News

In autumn 2017, the state of Washington in the US is to begin a pilot road user charging (RUC) program, involving 2,000 volunteers across the state. During the pilot period, the state will track their mileage in several different ways including odometer readings and a smart phone app. Another option will be charging drivers a flat fee. Drivers will report on the positive and negative impacts of the road usage fee. US company D'Artagnan Consulting prepared the detailed state-wide RUC demonstration impleme

The Volkswagen Group is to become a shareholder in the Hubject eRoaming electric vehicle (EV) charging platform and plans to push ahead with the digital interconnection of charging stations for EVs, starting in early 2017. Hubject, founded in 2012 by BMW, Bosch, Daimler, EnBW, innogy and Siemens, provides EV drivers with easy access to charging stations as well as payment solutions. Almost 40,000 charge points on three continents are already available on the platform. In 2013, Hubject launched ‘inter

TomTom and Microsoft have formed a partnership that aims to bring enterprise-grade location-based services to Microsoft’s Azure platform, based on TomTom’s maps, traffic and navigation software. TomTom plans to integrate its services into Azure to make it even easier and more flexible for developers to build and manage enterprise, mobile, web and Internet of Things applications that are location aware.

Two routes that have previously been given the title of ‘most dangerous’ roads have received Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards for their significant casualty reductions. The average speed installation on the A537 Cat and Fiddle road operates in ‘rear facing’ mode, allowing motorcycles to be monitored by cameras viewing their rear number plates. The latest figures for the A537 show a 77 per cent reduction in Killed or Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties. The A9 enforcement system has ca

Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) has been awarded supplier status for its traffic pre-emption solutions on the UK Government’s Crown Commercial Service Traffic Management 2 (TMT2) framework agreement. TMT2 provides public sector customers with access to traffic management solutions. The framework aims to deliver local, regional and national traffic management technologies through a qualified supply chain, ensuring reliability and resilience. TMT2 allows direct and standardised procurement of small compo

Audi's top-selling model released excessive toxic diesel emissions in results from lab tests run by the European Commission and seen by Reuters, raising suspicions of wrongdoing at Volkswagen's luxury division. The results threaten to embroil Audi in the scandal that has engulfed the company since it admitted cheating US emissions tests with software to mask nitrogen oxides (NOx). The lab tests run by the European Commission's Joint Research Center (JRC) in August showed the latest Euro 6 diesel gener

The West Midlands region in the UK is to pilot Mobility as Service (MaaS) to its residents. The service, Whim by Finnish MaaS operator MaaS Global, will be launched in the West Midlands metropolitan area in early 2017. The launch follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), transport service providers National Express and SilverRail, Birmingham City Council and MaaS Global. Other transport companies will be welcomed onboard the Whim service in the future. Th

Following the signing of the SAVE Act legislation to support autonomous vehicle testing and deployment in Michigan, General Motors is to begin testing autonomous vehicles on public roads. GM also announced it will produce the next generation of its autonomous test vehicles at its Orion Township assembly plant beginning in early 2017. Testing is already underway on GM’s Technical Center campus in Warren, Michigan and will now expand to public roads on the facility’s outskirts. Within the next few months,

A broad coalition of insurance, the automotive aftermarket, leasing and consumers has joined forces to release a statement voicing their concern that consumers’ interest are not being placed at the centre of discussions around the possible technical solutions to access in-vehicle data. In addition to undermining free consumer choice, the solution promoted by some stakeholders would also undermine competition, innovation and independent entrepreneurship. The members of AFCAR: Alliance for the Freedom o

Self-learning artificial intelligence (AI) in cars is the key to unlocking the capabilities of autonomous cars and enhancing value to end users through virtual assistance, according to Frost & Sullivan. It offers original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) fresh revenue streams through licensing, partnerships and new mobility services. Simultaneously, the use-case scenarios of self-learning AI in cars are drawing several technology companies, Internet of Things (IoT) companies and mobility service providers to

In an effort to inform Missourians on the current status and future direction of their transportation system, Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has issued the Citizen’s Guide to Transportation Funding to explain where the money comes from and where it is spent. It also includes a calculator so people can figure out their monthly costs for transportation taxes and fees. Missouri ranks 47th nationally in revenue per mile, primarily because it has the nation’s seventh largest road system with 33

Mobile ticketing and fare collection solutions provider Masabi has launched the JustRide SDK mobile ticketing software development kit (SDK) for the transport industry, allowing Masabi’s strategic partners to incorporate mobile ticketing into existing apps, extending the functionality, while adding a new revenue stream. French Transport giant Keolis is the first SDK customer, through its digital subsidiary, Kisio. It has integrated Masabi ticketing along with validation technology and retail analytics

The Supervisory Board of Jenoptik has appointed Dr Stefan Traeger as future chairman of the company’s Executive Board for a term of three years. Traeger, currently a member of the Management Board of the Swiss Tecan Group, will succeed Dr Michael Mertin and is expected to take over his post in the second quarter of 2017. Traeger will manage the Jenoptik Group together with Hans-Dieter Schumacher, who has been chief financial officer of Jenoptik since April 2015.

After seventeen years and more than US$11 billion (10 billion euros), Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system is set to go live today, 15 December. Initial services offered free of charge by Galileo include support to emergency services. Anyone placing a distress call from a Galileo-enabled beacon can now be found and rescued more quickly, since the detection time will be reduced to only 10 minutes. This service should be later improved by notifying the sender of the emergency call that he/she has

Dutch digital security specialist Gemalto is supplying its LinqUS On-Demand Connectivity (ODC) subscription management solution and the GSMA-compliant embedded SIMs (eSIMs) to telecom carrier China Mobile. The solution will enable secure connectivity for connected cars in any vehicle equipped with an embedded SIM, including infotainment, navigation support, safety or vehicle diagnostics. Chinese consumers place more emphasis on in-car technology than on price or engine performance when it comes to buying