybrid model, TRL's Sentience vehicle uses a combination of mobile communications and mapping technologies to reduce fuel c

The Province of New Brunswick has prepared a deployment plan for ITS applications for Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO). The plan, developed by Delcan Corporation, identifies a number of potential ITS/CVO investments and initiatives to be implemented. One of the initiatives is the Motor Carrier Profile (MCP), which has been selected as one of the sample projects for the application of the Project Evaluation Methodology Framework for Canadian ITS.

Delcan has developed an ITS project evaluation methodology for Transport Canada. Victor Bruzon explains how it will assist in selecting and managing programmes. ITS projects offer a cost-effective solution for many transportation problems. Individual projects are often not evaluated and such evaluations can be restricted by limited data, the ability of ITS to affect only a portion of the transport network, and by evaluation methodologies that were developed with more traditional transport investments in min

On 11 January 2005, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) began installing GELcore LED traffic signal modules state-wide through an Energy Savings Performance Contract. In tendering for the work, the energy service contractors could choose any manufacturers equipment but all of them proposed to use the GELcore brand.

According to the UITP, the International Association of Public Transport, public transport offers even better value for money than usually stated. To address the issue, it has released a Focus Paper - Assessing the benefits of public transport - and is holding a special session dedicated to the theme during the UITP World Congress in Vienna, Austria, from 7-11 June.

Q-Free's Per Frederik Ecker talks about the Slovak Republic's new truck tolling system, which is intended to compensate for the large amounts of transit traffic which passes through the country. In January this year Q-Free, together with Siemens, was awarded the contract to deliver the new national truck tolling scheme in the Slovak Republic. This will be operated by Slovakia SkyToll on a 13-year concession and Q-Free is supplying the central tolling and enforcement system, together with a three-year servic

The Rijkswaterstaat and Highways Agency have joined forces to investigate what the market can do to realise an idealistic vision for traffic control centre technology. Jon Masters reports One particular seminar session of the Intertraffic show in Amsterdam in March was notably over subscribed. So heavy was the press to attend that your author, making his way over late from another appointment, could not get in and found himself craning over other heads locked outside to overhear what was being said. The

An innovative electronic vehicle registration system is being rolled out across Bangkok in Thailand, with road safety and speed enforcement the principal aims Equipment contracts and partnerships relating to a system of electronic vehicle registration (EVR) have been forming in Bangkok over the past couple of years. EVR can be applied to tackle a broad range of problems for transport authorities, including tax evasion, crime and insurance fraud. For Thailand’s Department of Land Transport (DLT), its EVR sy

David Crawford monitors a growing trend in contactless smartcard ticketing The north east United States has become a hive of activity in the smart fare payment arena. In October 2011, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) published, as a preliminary to an imminent procurement process, the detailed concept of its New Fare Payment System (NFPS). Based on open payment industry standards, this is designed to be implemented on all MTA bus and subway services operated by New York City Transit (

Nashville's signal optimisation programme produced a stunning return on investment. Are those results exceptional? Could similar results be replicated in cities across the US and indeed the world? ITS International spoke to Chris Rhodes, P.E. of Kimley-Horn and Associates, project leader for the Nashville signal optimisation programme. "You have to bear in mind that with signal optimisation programmes you don't see, for instance, physical construction or new pieces of equipment on the roadside that someone

A new vehicle routeing initiative has arisen to help improve emergency response and relief following natural disasters in Japan. David Crawford reports Japan’s national ITS group ITS Japan and the country’s leading automotives have agreed on a new combined approach to the organisation of traffic management and emergency response in the wake of major natural disasters. A new, robust traffic information platform using probe data obtained from vehicles to support traffic flow will build on the shared experienc

Road markings are among the most cost-effective solutions to make roads safer. A recent study carried out for the American Glass Bead Manufacturer’s Association quantifies by just how much Despite only making up 23% of the US mileage, fatalities on America’s rural two-lane highways made up 57% of all traffic fatalities in 2009 — resulting in more than $77Bn in losses for that year alone. Moreover, a rural motorist is 2.7 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash per mile travelled than their urban

Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme aims to transform Kuala Lumpur into one of the world’s most liveable cities. Mohd Nur Kamal, CEO of SPAD, Malaysia’s Land Transport Commission, explains how a world class multi-modal transport system will be key to reaching that goal Superficially, Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it is commonly known, is the model of a vibrant, modern, cosmopolitan city to equal any in the world. The Petronas Twin Towers, an iconic global symbol of Malaysia, are surrounded by stunningly

Xerox Chairman and CEO Ursula Burns will deliver the keynote address at the opening plenary of ITS America’s 2012 Annual Meeting in May. She talked to ITS International about the acquisition of ACS, its rebranding and the importance of the transportation sector to Xerox

A programme of road safety education and enforcement in the State of Jalisco in Mexico has reduced speed related fatalities by 40% in nine months Speed enforcement equipment will appear in greater number and visibility around the city of Guadalajara over coming months, as the Mexican State of Jalisco expands its road safety campaign. This comes hot on the heels of an initial programme of traffic speed education and enforcement in Guadalajara, which has yielded remarkable results, reducing speed related fata