News

In the UK, 16 public and private sector fleet operators are to invest £40m in a bid to deploy 2,400 electric vans by 2020. The operators – which include Tesco - point to a recent study, in which the health damage caused by pollution from diesel vans has been put at £2.2bn per annum to the UK National Health Service and to society. The newly-formed consortium – called the Clean Van Commitment – is backed by the Department for Transport and led by charity Global Action Plan and energy and services group Engi

Keolis Shanghai will maintain and operate the new tramway in the Songjiang District of Shanghai, China. The first phase of the network is expected to transport 170,000 passengers per day from 25 December. The five-year project stems from an agreement with Songjiang Tramway. For the first portion of the network, 30 Citadis trams made by Alstom will operate across 30 stations. The entire 31km tramway is scheduled to be complete in mid-2019 and is expected to serve as a mobility solution for 1.8m inhabitants

Bartco UK has launched an app which gives users the ability to change variable message signs (VMS) remotely. Bartco Live will allow traffic managers to control VMS announcements via smartphone, tablet or laptop, offering flexibility and efficiency, the company says. App features include a searchable list of assets and their location on the map. Users are also provided with a list and search facility for files. Bartco Live, created by Bartco Traffic Equipment in Australia, is also available through

Ford’s ride-sharing shuttle service Chariot is expanding operations in London to help companies and campuses improve commuter journeys and reduce the number of vehicles on the road. Chariot’s minibus service started operating in the UK capital earlier this year to help connect commuters living and working in areas underserved by public transport. The first new shuttle service is part of an agreement sustainable transport group EasitNetwork. It will serve commuters at Stockley Park – a business park

Teledyne e2v says its CMOS sensor for barcode reading offers improved performance for handheld, mobile or fixed reads and automatic identification cameras. Called Snappy 2MP, the solution combines high definition resolution, a 2.8μm low-noise global shutter and features which are intended to provide fast and economic decoding. According to Teledyne e2v, the sensor allows scanning platforms to offer enhanced productivity and throughput in logistics, sorting and retail point of sale. Snappy 2MP’s feature

Connected Signals is providing drivers in Gainesville, Florida, with real-time predictive traffic information to let them know when traffic lights are going to change. The company says sharing the data with vehicles and drivers can improve fuel efficiency by 8-15% and reduce red-light crashes by 25%. Aggregated real-time signal information, fed through predictive algorithms, is sent to Gainesville drivers via the company’s Enlighten mobile app. The app will eventually be integrated with connected car dis

UK-based manufacturer of rugged CCTV cameras Redvision claims its VMS1000 will offer end users and installers a cost-effective, server-based control system. Digifort’s video management software powers the solution. Stephen Lightfoot, technical director at Redvision, says the device maximises the functionality of the company’s X-Series and Volant rugged pan tilt zooms and Vega fixed cameras and is also integrated with 245 other CCTV brands. “This enables the re-use of legacy CCTV cameras into surveillance

Byton is to begin trialling ten battery-powered M-Byte prototype vehicles under actual traffic conditions and on test tracks in Nanjing, China. The SUV will also be trialled in cold weather tests during the winter. Dr. Carsten Breitfeld, CEO and co-founder of Byton, and the company’s president and co-founder Dr. Daniel Kirchert, accompanied the roll-out of the first test vehicles at the prototype manufacturing plant in Nanjing. “The fact that the first M-Bytes are now undergoing road testing is a sign

Drivers in London, UK, could be fined £130 for not using electric or hybrid vehicles on nine ‘electric streets’. The project is intended to cut pollution and improve air quality. Drivers of petrol and diesel cars will be restricted from using some roads in the Shoreditch and Old Street areas of the city between 7am-10am and 4pm-7pm on weekdays.

US regions with higher public transportation use can cut traffic fatality rates by 10-40%, according to a new figures from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). APTA analysis of recent National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Federal Transit Administration data shows that metropolitan areas with public transit use of more than 40 annual trips per capita have up to 40% of the traffic fatality rate of metro areas with fewer than 20 annual trips per capita. APTA and the Vision

Indian ride-hailing company Ola has entered the UK and says it will offer users in South Wales the option of private hire vehicles (PHVs) and taxis on one platform. The company has also obtained a licence to operate in Greater Manchester and is working with local authorities across the UK to expand nationwide by the end of the year. Ola says it screens all drivers through a disclosure and barring service. In addition, the firm offers riders 24/7 voice support and the option to share ride details with

Self-employed courier or taxi drivers who get their work through apps could be more likely to be involved in a collision, says a new study. The University College London (UCL) research found 63% of ‘gig’ economy respondents – who are not paid a salary - are not provided with safety training about managing risks on the road. The emerging issues for management of occupational road risk in a changing economy: A survey of gig economy drivers, riders and their managers also revealed 65% of drivers did not

Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing has blamed its own ‘vanity’ for lapses in safety which led to the rape and killing of a 20-year-old female passenger. The firm issued a public apology for the incident which took place on 28 August and says it will now prioritise safety over growth. In an emailed statement, Didi founder Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu say: "We see clearly this is because our vanity overtook our original belief. We raced non-stop, riding on the force of breathless expansion and

Volkswagen will deploy 2,000 all-electric vehicles in Berlin, Germany, under its We Share brand in the second quarter of 2019. The company says it will motivate young, urban users to engage with e-mobility and stimulate interest in the technology. According to Volkswagen, We Share is a free-floating car sharing service which is aimed at providing people who do not own a car with electric vehicles at any time. The first fleet will comprise 1,500 e-Golf vehicles while an additional 500 e-up! models will a

The US National Operations Center of Excellence (NOCoE) will celebrate transportation management and operations which save lives, time and money in Washington, DC, next January. The first Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) awards ceremony is expected to attract 13,000 transportation professionals. Patrick Son, managing director of NOCoE, says the event will recognise smarter management and operational strategies to increase the capacity of existing streets. The event will take place