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Feig Electronic has shown off its free-flow tolling technology in the US for the first time. The German producer of controllers, sensors, identification and payment technology revealed its portfolio at the International Bridge and Tolling Technology Association (IBTTA)’s annual meeting in Baltimore this week. The products offer high-speed identification and contactless payment with maximum reliability and security, the company insists. “Our system prevents fraud and misuses because our technology uses en

A van driver who ignored a Highways England road block on the UK’s M42 motorway has been banned from driving for six months. The case highlights the need for incident zone safety: the road block had been put in place by traffic officers following a fatal crash. Richard Leonard, head of road safety at Highways England, said: “We hope this case sends out an important message because those who ignore road closures put other people’s safety in jeopardy and this was clearly the case here for our traffic officers

Customers of micro-mobility firm Bird will be able to have electric scooters sent to their homes and businesses by 8:00am under new plans announced by the company. The Bird Delivery service is not yet operational – pricing and the cities chosen to pilot the service will be announced “in due course”. Travis VanderZanden, founder and CEO, says the programme was created to address frustrations voiced by riders about not having consistent and reliable access to scooters. More information on the servic

Basler will showcase four Ace U cameras which feature 20 MP resolution at Traffic Vision in Stuttgart, in Germany, 6-8 November. The company says a single camera can monitor multi-lane highways. The four ace U Models are suitable for inspection of structures such as printed circuit board or display production, the company adds. According to Basler, the U Models allow customers to use fewer cameras to achieve the same amount of pixels than before with cameras with lower resolution. This can also help

More than a fifth of UK drivers are planning to switch to an alternative-fuelled vehicle for their next purchase, according to new research. AA Cars says 22% of respondents to its Populus poll of more than 20,000 drivers will go for electric or hybrid vehicles – a massive jump from the 2% who currently drive an ‘eco-friendly’ car. AA Cars, which is the used car arm of the AA motoring organisation, has seen a 470% increase in people searching for used hybrid and electric vehicles on its website since 2

Siemens Mobility says a pilot scheme to improve road safety outside three UK primary schools has been made permanent. Siemens is monitoring newly-created pedestrian zones outside schools in the London borough of Croydon by deploying an solution which is more commonly used to enforce bus lanes and moving traffic contraventions. The system, which uses automatic number plate recognition technology and features Siemens ITS LaneWatch cameras, operates during the morning and afternoon school runs. It appears

The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the New Cities Foundation are getting together “to advance urban mobility and develop mutual interests”. The organisations have signed a two-year agreement aimed at “improving the lives of residents of our cities by shaping a better urban future for all”. In what looks like a loose partnership, they will collaborate at “mutual periods of interest” and at various upcoming events. “UITP is truly driving the conversation around more sustai

Uber could be valued as high as $120 billion if the ride-hailing company goes public, as expected, in 2019 – despite being permanently in the red. Major US banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have made valuation proposals to Uber, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal this week. This means the initial public offering (IPO) could be one of the largest in history – and Uber has yet to record a full-year profit. If the figure is correct, it would mean that Uber is worth more than three of the

Engie will provide 100 electric buses and charging infrastructure for Santiago. The deployment is part of a wider ambition to establish a low-emission transportation system in Chile with 6,000 electric buses by 2040. Also, Engie has issued a proposal for a light rail system to link Santiago's airport to the city, implemented an electric taxi fleet and developed an intelligent network of charging stations for electric vehicles. Last year, Engie took part in a trial with Keolis, Navya, Here East and Our

Econolite will provide traffic management and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems for the Transportation Research Center’s (TRC) automated and connected vehicle testing facility in Ohio, US. As part of the agreement, Econolite will install the Smart Mobility Advanced Research Test Center’s (SMARTCenter) traffic control system: this will control signalised intersections, vehicle detection, facility monitoring and wireless connectivity. The company will install the V2X systems and a dedicated short-ra

US-based connected vehicle services company Automatic has acquired toll payment platform provider PayTollo. PayTollo’s GPS toll recognition technology algorithm and user interface allows a driver to be notified, verified and charged for toll crossings. The mobile app is expected to assist toll authorities in transitioning to all-electronic tolling by reducing costs and the time needed to collect funds. It will also enable real-time verification. Abenezer Yohalashet, the former CEO of PayTollo and now

Sony Europe’s Image Sensing Solutions (ISS) is showcasing its polarised category of machine vision camera at Traffic Vision in Stuttgart, Germany, 6-8 November. The company says the camera’s IMX250MZR sensor captures polarised light in four different angles. The XCG-CP510 GS CMOS camera simplifies stress inspection, contrast improvement, scratch detection, object detection, removal and enhancement from a single image capture, the company adds. The camera’s module is expected to deliver 5.1 MP polarised

Governments must gain the trust of their citizens when it comes to increasing the use of artificial intelligence (AI), warns a new report. The Centre for Public Impact (CPI) thinktank, which was founded by consultant Boston Consulting Group, said that public trust in AI is low. While AI has the potential in mobility to make public transport responsive to traveller needs in real time, for example, the influence of AI is viewed negatively by some. Launching an action plan for governments at the Tallinn Digi

Communauto will receive a permit to take part in the City of Toronto’s free-floating car-share pilot programme and will make 200 vehicles available from November. John Tory, mayor of Toronto, says: “I've encouraged the introduction of these new technologies and believe that there can be many benefits, including potentially reducing traffic and congestion by removing cars from the road." The Communauto Flex service is free to join and offers users a pay-as-you-go structure. Daily trips cost $0.41 per

Emovis will operate the free-flow tolling on Ireland’s M50 up to March 2021 following an extension to its agreement with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). The toll services company Emovis says it has been collecting funds of over €1 billion for TII to invest back into infrastructures of Ireland following a 63% increase in traffic to 143,000 passages a day. In March, Emovis confirmed its toll interoperability cloud-based hub in Ireland cleared over 50 million transactions in 2017. The solution is