News

Automaker BMW Group is to utilise the Here Open Location Platform for the development and launch of its new digital driving services. By leveraging the next generation of Here's platform, BMW aims to create differentiated location-enriched services from the data generated by its connected cars and the Here data network. This includes combining car sensor data with other data streams available through the platform, such as from cities and the broader Internet of Things to build services using a powerfu

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has issued Uber with another permit to put its driverless cars back on the state’s roads, according to Reuters. Obtaining the permit also marks a concession for Uber, which had fought California regulators over the requirement and initially refused to apply for the US$150 permit. Following a disagreement with regulators last December when Uber argued that its cars do not meet the state's definition of an autonomous vehicle because they require constant mo

The first eVolt smart electric vehicle (EV) charge point has been installed at a residential property outside Nottingham for the Electric Nation trial, which is seeking to find a smart charging solution that will better manage local level power distribution at peak times. According to eVolt, the eMobility brand of the Swarco Group, research suggests that some of the UK’s local electricity networks will need intervention to enable motorists to charge EVs at home at peak times. It indicates that at least U

We look at Siemens’ common Remote Service Platform (cRSP) which provides automatic monitoring, preventive maintenance and, if needed, remote repair services for the connected customer facilities. It won’t replace the screwdriver or technician, but it will make their work so much easier as many failures can now be solved via remote maintenance. The platform has been certified by external audits and meets the highest security standards so that it can also be used for monitoring power stations and large med

We wanted to know what mobility will look like for the next generation, so we asked those who would be shaping and using it – the next generation themselves. A group of students studying under Professor Dr Regine Gerike at Technical University Dresden gave us a wide range of stimulating responses. See our website for the full discussion:

The USDOT's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Professional Capacity Building program will host a free webinar, ‘Variable Speed Limits: Are They for Everyone?’ on Tuesday, 4 April from 1300 to 1430. The webinar will be hosted by Jimmy Chu, a transportation specialist for the Federal Highway Administration's Traveller Information Management Team. Variable speed limit (VSL) systems use information on traffic speed, occupancy, volume detection, weather, and road surface condition to determine appropri

Real-time TomTom Traffic information is now available in more than one million Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles. The traffic service covers Mercedes-Benz vehicles purchased on three continents: Europe, North America and Africa. 500 million phones, cars and portable navigation devices provide GPS data points to help create the TomTom Traffic service, which is available in 54 countries in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. Mercedes-Benz has been implementing TomTom Traffic in its cars with navigati

The Victorian government in Australia has released a tender for its Road and Rail Minor Works Program, which aims to deliver new car parks, more comfortable waiting areas and better passenger information at train stations across rural and regional Victoria. It also aims to improve cycling infrastructure at stations with new, secure bike cages and hoops to make it easier to ride to the station and catch the train. The US$17 million (AU$22.5 million) program will also upgrade bus stops, signage and acce

Renault and Heudiasyc, a joint research unit formed by UTC (Université de Technologie de Compiègne) and research organisation CNRS, are creating a shared research laboratory known as SIVALab, to be based in France. The research unit will deploy a four-year research programme to study and develop autonomous vehicle systems with a view to offering greater accuracy and reliability. In addition to sensors, data will be sourced and analysed from pre-defined navigation maps and dynamic connections from other u

More than 3,000 council-maintained road bridges in Great Britain are substandard, according to a report by the RAC Research Foundation. Analysis of data received from 199 of the 207 local highway authorities in England, Scotland and Wales found that 3,203 structures over 1.5m in span are not fit to carry the heaviest vehicles now seen on our roads, including lorries of up to 44 tonnes. The 3,203 bridges represent about 1 in 23 of the roughly 72,000 bridges to be found on the local road network. Many o

As part of their efforts to reduce the number of people killed and injured in road crashes, the New Zealand Government and NZ Transport Agency have recently installed a MetService decision support service for the Transport Operations Centres (TOCs) in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. TOC staff, as well as key Agency staff and road network contractors, are now receiving Severe Road-Weather Advisories prepared by MetService meteorologists, warning of weather events that could impact road safety, traf

We speak to trend researcher Sven Gábor Jánszky, head of the renowned 2b AHEAD think tank in Leipzig, on the world view of Generation Y, the mobility-related preferences of digital citizens and their disruptive effects on the transport systems of the future.

Siemens has received the Transport Ticketing Global Award in the 2017 Digital Champion category for its current project with Swiss South Eastern Railways Südostbahn (SOB). The company has provided one of the first commercial be-in/be-out ticketing solutions, built on Siemens SiMobility and incorporating services for intermodal transport. Passengers can download the Connect ‘permission to ride’ app to their smartphone; this is detected by a system installed in the public transport vehicle and enables p

Daimler is ramping up the expansion of its network for electric cars by making a strategic investment in American charging solutions provider ChargePoint. ChargePoint already has a large customer base in North America and is planning expansion into Europe, which will be supported by the Daimler investment. Daimler’s investment in ChargePoint enables it to move forward with its corporate strategy on electric mobility and its new electric vehicle brand, EQ. The company is also focusing on expansion of its

Managed lanes throughout the US are off to a good start in 2017, according to Fitch Ratings in its latest managed lanes peer review. Actual performance is so far exceeding Fitch’s rating case for the sector as a whole, with 95 Express in Northern Virginia and NTE (segments 1 and 2) in Texas proving to be notable examples. Also boosting long-term prospects for managed lanes is the performance on the longest operating facility, SR-91 in Orange County, California. This state road is seeing strong compound a