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Iteris has opened a new regional office in the Chicago metropolitan area (Chicagoland) as part of an expansion in the US Midwest region. The company says it is driven by additions to various projects, which will start imminently, including the expansion of traffic signal system management services in the City of Omaha. Iteris says it is also deploying its intersection-as-a-service platform to the Kane County Department of Transportation, as well as a mobile workzone connected vehicle application for t

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDoT) is to create a taskforce which will coordinate all ongoing connected and autonomous vehicle (C/AV) projects in the US state. The C/AV task force is being set up in order to document public and private C/AV efforts, facilitate partnerships, host industry forums and help encourage greater collaboration. James Bass, TxDOT executive director, says: “Our goal is to further build on the momentum already established with the Texas Technology Task Force and th

Taxi-hailing giant Uber is suspending its service in the Spanish city of Barcelona. The move comes after new regulations were passed by local authorities, according to Reuters. The company started its UberX service in the city last year. But from now on, passengers using ride-hailing services will have to wait at least 15 minutes after booking a ride before they can be picked up – thus negating one of the key selling points of companies such as Uber. Speed and convenience – as well as cost – are w

Teledyne Dalsa has launched a vision system which it says offers cost savings for multi-camera vision applications such as final inspection of large assemblies. The Geva 400 system features four Power over Ethernet compliant Gigabit camera ports are compatible with a range of cameras, including Teledyne’s Genie Nano GigE. Users can add cameras with commercially available network technologies to allow for large configurations at lower systems costs. Geva 400 comes with Intel quad-core Atom architecture a

Continental has secured a follow-on order for future metro projects in the Chinese city of Shanghai to help increase usage of rail and reduce gridlocks on roads. The project will expand the metro network from 16 to 22 lines by 2020 and cover an area of 970km. Jianhua Hao, head of marketing & sales at Continental China, says the company’s new air spring systems will allow metro trains to travel more quietly and with lower vibration levels.

Connected Kerb has launched its public kerbside charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) in the London borough of Southwark. The project, which is set for a city-wide rollout, stems from an agreement with Southwark Council and electricity infrastructure provider National Grid. The fibre broadband and wireless kerbsides, powered by Virgin Media, offer internet connectivity to EV drivers. Also, the solution provides environmental and traffic monitoring data for public authorities.

Finland plans to launch next year a research cluster which the government hopes will put the country at the forefront of developments in autonomous technology. The RAAS (Research Alliance for Autonomous Systems) ‘innovation ecosystem’ is designed to bring together research organisations and other stakeholders to develop “new, cross-sector solutions”, with an emphasis on those containing a high level of automation. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has put up grant money, with research or

Flir has upgraded its thermal traffic sensor and detector with traffic data collection features. The company says ThermiCam2 uses thermal energy emitted from road users – rather than light - to detect vehicles and vulnerable road users at night, over long distances and in harsh weather conditions. According to Flir, the solution can be used to detect vehicles and bicycles approaching an intersection, detect wrong-way drivers, count and distinguish vehicles from bicycles and collect traffic data using the

The telematics business of data provider TomTom is to be snapped up by the European arm of Bridgestone in a €910m cash deal. Part of the Bridgestone Corporation tyre empire, Bridgestone Europe says the deal will speed up its “journey to becoming a mobility solutions leader in the region”. Bridgestone is making fleet solutions a “strategic priority”. In a statement, the company said: “New social, economic and technological megatrends are pushing the pace of change in the automotive industry and the fut

Stage Intelligence’s Bico artificial intelligence (AI) platform is being used by Tembici to help increase the usability of more than 16,000 bikes across Latin America. The Bico platform is expected to help bike-share companies increase ridership by ensuring that bikes and docks are available for riders. Tom Nutley, CEO at Stage, says: “A smarter approach to transport results in sustainable bike share schemes but also healthy and happier riders and communities.” Initially, the deployment will cover citi

Developing smarter cities in India is the goal of a tie-up between smart card company ID Tech and the Institute of Technology (ITT) Ropar, an academic institution in the northern India state of Punjab. ITT Ropar, which specialises in engineering, science and technology, will join ID Tech in looking at how Internet of Things (IoT) and radio frequency identification (RFID) can help. ID Tech director Saurav Khemani says: “We aim to address social challenges posed by rapid urbanisation and economic develo

The US state of Virginia and road operator Transurban are investing more than $1 billion in four projects to help tackle congestion on the I-495 and I-95. The partners want to establish a 90-mile network of connected Express Lanes throughout Northern Virginia and Fredericksburg by 2022. Virginia Department of Transportation (VDoT) and Transurban have signed an agreement for the first project, Capital Beltway Express Lanes Northern Extension. The new 2.5-mile area will offer four general purpose lanes and

Speeding causes many road crashes – and this is the motivation behind a new, free digital tool from the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). The Speed Management for Safety interactive website provides an overview of available resources for evaluating, designing, implementing and enforcing safe speeds, and covers such areas as creating a speed management initiative and road design. It also hosts a community portal where transport professionals can post questions and case studies or just talk to p

Thales has partnered with Centech, a Canadian start-up incubator, to help develop more than ten start-ups a year in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Through the partnership’s AI@Centech Programme, Thales will provide them with business advice and infrastructure services. Quebec-based Centech will lead a 12-week acceleration programme with case studies presented by entrepreneurs to help start-ups assess the market potential and viability of their projects. A select committee will add the most

Austria imposes the highest fines in Europe for violating diesel bans and low-emission zones, according to new research. Austrian authorities charge up to €2,180 for violators – the next highest is the UK, with fines up to £1,138. Auto parts company Kfzteile24 based its findings on data from UrbanAccessRegulations.eu and its map offers a comparison between 350 cities across Europe. The overview outlines examples of vehicles already affected by low-emission zones and driving diesel bans - and those likel