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Kapsch integrates Smart Cities’ mobility
September 29, 2017
Kapsch TrafficCom will use the 2017 ITS World Congress Montréal to showcase its integrated mobility solutions for the smart cities and connected communities of the future. Visitors to the company’s booth will experience how Kapsch uses intelligent traffic technologies to improve the way people live, work, move, commute, and interact with each other.
Europe spends €112 billion per year on fossil fuels despite Phase-out plans
September 29, 2017
The European Governments and EU are subsidising €112 billion each year for the production and consumption of fossil fuels, claims a new report from the Overseas Development Institute and Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe – violating the Paris Agreement’s phase-out plan 2020. The report, Phase-Out 2020: Monitoring Europe’s fossil fuel subsidies (PH20202) gathered the information from 11 European countries between 2014 – 2016.
Star Systems announces new tolling antenna
September 29, 2017
Star Systems International announced the availability of Avior narrow beam tolling antenna, designed for over-the-road tolling for all electronic tolling systems using passive tags. Avoir allows system designers to create an optimal read zone in either multi-lane free flow / open road or a plaza-base tolling lane. STAR Systems claims Avoir maximises read rates and isolates tag identification and helps avoid cross-lane and stray transponder reads while mitigating adjacent lane interference.
Senators set to release new legislation on self-driving car bill
September 29, 2017
Two US Senators have announced a bipartisan agreement to remove some regulations which made it harder to deploy self-driving cars on American roads, according to a report on US political website ‘The Hill’. On 4 October a Senate committee will consider the legislation already passed by the House of representatives which would allow automakers to sell up to 25,000 vehicles in the first year they are offered and up to 100,000 if they are deemed to be as safe as cars driven by humans.
European Commission modernises rights for European Rail Passengers
September 29, 2017
The European Commission has updated the European rules on rail passenger rights to provide adequate information for passengers, improve rights for disabled passengers, and protect rail operators from compensating passengers under strict circumstances. The Commission has outlined five key areas in its proposal to the existing rules of passengers. Firstly, that long-distance domestic and cross-border regional services
UK introduces grants for low-emission retrofit bus fleets
September 29, 2017
The UK government have set up a £30 million grant scheme for local authorities in England and Wales looking to fit bus fleets with an accredited and cost-effective retrofit program that enables emissions-reductions. The Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme, developed by LowCVP and Energy Saving Trust, follows an evaluation report presented by LowCVP on findings from two public grant programmes that used retrofit technologies over a five-year period -- the clean Vehicle
Monetising time savings makes toll roads financially stack up, says research
September 29, 2017
Putting a financial value on the savings from traffic congestion, noise and air pollution as a result of toll roads and tunnels will make large infrastructure projects more cost effective, according to a new study by Australia’s Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Sae Chi, from the university’s Science and Engineering Faculty, has compared the financial and economic cost of public and privately operated toll roads and tunnels, and found the net impacts to the community should be taken into account
Arcola Energy powers UK hydrogen fuel cell project
September 29, 2017
Arcola Energy has completed delivery and installation of a unique hydrogen fuel cell system, as part of an innovative energy storage project in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Arcola Energy and its German partner Proton Motor joined forces to design, build and install a 75kW hydrogen fuel cell system as part of the island’s innovative Surf ‘n’ Turf project. The project sees excess renewable electricity converted into hydrogen on the island of Eday, which is then stored and transported to Kirkwall on the Or
Autonomous vehicles will not hit UK roads for over a decade, says PA Consulting Group
September 29, 2017
PA Consulting Group's latest research on autonomous vehicles (AVs) suggests that despite much hype, they are more than 10 years away from being a common sight on UK roads. PA's findings revealed that while progress is being made around technology, the rest of the ecosystem to support driverless cars - for example regulation, insurance, compliance, roads, users - still needs a lot of development. The recent launch of the Government's MERIDIAN scheme progressed plans for CAV technology development in th
IAM RoadSmart: Auto emergency breaking could save hundreds of lives
September 28, 2017
Private and fleet car buyers could save hundreds of lives a year by insisting the cars they purchase are fitted with auto emergency braking (AEB), according to UK motoring organisation IAM RoadSmart and coalition partners. The coalition, which comprises car and road design experts, said AEB systems (which automatically apply the vehicle’s brakes if pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles are detected ahead) could save 1, 100 lives and 122, 860 causalities over the next ten years. In addition, the insuran
Gulf Traffic online registration is now open
September 28, 2017
Online registration is now open for Gulf Traffic’s 16th edition at the Dubai World Trade Centre Arena on 4 -- 6 December 2017. The agenda includes case studies and research in evolving infrastructure, smart mobility, parking and travel systems as well as seminars from speakers on Uber, Hyperloop One and IRF. Top officials from Ministry of Infrastructure development, integrated transport center (Abu Dhabi), Federal Transport Authority, Abu Dhabi Police will give an insight into latest transportation and t
Australian ITS Summit showcases new era of automated vehicles
September 28, 2017
Speaking at the fifth Australian Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Summit being held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, minister for Main Roads and Road Safety Mark Bailey, said Queensland was already preparing for driverless and connected vehicles with ambitious planning underway for the largest on-road testing trial in Australia to ensure the State is ready for the future. “Transport and Main Roads is in the planning stages of Australia’s largest trial of cooperative intelligent trans
FIA launches road safety initiative: #ParkYourPhone when on the road
September 28, 2017
European MEP Dieter Liebrech Koch, FIA Region I and its member Clubs are launching #ParkYourPhone, a campaign to encourage responsible smartphone use in traffic. The campaign will be rolled out across Europe the Middle East and Africa by FIA Clubs in autumn 2017. MEP Koch said that while Europe has done much to improve safety, be it on technical improvements of the vehicles, better training for road users or infrastructure, new technologies, such as smart phones and tablets, bring about new challenges.
Inrix identifies the worst traffic hotspots in the 25 most congested US cities
September 28, 2017
Inrix has published its latest research on the worst traffic hotspots in America. Using Inrix Roadway Analytics, a cloud-based traffic analysis tool, Inrix analysed and ranked more than 100,000 traffic hotspots in the 25 most congested US cities. The economic cost of hotspots was also calculated in terms of wasted time, lost fuel and carbon emissions over the next decade. The research identified and ranked 108,000 traffic hotspots in the 25 most congested cities in the US identified by the INRIX Global T
Transport Focus: Highways England need to equip driver knowledge of smart highways
September 28, 2017
The UK’s drivers need help to better understand Smart Motorways, Red X signs and breakdown procedures, according to research by Transport Focus, an independent transport user watchdog. Its research showed that safety is not at the forefront of drivers’ minds and few know what to do in the event of a breakdown.