News

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.

Here Technologies and its partners in East Asia are to develop a standardised high definition (HD) map of the road environment from 2020. Through their OneMap Alliance, the companies say they intend to offer a solution that will guide self-driving cars safely and efficiently. These regional mapping partners include China-based NavInfo, Increment P (IPC) from Japan and SK Telecom Korea. Here says the global HD map offering is aligned to the specification developed for Here HD Live Map.

APT Controls will rebrand as Swarco UK from 1 June. Swarco acquired APT in 2014. Sean Dunstan, head of the company’s parking and e-mobility division, says: “By centralising group services such as finance, IT and HR and consolidating investments in research and development and health and safety, we can ultimately offer a better service to our customers.”

A three-point plan to help countries reduce road deaths and serious injuries has been unveiled at the International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig, Germany. The keynote address by Prince Michael of Kent, a member of the UK’s royal family, was presented to transport ministers at a summit focused on transport safety and security. Outside of the ITF, Prince Michael is known for establishing an award scheme that recognises innovation in road safety worldwide.

Mott MacDonald is collaborating with Transport for London (TfL) on a cycling demand model called Cynemon. The forecasting tool is intended to help present the case for cycling infrastructure investment in the capital. Additionally, the partners will utilise the model to provide evidence for cycling studies which could include patterns of cycling trips and how these would change through new cycling schemes. The tool forms part of the healthy streets approach of the Mayor’s transport strategy, which ai

Zipcar co-founder Robin Chase has called on urban authorities to embrace multimodal transport in a bid to improve mobility.“The value of a car-dominant city has reached its zenith,” she says in an interview with ITS International. “The city regulatory and physical infrastructure has been built on a personal car-dominant infrastructure. We have spent the last 100 years making car travel in cities the most convenient and cheapest way to the exclusion of everything else.” That creates problems, she

The government of Estonia is planning to make public transport free across the whole country.

Automated vehicles (AVs) could make driving more dangerous – that is the stark suggestion from a new report by the International Transport Forum (ITF). The report - Safer Roads with Automated Vehicles? – casts doubt on claims that 90% of road deaths could be avoided because the introduction of AVs would eliminate human error. ITF says such claims are at best “untested”.

A road junction in Merseyside, UK, has become a hotspot for life-threatening incidents to construction workers, says Highways England. Contractors have reported 23 incidents in two months where their safety has been put at risk by drivers ignoring overnight closures. Road users have driven into roadworks for the £3m improvement project at Switch Island, where the M57, M58 and three A roads all join. One lorry driver travelled through the construction area without stopping - forcing workers to get out

TISPOL has welcomed a package of measures announced by the European Commission (EC) to help reduce the 25,000 deaths that occur on EU roads annually. Ruth Purdie, general secretary of TISPOL, says: “Today’s announcements could represent the biggest step forward in road safety in Europe since the introduction of the seat belt." Antonio Avenoso of the European Transport Safety Council said the EC’s announcements require backing from EU member states and the European Parliament. They should not give in to

Finnish technology company Teleste’s on-board solution will be utilised on rail group Stadler's Merseytravel Metro trains, due to be delivered to Liverpool by 2020. The device will be installed on 52 vehicles to help improve safety for passengers. Teleste’s system comprises Ethernet network, intercommunication and passenger counting, public address system, passenger information system and high-quality LED and side-by-side thin-film transistor LCD displays for information delivery and advertising.

Over 85% of road transport professionals at the Microlise Transport conference believe measures to improve air quality will have a negative financial impact on their businesses. The findings come from a poll of 1,200 delegates at the road transport event in Coventry, UK. In addition, 92% think the needs of the transport industry are either not being considered, or only partially, in relation to the introduction of clean-air and low-emission zones. Three-quarters of respondents believe the government is

Motorists travelling over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge are set to pay an extra 25 cents per trip from 1 July. According to a report by Marin Independent Journal: “The onslaught of toll increases at the Golden Gate Bridge is not likely to subside as span authorities face looming budget deficits.” The bridge board will need to decide if more toll hikes are needed in a discussion scheduled for this autumn.

Volvo Buses will deploy two of its 7900 electric buses to operate in Lillehammer, Norway, for public transport company Opplandstrafikk. The transaction is part of Oppland municipality’s aim to become climate-neutral by 2025. The vehicles will be tested for two years on routes 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the city and will be delivered during the second quarter of 2019. Bus company Unibuss will operate the vehicles, which are expected to run alongside regular traffic after the trial. Volvo is selling the vehicles as

Citizens of Gothenburg can travel on a self-driving bus between Chalmers University of Technology’s main entrance and its library until 1 June. The trial is intended to assess the technology and user behaviour to examine the potential of self-driving vehicles. The project is part of the Swedish government’s co-operation programme called Next Generation Travel and Transport which seeks to modernise current systems for transporting people and goods. The self-driving bus service is partly funded by government