News

US-based First Transit, in partnership with EasyMile, is to carry out the first autonomous vehicle (AV) passenger shuttle pilot in North America, at the 585 acre Bishop Ranch Office Park in San Ramon, California. The shuttle will connect tenants to multiple transit options including bus, bike and car-sharing services. The AV passenger shuttle is designed to travel short distances using pre-programmed routes. Each shuttle can carry 12 passengers and can operate for 14 hours on a battery charge; it is equi

Q-Free has received an order valued at US$3.4 million (29 million NOK) to supply its OBU615 on-board tag unit to French highway company Vinci Autoroute, to be delivered during 2017. The OBU615 supports all current and future 5.8GHz CEN DSRC protocols. Typical applications include electronic toll collection (ETC) and congestion charging, automatic vehicle identification (AVI), electronic registration identification (ERI), access control and parking.

According to a new report by IDTechEx Research, Industrial and Commercial Electric Vehicles on Land 2017-2027, today’s industrial and commercial sector represents 60 per cent of the value of the whole electric vehicle market, and it is set to grow 4.5 times in the next decade. Industrial electric vehicles make industry more efficient and commercial electric vehicles reduce congestion. Both of them greatly reduce pollution and align closely with government objectives concerning industry and the environment,

The deadline for submissions for paper s for the inaugural Smart Urban Mobility Solutions (SUMS) conference is looming and closes on 15 December. SUMS is co-located with the renewable and low carbon energy exhibition and conference - All-Energy 2017 at SECC, Glasgow from 10 to 11 May 2017). The organisers are looking for papers on a wide range of smart mobility subjects, including autonomous vehicles and the necessary infrastructure, connected vehicles, highly and fully automated driving, open data,

Highways England is urging drivers Highways England is not to put road workers’ lives at risk by deliberately ignoring road closures on the M60 and M62 near Manchester. New figures have revealed that four drivers a month are entering closed sections of road in the Manchester smart motorway scheme to either overtake traffic on the motorway or avoid using diversion routes. Highways England has released CCTV footage showing a driver ignoring an overnight slip road closure at junction 11 of the M60 at Ecc

Analysis by KPMG has revealed a US$49 billion (£38.9 billion) jump in the value of the UK Government infrastructure and construction pipeline since March 2016. It also revealed that 60 per cent of the US$633.8 billion (£502.3 billion) in pipeline value is predicted to be spent by 2020. The report, National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline – KPMG Analysis, reflects a total allocated value of US$633.8 billion (£502.3 billion), from US$584.6 billion (£463.4 billion) in March 2016. It highlights t

Work has begun on new US$509 million (NZ$709.5 million) motorway in New Zealand, extending from Puhoi, approximately 50 km north of Auckland, to Warkworth, a distance of 18.5 kilometres. The project is New Zealand’s second Public Private Partnership (PPP) for a state highway and will be delivered by the Northern Express Group, which will finance, design, construct, manage and maintain the motorway for the 25 years that will follow the expected five year period to build the motorway. Full ownership of the

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has committed to spending US$194 million (£154 million) per year on cycling over the next five years, representing an average US$21 (£17) per head per annum, a level of spending on a par with Denmark and the Netherlands. The investment, part of the Transport for London (TfL) draft Business Plan, goes beyond his manifesto commitment to increase the proportion of TfL’s budget spent on cycling. It will also include substantial benefits for pedestrians with new pedestrian crossings an

Metro Vancouver's regional transportation authority, TransLink, has inaugurated the SkyTrain Evergreen extension to the Millennium line, a significant expansion of the city’s integrated transportation network, connecting the Tri-cities to the existing SkyTrain system, regional bus network and West Coast Express. The SkyTrain line was first inaugurated in December 1985, utilising Thales’ communication-based train control system, SelTrac. Today, SelTrac rail signalling equips 100 per cent of the SkyTrain

Dynamic LED sign manufacturer SES America (SESA) has completed the installation and commissioning of seven dynamic message signs (DMS) signs along part of I-75 in Michigan. The signs were installed by J. Ranck Electric as part of the second phase of a project with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and utilised SESA’s unique Messenger 5000 embedded DMS technology to display toll rate, lane status, and traffic control information. This operation is the second phase of a collaboration betw

A new edition of the standard used by the traffic management industry, NTCIP 1103 v03 Transportation Management Protocols (TMP), has been jointly published by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). The revised TMP standard includes ‘traps’ functionality, which allows a user to specify conditions under which reporting might occur on an immediate or expedit

Building on the US Department of Transportation’s (US DOT) future-focused Beyond Traffic draft report outlining forthcoming trends of the next 30 years, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced a solicitation for applicants to be designated as US DOT Beyond Traffic Innovation Centers. These centres will be capable of driving solutions to the challenges identified in Beyond Traffic through research, curriculum, outreach, and other activities. Some of the challenges outlined include 45 per cent

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has installed a wireless communication system allowing technicians in Phoenix to monitor conditions and adjust signal timing accordingly on State Route 347 through Maricopa. The system has a series of infrared and video cameras installed at each SR 347 intersection, allowing an ADOT technician in Phoenix to see exactly what is happening and modify the length of traffic signals to improve traffic flow. Another part of the system automatically monitors tra

SES America (SESA) is hosting a webinar on 15 December, dedicated to solar ITS solutions, from 1300-1400 ET, 1000-11000 PT. The webinar, Powering ITS anywhere, anytime with solar energy solutions, will discuss the seven myths about solar-powered DMS (dynamic message signs) and why the rise of solar power has paved a way for ITS. It will also discuss how to calculate an optimised solar ITS system.

Josh de Wit, a second-year mechanical engineering student from the University of Sussex, has won the Autocar-Courland Next Generation Award for 2016 with a concept that could dramatically reduce charging times for electric vehicles (EVs) and reduce the weight of their batteries. Josh’s design harnesses the remarkable qualities of graphene, a form of pure carbon in sheets that are just one atom thick. A car battery made with stacked graphene, he says, would take far less time to charge, store more energy