GIS/ Mapping & Location Based Systems

TRL has upgraded its Transyt software used in designing, modelling and optimising road layouts from individual isolated junctions to large and complex networks. Version 15.0.1 can now lock a stage on one controller to a stage on another, which is useful for modelling linked controller streams. To cater for circulating traffic streams, the upgraded software now also has roundabout priority object. This new version can link to both Aimsun 7 and Aimsun 8 in both both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. This enab

Transport planning software company PTV Group has launched an online survey, 'The Strategy – How Cities Manage Traffic' (link http://vision-traffic.ptvgroup.com/index.php?id=8553), in an effort to discover the strategies used by the world’s cities and local authorities in planning their transport strategy. The survey covers actual requirements and the measures taken to achieve set goals on optimising driving speeds, increasing road capacity and moderating the effects of congestion; changes to mobility pl

The Highways Agency has awarded a 15-month, US$980,000 contract to Atkins and Yotta for the supply of Yotta’s Horizons visualised asset management software and associated implementation services. The software will enable the Highways Agency to carry out modelling to understand the current and future condition of the road network based on its national pavement condition survey data. This model will then be used to predict where and when maintenance is likely to be needed. Horizons will incorporate data

Parsons Brinckerhoff is to carry out conceptual design and related environmental services for the I-278/route 1 and 9 interchange ramps in Union County, New Jersey, USA. The project involves traffic studies, travel forecasting and modelling, concept development, environmental investigations and extensive stakeholder and public coordination, with the aim of preparing an environmental assessment to be approved by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in order to move forward to the preliminary and fina

German software provider PTV is pushing forward with its expansion strategy and has opened an office in the UK, offering transport and logistics planning software, real-time optimisation solutions and services. Based in Birmingham, the newly established PTV UK will provide public sector clients and transport service providers with its full range of software solutions. PTV is offering its complete product portfolio to strengthen its position in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, both very attractive mark

Michael Marsico, Andrew Weeks, Keir Opie and Murat Ayçin explain the application of hybrid traffic simulation to a planning study in New York City. Traffic modelling, particularly mesoscopic-microscopic hybrid simulation, has played a key role in planning for the future of one of America's shortest interstates, the 1.3-mile Sheridan Expressway. New York City has just completed a two-year, interagency study federally funded by a TIGER II grant on how to improve the Sheridan Expressway and its surroundi

Russia’s Ministry of Transport says that US$54.56 billion will be invested in development of the Moscow Transport Hub in 2013-2016. The funding will be used to develop roads, subways, rail infrastructure, public transport, air transport, road traffic management, road traffic safety and water transport development. The program stipulates launch of passenger rail service at the Moscow Little Ring Railway, construction of 93.9 kilometres of roads and 38.6 kilometres of street and road network. The infrastru

A truck safety solution developed by Volvo Trucks is said to minimise the risks posed to trucks with trailers by slippery winter roads and downhill gradients. Stretch Brake automatically retards the trailer and straightens up the rig on slippery downhill stretches. Stretch Brake is a complement to the rig’s electronic stability program (ESP), another system introduced by Volvo Trucks. While ESP is at its most effective at higher speeds, Stretch Brake is only operational at speeds below 40 km/h. Both syst

PTV Group and its Japanese partner Kozo Keikaku Engineering (KKE) will take advantage of the ITS World Congress in Tokyo to present proposals for real-time traffic solutions, including efficient transportation systems, inter-modality and traffic management. The greater Tokyo conurbation is the world's largest metropolitan area and, although around 80 per cent of travel is by public transport, subject to notorious traffic congestion.

The condition of highways in the UK’s West Midlands is to be surveyed using the latest vehicle-based technology from Yotta DCL under a contract awarded by the consortium of West Midlands Local Authorities. The highway technology and surveying company will use its new Tempest survey vehicle to capture road surface condition and forward facing video across the region’s road network, plus pavement images at normal traffic speeds. Yotta DCL will survey a total of 1250 km of roads under the terms of the co