News

Companies reducing their emissions through operational or technological innovation have been selected for the inaugural Clean Vehicles Partnership (CVP) awards ceremony 2017. The partnership is coordinated on behalf of Heathrow by environmental and sustainable transport consultancy, Ricardo. The CVP Improver, Innovator and Leader Awards will be attended by representatives of winning and shortlisted companies, alongside senior leadership from Heathrow Airport. A panel of experts will also name the first CVP

With the United Nations aiming to halve the 1.3 million yearly deaths around the world caused by road crashes, international road safety experts met at the IRTAD conference, Morocco, and have adopted Marrakech Declaration: better safety data for better outcomes. The experts from more than 40 countries concluded from the declaration that improving road safety data is essential to reducing road deaths and injuries.

Swarco will showcase two new innovations, Profectus and Zephyr, at Road Expo Scotland that are designed with the intention of providing local authorities with control of school warning signs and control over traffic assets and strategy. Profectus is a central processing board that allows school signs and vehicle activated signs to be monitored and programmed to make the surrounding area safe during term time.

Mobility service app UbiGo will be relaunched and will pilot in Stockholm, 2018, to speed up the deployment of Mobility-as-a-Service in Sweden — with its technical implementation designed by Austrian IT supplier Fluidtime. The trial, part of the Horizon 2020 CiViTAS Eccentric project, will provide households with access to public transport, car sharing, car rental taxi, city bike system and 24/7 transport.

Transport company Gruppo Torinese Trasporti (GTT) has chosen Papercast’s solar solar-powered e-paper bus stop display system, which uses E-ink technology, to replace the current LCD based passenger information system in Turin, Italy. The programme is part of a City-wide programme to improve the quality of information provided to passengers at bus stops with a self-sustainable solution.

IAM RoadSmart (IRS) has welcomed the new UK government legislation that could issue life sentences to drivers who cause death by speeding, street racing or while a mobile phone, or under the influence of drink or drugs. However, the road safety charity warned that high profile policing and consistent jail sentences are also needed to tackle reckless driving that kills.

The European Commission (EC) has approved the proposed acquisition of Abertis by toll road and infrastructure management company Atlantia after concluding that the merger would not endanger competition in any of the markets concerned. The decision has been reached through an investigation into the proposed transaction and has been cleared by the EC under the EU Merger Regulation.

Thales has tested a new signalling control system on sub-surface trains on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines, which enable trains to run closer together. The test aims to provide a more frequent service, reduce waiting times and help boost capacity for the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The system will go live on the first section of the network as early as 2018.

To tackle fatalities caused by red-light running, the city of Greenville, North Carolina, has implemented a red-light safety camera program that will issue a $100 (£75) fine to offenders, which it hopes will reduce both violations and collisions. A-red light running violation occurs when a motorist enters an intersection after the traffic signal has turned red, but this does not include drivers already in the intersection when the signal changes to red (drivers waiting to turn).

Highways England has awarded a £115 million ($152 million) asset support contract extension of 17 months to Balfour Beatty and Mott MacDonald to continue its service delivery for Area 10; covering Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester. The contract will run from November 2017 to March 2019. The current asset support contract delivers a range of service delivery and maintenance activities such as 24/7 incident response, to ensuring the safe operation of the 570km of the road network.

Life-saving vehicle technology such as emergency braking should be made mandatory for new cars, according to an own-initiative report from the European Parliament's Transport Committee. With the report, MEPs have made a statement in support of road safety and FIA Region I (FRI) has welcomed the decision and has urged the European Commission to legislate the installation of the technology into cars.

Traffic enforcement products and services provider Redflex has commenced a search for a new Chief Financial Officer, following a decision by Bradley Crump, its current CFO, to resign before the end of the calendar year. Redflex expects to announce a new CFO before he leaves the company. Crump joined Redflex in February 2015 and has since provided financial and strategic leadership as well as restructuring and automating the finance function which has improved efficiency and more streamlined financi

Councils urge UK Government to spend rising fuel and motoring tax income on improving local roads

EasyMile’s partners Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) and GoMentum has received permission from the National Highway Traffic Authority to test EasyMile's EZ10 driverless shuttles on public roads within the Bishop Ranch business park in San Ramon, California. CCTA staff are in active discussions with the California Department of Motor Vehicles who will also need to give their consent for the third phase of the trial to go ahead.

French road-building company Charier has introduced the SolarRoad kit (SRK) on a newly-laid cycle path in Etampes, France, that uses two SRK elements to convert sunlight to electricity and provide lighting for a roundabout. The installation helps Charier meet sustainability objectives within the framework of the Paris Agreement.