Location Based Systems

Road experts led by Australia’s University of New South Wales (NSW) professor Mike Regan are to conduct what is said to be the most thorough traffic safety study in Australian history. Cameras inside and outside cars will film 400 volunteers in Victoria and New South Wales in an effort to analyse the cause of crashes and change driver education and road safety campaigns. The cameras will record how drivers behaved and reacted in ''real world'' situations. John Wall, manager of road safety technology with N

As part of a larger effort to curb emissions from port-related vehicles, the Port of Seattle and its container terminal operating tenants have gone live with a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag program in support of the port’s Clean Truck Initiative. The program roll-out was a success, involving an average of over 2,000 truck gate moves a day with less than two percent of all port registered trucks reporting issues, which were able to be resolved in most cases within fifteen minutes. By gathering t

To support its growing video camera business worldwide, TRW Automotive Holdings has launched production of camera systems in the US and is investing in its electronics facility in Illinois. TRW's scalable video camera (S-Cam) family incorporates technology from Mobileye and can provide a range of safety functions including lane departure warning, forward collision warning, headlight control, traffic sign recognition and pedestrian detection. When integrated with vehicle chassis systems, the S-Cam can provid

The operation of the UK’s innovITS-ADVANCE facility, dedicated to the testing and demonstration of cooperative vehicle infrastructure systems, has been transferred to automotive design and development organisation MIRA. The transition is being made to provide the most sustainable future for this important ITS resource and assure its continuing success. In the five years since its inception, innovITS-ADVANCE has delivered a world class facility that is purpose-built for testing telematics systems. The comb

There’s a new face in the driving seat at the US Department of Transport’s ITS Joint Program Office. Fortunately, as Robin Meczes finds out, he’s no learner driver… Ask Kenneth Leonard why he wanted his new job as director of the ITS Joint Program Office, and his answer comes back without a second’s delay. “The potential to save lives, reduce injuries and help people enjoy a more efficient transportation system is the kind of challenge that makes me want to come to work each morning,” he says. “In my opinio

Intelligent intersection control systems have a growing role to play in making urban traffic more efficient. Robin Meczes reports. The idea of every traffic light turning green as you approach it has long been a dream for many an urban driver – and none more so than those driving heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), which are slow and difficult to bring to a halt and then accelerate back to normal travel speed. But that dream has become a reality for some drivers in a small number of cities around Europe in the las

In line with its maxim ‘infrared everywhere’, thermal imaging camera supplier FLIR expects to increase its sales within the automotive sector, particularly to companies like Audi, BMW and Rolls Royce, in order to boost manufacturing numbers and cut per unit production costs. The company has developed a new initiative with Mercedes Benz in which many of the car maker’s new S-Class vehicles will contain a FLIR thermal imager that will scan the road ahead, during the darkness of night, and alert when it sees h

German car manufacturer BMW has teamed up with connected services specialist WirelessCar and its local service partner China Unicom to introduce BMW ConnectedDrive services to China. BMW’s services include emergency, breakdown, and concierge calls as well as remote door unlock, traffic information and further internet-based services. WirelessCar’s solutions are provided via its telematics service delivery platform (TSDP), a comprehensive off-board platform based on the open framework next generation telema

International Road Dynamics (IRD) is to supply a new GPS tracking system for the City of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The implementation will be phased in, with public works vehicles being the first to have tracking installed. IRD’s FleetSphere telematics system will provide the city with comprehensive fleet and asset information for all city vehicles. The city plans to work closely with IRD to meet the goals of improved citizen services, better resource utilisation, and cost containment. “IRD is pleased to have t

European route and trip planning software solutions provider, PTV Group, is expanding its sales and services into Scandinavia, to take advantage of current market demand. Several Scandinavian companies, including Finnish companies DSV and Itella, and Abax, Norway, already benefit from PTV software and consulting services for transport, logistics and geomarketing, utilising the company’s route planning software Map&Guide and the component based xServers. “It was our desire to change the reactive market appr