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Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced it is receiving power generated from a waste-to-energy plant to operate the Pink Line metro service in the Indian capital. DMRC says it is currently receiving 2 megawatts (MW) of power from East Delhi Waste Processing Company’s (EDWPCL) 12 MW capacity plant located in the town of Ghazipur. EDWPCL’s waste-to-energy plant was realised from an agreement with the government of Delhi and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. The facility is expected to pro

Flowbird Urban Intelligence has launched terminal-based digital technology to enable local authorities to levy variable surcharges on vehicles that exceed set levels of carbon dioxide (CO2). The digital system is loaded onto Flowbird’s solar-powered terminals and is expected to help authorities encourage people to switch to lower carbon vehicles and use public transport in congested areas. Flowbird says the system can generate a separate fee for higher polluting cars at the time of parking via data linke

The US Department of Transportation (USDoT) is to pledge $15 million to two University Transportation Centres (UTC) to advance research and education programmes that address transportation challenges. Elaine Chao, US transportation secretary, says: “These investments in transportation research will help address our country’s congestion and durability challenges.” The University of South Florida will focus on congestion relief while Washington State University will focus on improving the durability of tra

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) could have value as the mainstay of inner city transport networks in future. “It’s pure speculation, but we are likely to see more segregated road networks,” said Chris Hayhurst, European consulting manager at MathWorks. For example, level 5 (completely driverless) AVs could simply be used to pick up and drop off people in the centre of a town. “In an inner city where there are no conventional cars at all it could have huge value,” he added. Hayhurst spoke to ITS Internat

Heathrow Airport is to introduce an ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) for passenger cars and all private hire vehicles in 2022. The project is seeking to tackle air pollution and reduce congestion by encouraging more people to use sustainable ways of getting to and from the London airport. The ULEZ will introduce minimum vehicle emissions standards for vehicles entering car parks or drop-off areas at all terminals. Initial proposals for the ULEZ could set the charge figure at £10-15, in line with cha

Uber is to launch a helicopter service in New York City which is expected to offer flights from Lower Manhattan to Kennedy International Airport in eight minutes. A New York Times report says the average flight on the Uber Copter will cost $200-225 per person and include ground transportation on both ends of the trip. Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate - the ride-hailing firm’s aerial division - says: “Our plan is to eventually roll out Uber Copter to more Uber customers and to other cities, but we want

Urban road safety is a key problem in Europe, an issue that needs to be addressed as a priority. That is the finding of a new report by the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). The ETSC’s report reveals that road deaths on urban roads decreased at around half the rate of those on rural roads over the period 2010-2017. The report also shows that vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, account for 70% of those killed and seriously injured on urban roads. Dovilė Adminait

Mott Macdonald and its joint venture partners have completed the Sydney Metro Northwest, an autonomous train service available for commuters in the Australian city. Delivering 36km of new metro rail, the AUS$8.3 billion (£4.5bn) project is expected to improve travel times and increase the reliability of trains. It also comprises eight new stations from the Epping suburb to Tallawong railway station, five upgraded stations and 4,000 commuter car parking spaces. Mott Macdonald worked with engineering compan

Technology company Vitronic is to deploy 500 traffic control systems to the Kingdom of Morocco in a bid to improve safety in the region. Vitronic will work with its local partner Alomra Group International to install its Poliscan laser systems in 12 regions and their metropolises such as Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakesh. The technology is expected to provide speed enforcement and to monitor traffic light intersections. The company says it will supply its Compact City Housing solution throughout the countr

The Department of Information Technology (DIT) in Russia is to implement an agreement between Moscow’s mayor Alexey Kornya and mobile network operator MTS to trial 5G technologies. Eduard Lysenko, head of DIT, says: “Moscow is setting itself the task of reducing operator expenditure on creating infrastructure for the commercial launch of 5G by removing administrative barriers." Kornya and MTS will also seek to pilot projects involving virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things and smart city techn

Swarco Traffic is to provide traffic solutions and smart technologies to deliver parking guidance across the University of Warwick’s campus in the UK city of Coventry. Tony Gillings, project manager at Swarco Traffic, says the technologies will “help the University to effectively manage its car parks and provide university staff and visitors with the necessary guidance and information they need to park safely and efficiently”. Swarco Traffic will supply an initial 42 parking guidance signs to display par

Mobility company Skedgo has partnered with software firm Fluidtime to expand its Mobility as a Service (MaaS) offering. SkedGo says its mobility platform can combine all public, commercial and private transport modes into smart trip chains, with priority settings for time, carbon and money. Fluidtime’s mobility solution, Fluidhub, is aimed at helping cities and public transport companies install and operate integrated mobility services. Speaking to ITS International, John Nuutinen, SkedGo's chief busin

AECOM has brought together around a dozen local US transit agencies to form the Automated Bus Consortium to explore driverless bus pilot programmes. Among the authorities are Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. ABC is looking into buying up to 100 full-sized autonomous buses that will run at normal speeds along designated urban routes. Meanwhile, AECOM will provide planning, assessment, implementation and