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February 1, 2017
London the most expensive city to use public transport, says report
According to a report from German online moving platform Movinga, London, UK is the most expensive city to use public transport at £122.27 per month and Cairo, Egypt is the most affordable city at £5.18 for a monthly ticket. As part of its 2017 Relocation Price Index, a study detailing the costs associated with relocating to some of the world’s most in-demand cities, Movinga also observed the cost of transportation around the world in 89 cities. The data was taken from all official transport offices w
February 1, 2017
Draft law enables autonomous driving in Germany
Germany’s federal government has approved a draft law allowing for autonomous cars to be driven on German streets, says Germany Trade & Invest, the federal economic development agency. Crucially within the law, responsibility for mishaps continued to rest firmly in the hands of the driver, but allows for the driver to hand control the vehicle to its own control system in certain situations and for certain periods of time. The draft law also stipulates that the driver must be able to instantly override or de
February 1, 2017
NHTSA notice of proposed rulemaking proposes V2V for all light vehicles
The US Department of Transportation’s (US DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for public comment by 12 April 2017. This document proposes to establish a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) to require all new light vehicles to be capable of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, such that they will send and receive basic safety messages to and from other vehicles. The proposal contains V2V communication perfo
February 1, 2017
Inrix and ParkU partner on in-car connected parking
Inrix and German off-street parking reservations provider ParkU have formed a partnership to integrate payment transactions directly into car navigation systems for 55 cities in ten European countries. ParkU’s reservation and payment locations will be incorporated into Inrix’s automotive parking solution to enable European drivers to find, route to, reserve and pay for parking at participating ParkU locations directly from their car’s dashboard, ParkU’s parking app enables drivers to find, book and pa
January 31, 2017
ADLV 2017 predictions show fleets achieving more with big data
According to the ADLV’s (Association for Driving Licence Verification) 2017 predictions transport fleets will be using richer, bigger data more frequently to drive areas from compliance through to road safety The best practice frequency for compliance in licence checking by fleets has recently increased to twice a year, on average. Under the recently issued FORS Standard (Version 4.0) twice-yearly checks are now the minimum requirement. However, many larger fleets are now carrying out quarterly checks, e
January 31, 2017
CO₂ mitigation measures for transport ‘will not achieve climate ambitions’
Current and foreseeable policies to mitigate carbon-dioxide (CO₂) emissions from global transport activity will not suffice to achieve the international community’s climate ambitions, according to a new study published by the International Transport Forum (ITF). Continued strong growth in demand for mobility means that even in the most optimistic scenario, transport CO₂ emissions in 2050 will still be at 2015 levels of around 7.5 giga-tonnes, according to projections published in the ITF Transport Outlook 2
January 31, 2017
Zero Motorcycles approved for UK government grant
The European arm of US electric motorcycle supplier Zero Motorcycles has been approved for the UK government’s plug-in motorcycle grant, enabling it to reduce the price of its motorcycles in the UK. The £1,500 savings are deducted from the price of the vehicle at the point of sale. No paperwork is required, except a short survey, for the customer to receive the grant. In combination with the introduction of the grant, Zero has lowered recommended retail prices on all 2017 models.
January 31, 2017
Nedap’s wireless parking sensors installed at Belgium’s major port
The Port of Antwerp, Belgium, has deployed Nedap’s Sensit wireless parking sensors to provide accurate real time parking space information in the car park for the ‘Havenhuis’ office building. With a large and modern underground facility, the building offers enough parking spaces for both its 500 employees and visitors. Nedap’s smart parking system was chosen to not only provide drivers with real time information on the number of spaces available but to guide them to available spaces on arrival. The Se
January 31, 2017
New legislation leads to rise UK drug driving convictions
In his speech at the National Roads Policing Conference, Roads Minister Andrew Jones announced that 8,500 drivers were convicted of drug driving in 2016, the first full year since the legislation changed in March 2015. In 2014, only 879 drivers were convicted. The new legislation makes it illegal in England and Wales to drive with certain drugs in the body above specified levels, including eight illegal drugs and eight prescription drugs. Those caught drug-driving face a minimum 12-month driving ban, up
January 30, 2017
London council to trial diesel-based parking surcharge
As part of its drive to create a greener, healthier city, Westminster City Council in London is set to trial emissions-based charging for diesel cars parking within Marylebone. In a pilot programme to be introduced from 3 April 2017, the charge for pay-to-park bays during normal parking hours will be raised specifically within F zone for diesel cars, some of the heaviest of polluting vehicles. This will apply to visitors into Marylebone, with resident permits remaining unchanged. The surcharge will ad
January 30, 2017
Ford develops connectivity upgrade for 2010-2016 vehicles
Developed in collaboration with Delphi Automotive and Verizon Telematics, automaker Ford has launched SmartLink, a technology that enables connectivity features normally only available on new modem-equipped vehicles. Available for 2010-2016 model Ford and Lincoln cars, features include remote start, lock and unlock, wi-fi access capable of hosting up to eight device, and vehicle health, security and location alerts. Components of Ford SmartLink include a 4G LTE-enabled OBD II plug-in device, as well a
January 30, 2017
Highways England awards new-style framework contracts
Highways England has teamed up with 18 companies to help improve journeys for road users in Cumbria, North Lancashire and the North East of England. A new style framework, worth up to US$543 million (£434 million) will start on 1 April 2017. The Construction Works Framework covers 10 different specialisms of work, is split into 15 separate lots and will run for four years. The framework covers a range of activities that include renewal work to roads and bridges, and improvement schemes on the Highways
January 30, 2017
German public radio selects Gewi traffic news system
Traffic software developer Gewi has been selected by Hessischer Rundfunk (HR), a German public radio station for the state of Hesse, Frankfurt, to collect, create and aggregate traffic information to be broadcast on the HR stations which include five different radio formats. In addition, the traffic information is distributed to TV channels, internet platforms and a telephone hotline. Navigation systems can receive data via RDS-TMC and TPEG. The solution uses Gewi’s TIC for Traffic News, which enable
January 30, 2017
Cubic and Transport for London recognised for innovation at London First Awards
Cubic Transportation Systems Transport for London received the London First Award for Innovation at the London First Awards for bringing contactless bankcard technology to public transit in the capital. London First, of which Cubic is a member, is a non-profit organization that promotes business interests in London. Launched in 2012, the contactless bankcard system was extended in 2014 to cover London’s entire transit network, including Tube, rail, bus and tram services. Since the introduction of the
January 27, 2017
New report on energy independent electric vehicles
According to a new report from IDTechEx, energy independent electric vehicles (EIV) are about to become a major investment target as their status passes from curiosity to being a widely-recognised, huge market opportunity. Road vehicles, boats and aircraft are being prepared for sale, variously powered by electricity from on-board wind turbines, solar and alternatives. A few are on sale now. These are the kernel of a business of over US$100 billion in EIVs employing multi-mode energy harvesting, extreme