News

Volvo Cars has selected TomTom’s HD Map to power the first phase of the Volvo Drive Me programme, the company’s research project into autonomous driving. This will see real drivers will integrating autonomous driving into their daily lives on public roads. The first group of drivers will be recruited in Gothenburg, Sweden, with further pilot schemes organised in London and China. TomTom’s HD Map, is a digital map-based product that helps automated vehicles precisely locate themselves on the road. TomTom

Specialist management consultancy Baringa Partners has responded to the UK Chancellor’s Budget announcement of support for electric vehicles, saying it is a positive first step but doesn’t go far enough. Senior consultant Natalie Bird says the transport sector trails the energy and industrial sectors on decarbonisation. Despite significant uptake in electric cars since 2011, the rate of eligible vehicle registrations slowed substantially last year. Although the UK’s 2050 Greenhouse Gas target theoretical

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) is to partner with private local investors and the Ministry of Transportation in Indonesia in a US2.5 million contract for the exploration of the feasibility for a Hyperloop system for Indonesia. The initial focus will be on Jakarta and a full exploration of Hyperloop transportation connecting Java and Sumatra. With a population of over 260 million, Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world. Jakarta’ population of over 10 million people faces

Siemens will unveil Plus+, a new generation of traffic controller and signals at Traffex 2017 at the NEC, Birmingham next month. The new solution includes newly designed and dedicated on-street equipment and fully integrated design, configuration and installation tools, ensuring the most efficient traffic signal implementation available today. The Plus+ system uses advanced technology to distribute intelligence and control around the intersection, rather than it all being centrally located in the contro

Ways to boost private sector investment in infrastructure will be the focus of a regional seminar held by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EBRD), the World Bank Group and the G20 Global Infrastructure Hub on 9-10 March in Athens. The event will bring together policymakers from 20 countries in eastern Europe, central Asia and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, private and institutional investors as well international experts on infrastructure project finance. They will discuss po

The Flir Traficon Academy is offering training on automatic incident detection and traffic data collection in Bruges, Belgium on 22 and 23 March. The training focuses on the solutions and applications Flir Intelligent Transportation Systems (FLIR ITS) offers for fast detection of incidents on highways and bridges, detecting incidents and fire in tunnels and accurate traffic data collection on highways and bridges. After this interactive and hands-on training, participants will be able to select the righ

An advertorial for a new Jaguar car, which appeared in the Guardian newspaper, received two complaints that it was irresponsible because it encouraged unsafe driving practices. Advertising regulator the Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) concluded that the advertorial was irresponsible because it was likely to encourage unsafe driving practices and stated that it must not appear again in its current form. The ASA said the advertorial was aimed at business executives and primarily promoted a car that

In an effort to improve air quality, Singapore is to introduce the Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) to replace the Carbon Emissions-Based Vehicle Scheme (CEVS) for all new cars, taxis and newly imported used cars with effect from 1 January 2018. The new scheme will cover four more pollutants to reduce harmful vehicle emissions and will be applicable for all cars and taxis registered from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019. The VES rebate or surcharge for a car or taxi will be determined by its worst-perf

TrafficCast International has completed the implementation of its latest generation Bluetooth signal sensor detector technology, BlueTOAD Spectra, in Florida. In December 2016, the Florida Department of Transportation's Traffic Engineering Research Laboratory (TERL) approved the new BlueTOAD Spectra dual-radio Bluetooth detection system for inclusion on the State's Approved Products List (APL). At the same time, several Florida local agencies also tested the BlueTOAD Spectra. Seminole County, a Blue

Knight Architects and Arup have submitted plans for Luton Airport Gateway; a new bridge which will form part of the US$244 million (£200 million) mass passenger transit (MPT) system linking London Luton Airport with Luton Parkway railway station. The MPT will enable fast, easy access from central London to the UK’s fifth biggest and fastest-growing major airport in 30 minutes by providing a seamless transfer time of just five minutes from Luton Airport Parkway to the airport terminal. The system will be a f

The London Borough of Sutton has started the full replacement programme of its parking machines, upgrading them to Metric Elite LS terminals via the ESPO framework. 143 new parking terminals are being installed across the borough in both on- and off-street locations. Most of the on-street terminals are now solar powered as the old mains-powered METRIC Accent terminals are phased out. Twenty new mains powered machines are being installed in high usage areas. In off-street locations, the Elite LS termi

Six full colour full matrix electronic warning signs from Swarco Traffic have helped Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL) to reduce the number of oversized lorries hitting a railway bridge on London’s South Circular road by more than a third since being installed last summer. In the six-month period from January to July 2016 before the signs were introduced there were 11 crashes at the Thurlow Park Bridge in Tulse Hill. In the six months since their installation, there have only been seven inciden

Australia’s Federal Government has awarded iMOVE CRC, a new intelligent transport cooperative research centre, a US$42 million (AU$55 million) grant for a ten year research and development project. The iMOVE CRC has been in development for over 18 months and is strongly supported by industry, technology innovators, state road authorities, federal and state government departments and industry associations. The funding and ten-year timeframe will enable the 46 partners to develop technology outcomes an

The general RFID market has seen substantial growth over the last few years, with successful public offerings and rapid growth in terms of the number of RFID tags sold, according to a new report by IDTechEx. Vendors are now exploring allied technologies with RFID sensors at the forefront of this. RFID sensors combine a sensors system (such as monitoring temperature, humidity, shock, pressure or moisture) with RFID communications. This has been enabled thanks to new chipsets, both HF (NFC) and UHF (RAIN)