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UK start-up Vivacity Labs, creators of a sensor with in-built machine-learning that can identify individual road users and manage traffic accordingly has secured a total of US$3.8 million (£3 million) in funding, that could pave the way for driverless cars and truly smart cities that can recognise different vehicles and regulate traffic in real-time. The company has secured a US$2.2 million (£1.7 million) project grant from Innovate UK to roll out a city-wide sensor network for the VivaMK project and a str

The City of Calgary, Canada, has selected Inrix to supply its Roadway Analytics to help the city manage its road network with access to on-demand data to analyse, visualise and understand performance without the need for additional technology investments. The city can also identify and compare locations that are operating sub-optimally to help prioritise road improvement efforts. In addition, Roadway Analytics allows city planners to perform before and after studies to quantify and communicate the impact o

It is with great regret that we have to report that Emmanuel Salle, international business development manager and marketing at Belgian traffic and automation company Macq, Brussels, died in a car accident in India on 8 May whilst on a business trip. Emmanuel worked for Macq for more than 15 years and prior to that was a Professor at American University of Science and Technology. He leaves a wife and two children and will be sadly missed by all his friends and colleagues. Emmanuel will be buried on Saturday

Volvo has developed a bespoke autonomous refuse collecting vehicle designed to minimise the need for the driver to climb in and out of the cab when collecting the bins for emptying into the body. Having driven the route to program the stopping points, on subsequent visits the driver can simply press a button on the side of the vehicle to initiate the vehicle moving to the next position – either forward or backwards. The appropriate gear is engaged and the park brake released automatically until the move is

Scope Technologies and specialist technology Riga Technical University (RTU), Latvia, have partnered to develop Smart Cities technology which they say will help municipalities and major cities identify dangerous infrastructure-related driving areas. The technology collects billions of data sets per day through a range of telemetry, including comprehensive geographical and road infrastructure data in conjunction with traffic, weather and road accident data. By behavioural elements in the way people drive, tr

The International Transport Forum, in partnership with the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) is working on a project which examines the impact of driverless trucks. It focuses on developments in Europe and North America, with some evidence drawn from other continents, such as automated trains and mining equipment in Australia. The aim is to consider whether driverless road freight trans

In a bid to reduce high levels of congestion on the Kwinana Freeway near Perth in Western Australia, the government is planning to introduce a smart motorway by converting the emergency stopping lane to a full-time running lane. The concept is similar to the smart motorways in use in the UK which use variable speed limits during busy times to manage congestion. The US$25 million (AU$47 million) project is expected to start in 2018-2019 and will also include: in-road detectors and full CCTV coverage to provi

Italian infrastructure company has launched a bid to buy Spanish toll roads operator Abertis, in a deal valued at US$17.9 million (€16.34 million), with the aim of becoming a world leader in transport infrastructure. The company is offering US$18.1 (€16.5 per share for each share tendered. Abertis owns Italy’s largest toll road manager and Rome’s two airports, as well as having a stake in Nice airport. It says the aim of the offer is to create a world leader in transport infrastructure with a diversified po

Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) has implemented its Opticom transit signal priority solution (TSP) in the city of Laval in Quebec, Canada in an effort to improve bus network performance and boost ridership. The TSP system is installed at 90 per cent of intersections in the city and on more than 300 buses and paratransit vehicles. The Opticom TSP system implemented by the Société de transport de Laval (STL) provides buses with a green light to keep them on time, while data derived from the GPS-enabled syst

Transport for London (TfL) and the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways are to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on bilateral cooperation in urban transport policy planning, technology transfer and institutional organisation of transport. The decision to enter into the agreement was taken during the three-day official visit of the Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Shri Nitin Gadkari to Britain. Under the proposed MOU, TfL will share its expertise on the mobility and effici

The 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, in Melbourne, has had a bigger than expected economic impact on the local economy and is now estimated to be US$34.5 million (AU$46.6 million), nearly twice the initial projection. The increase has been attributed to the higher than anticipated attendance figures. More than 11,500 Australian and international delegates participated, 4,500 registrations more than the target figure of 7,000. The high volume of visitors had a positive impact on the loca

Executives from Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) will discuss topics related to “LEAD the TRANSITion,” the theme of the UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Montreal, Quebec, Canada this week. CTS executives will present at both the Mobility as a Service – from vision to reality on 15 May and the Planning: system, trip and mobile apps session on 16 May. In addition, the company will feature its systems and projects will in the conference hall at Palais des Congrès de Montréal.

The International Road Federation has awarded its annual road safety accolade, the Find a Way Award, to the Korea Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The Find a Way Award was instituted as part of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 by IRF chairman Abdullah Al-Mogbel in recognition of the value of political leadership in driving road traffic injury reduction strategies. Korea has implemented a range of road safety measures, including the use of safety belts for all seat

The City of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is building the world's largest public transit system --- in just five years. It will be presenting the project at the Palais des Congrès, in Montreal, Quebec, during the global summit of the Union Internationale des Transports Publics (UITP), this week. Managed by The High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh (HCDA), the project includes six metro lines covering 176 km and 85 stations, in addition to 24 bus routes covering 1,900 km and 3,000 stations and stops. At a

The presence of just a few autonomous vehicles can eliminate the stop-and-go driving of the human drivers in traffic, along with the accident risk and fuel inefficiency it causes, according to new research by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Cyber-Physical Systems program, the research was led by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers with expertise in traffic flow theory, control theory, robotics, cyber-physical systems, and transportation engine