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In partnership with TriMet, C-TRAN and Portland Streetcar, Init has delivered the final element of the newly launched Hop Fastpass e-fare system in the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Area in the US. Regional passengers can now pay using a mobile wallet such as AndroidPay, ApplePay or SamsungPay, as well as any contactless bank card by simply tapping their phone on any of the 1,200 Imot validators. Hop Fastpass is valid on the Portland Streetcar, C-TRAN buses including The Vine, TriMet’s buses, MAX light ra

Q-Free has signed a US$3.2 million (NOK 25 million) six and a half year contract with US tolling system integrator TransCore to provide operations and maintenance support for the recently-deployed Q-Free Intrada Insight image review solution on the Central Florida Expressway (CFX) project. Insight integrates Q-Free’s Intrada Synergy Server (ISS) automation engine, a data processing and warehouse component and a manual image review (MIR) subsystem. The ISS utilises Intrada automatic license plate recognitio

Trials in Australia to determine the compatibility of the latest automated vehicle technologies with EastLink have been steadily progressing throughout this year. The trials are being undertaken by EastLink in partnership with VicRoads, the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB), La Trobe University and RACV, with the assistance of major vehicle manufacturers. With autonomous driving on EastLink and other suitable freeways expected within the next few years (subject to legislative changes), Eastlink says the

Thales has been selected by the Bangkok Expressway Metro Public Company (BEM) and CH. Karnchang (CK) to deliver the automatic fare collection (AFC) system for the Bangkok metro's Blue Line Extension, utilising its TransCity ticketing solution. The Chaloem Ratchamongkhon MRT line, better known as the Blue Line, was the first of Bangkok's underground metro lines to open in 2004. Thales is the current supplier of the automatic fare collection system for the existing Blue Line, which now comprises 18 station

A new report from Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) and Royal Holloway, University of London, has revealed that four out of five of the people surveyed (81 per cent) are open to the idea of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the UK’s roads. The ‘Attitudes to AVs’ report shows that many people feel that AVs would help deliver a wide range of environmental, social and economic benefits. In addition, the levels of trust in AVs among the people surveyed was also shown to be fairly high, with 55 per cent of responde

Northwest Transit Systems Partners (NTSP), a joint venture consisting of US transportation design and construction management firm STV, and Mott MacDonald, is to oversee the systems construction of two new light rail extensions for Sound Transit’s light rail system in Seattle, US. The NTSP team will perform systems construction management services for the US$3.7 billion East Link Extension, a 14-mile-long extension connecting Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond; and the US$1.9 billion 4.3-mile

Q-Free has recently signed a three-year framework agreement to supply toll tags to Northern Capital Highway, a toll operator in St. Petersburg, Russia. The agreement has a total value of approximately US$1.4 million (NOK11 million) over the period. According to Q-Free, the tag market in Russia has been picking up over the last years and the company has received orders from several customers, although the framework agreement with Northern Capital Highway is the largest single agreement for Q-Free in Russi

The International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD has a new Secretary-General. Dr Young Tae Kim, a Korean national, took up his position at the organisation’s Paris headquarters on 21 August. Kim is the first non-European to lead the world’s only all-modes transport organisation. The ITF acts as a policy think tank for its 59 member countries and organises the annual summit of transport ministers. Created as global intergovernmental transport organisation in 2006, the ITF evolved out of the European

Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) Ventra mobile app, implemented by Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS, and also used by suburban bus operator Pace and commuter rail system Metra, has reached a milestone with a download of more than two million and was used to purchase nearly US$250 million in fares. The Ventra app, developed and launched by Cubic, CTA and its transit partners in November 2015, is a free, regional transit application in the US that allows customers to plan, manage and pay for journeys ac

The news that over one million non-UK drivers have managed to avoid paying the Dart Charge when travelling over the Dartford Crossing comes as little surprise to the Road Haulage Association *RHA). Speaking to BBC Kent, RHA policy director Duncan Buchanan said: “This issue was identified from the moment the Freeflow system was introduced, and it is still a problem. Foreign drivers should pay: it’s as simple as that. It is very concerning that there are still hauliers making the crossing for free.” Fin

The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) in Nepal has begun issuing high security embossed number plates, which are readable by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera systems. The number plates carry a chip which is connected to the vehicle’s GPS system; this helps to locate the vehicle in the event of theft. The government plans to replace the old number plates over the next five years, beginning with government-owned vehicles in the first phase, followed by diplomatic and personal ve

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has been commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT) to monitor and evaluate the performance and impacts of low emission buses in 13 locations across the country. Positioned across the UK, variations of gas, full-electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses will be procured and operated by bus operators. TRL will carry out data collection and analysis of bus and infrastructure performance, cost savings and environmental impacts to create insig

In a joint partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) are researching wrong-way driving, reports the Houston Chronicle. Almost 240 wrong way crashes happen each year in the state, according to the TTI. More than half of those resulted in a fatality crash. Researchers said most of those crashes occur at night, with alcohol impairment often a factor. On freeways, the most common way for someone to drive t

In a joint partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) and Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) are researching wrong-way driving, reports the Houston Chronicle. Almost 240 wrong way crashes happen each year in the state, according to the TTI. More than half of those resulted in a fatality crash. Researchers said most of those crashes occur at night, with alcohol impairment often a factor. On freeways, the most common way for someone to drive t

UK security provider Securitas has partnered with driver safety and behaviour technology company GreenRoad to reduce risks associated with driver behaviour and improve driver safety among its 11,000 employees. GreenRoad technology will allow Securitas to track the movements of its fleet, monitoring driver behaviour, such as harsh braking, cornering, lane handling, acceleration and speeding.