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The UK government is committing an additional US$4.8 million (£4 million) to the Plug-In Van grant scheme, extending the eligibility to larger electric vehicles so that all vans and trucks meeting the necessary requirements are eligible as part of the drive to reduce carbon emissions from transport use. Businesses will now benefit from grants up to US$24,000 (£20,000) when switching their large trucks to electric vehicles, Business and Energy secretary Greg Clark announced during a 3 day visit to Japan w

HNTB Corporation is expanding its national leadership team by naming Kevin Hoeflich as toll services chairman, a post previously held by Jim Ely, who moves into a senior consulting role with the firm. In his new role, Hoeflich, a senior vice president of the firm, will oversee growth and daily management of the toll practice, provide clients across the country with expert resources as they look to operate existing toll facilities, implement tolling in future projects, and represent HNTB to the toll indus

Tolling specialist Emovis, which is to install and manage the toll system for the Mersey Gateway in the UK, is to test the technology on the Bridgewater Expressway prior to installation on the new bridge. The Mersey Gateway, a new six lane toll bridge over the Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes, is due to open in autumn 2017. The testing will be an important part of the preparation for the new free-flow tolling system, which will allow drivers to travel over the new bridge and the Silver J

Ford is currently trialling technology which aims to reduce time spent waiting at a red light. Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory uses information on traffic light timings from a roadside unit to display to the driver the best speed to travel at to get a green light. The tests are part of the UK Autodrive self-driving and connected car trial, a 16-member, publicly funded US$24 million (£20 million) project which is developing and trialling vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure technologies tha

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has been awarded a UK train operator Northern to supply electronic gates at its stations. Cubic will install its next-generation electronic gating system at eight stations, for a total of 52 installed gates. The gates are equipped with ITSO-compliant smart card and barcode reading capabilities, in addition to accepting magnetic tickets. Gates have already been installed at two stations and the remaining six stations are scheduled to be completed by the end of March

A new report published by Allied Market Research, Alternative Fuel and Hybrid Vehicle (AFHV) Market by Alternative Fuel Type, Vehicle Type, and Geography: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2014-2022, projects that the world AFHV market is expected to reach US$614 billion by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 12.9 per cent during the forecast period. The passenger vehicle segment is estimated to dominate the market from 2016 to 2022. Asia-Pacific dominated the global market accounting for a market s

ChargePoint Services and BluepointLondon are to collaborate to expand the number of electric vehicle (EV) rapid chargers across London. The companies’ respective networks, GeniePoint and Source London, will also offer full inter-operability to their respective members. They say commercial EV operators who will be able to recharge vehicles in 20-40 minutes to keep their vehicles moving throughout the working day and night. For the first phase, the two companies aim to have around 30 new rapid charger

As part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Strategic Plan 2014-2018, which aims to increase the level of cycling in the county, UK company Traffic Technology has supplied its Zelt cycle detector to the council. The proportion of people walking or cycling for short journeys is identified as an indicator to measure how the Council is delivering its Strategic Plan, making it important for it to measure levels of cycling. According to the Council, permanent cycle counters provide more robust data over th

ABI Research has identified camera-based driver monitoring systems (DMS) as the chief enablers of safe, semi-autonomous driving. The market is forecast to reach 17.5 million camera-based DMS shipments in 2026. Biometric availability encompasses the driver's alertness, his or her engagement with the driving process and even the driver's ability to manually interact with the system as required. The key to enabling such a holistic driver monitoring system (DMS) is the use of internal cameras, either stereos

Sabrina Sussman has joined the Office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio as the senior policy advisor in the Federal Affairs Office. Sussman was previously with the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) where she was vice-president for Membership and Development and prior to that was chief of staff to the under-secretary for Policy at the US Department of Transportation. In her new role, she will oversee federal policy and legislative priorities for the transportation, housi

In its online blog, Tesla says that self-driving vehicles will play a crucial role in improving transportation safety and accelerating the world’s transition to a sustainable future. Full autonomy will enable a Tesla to be substantially safer than a human driver, lower the financial cost of transportation for those who own a car and provide low-cost on-demand mobility for those who do not. The company has announced that from now, all Tesla vehicles produced in its factory, including Model 3, will have th

Lack of investment in safe walking and cycling infrastructure not only contributes to the deaths of millions of people in traffic accidents on unsafe roads and poorly designed roadways, but also overlooks a great opportunity to boost the fight against climate change, according to a new UN Environment report. In Global Outlook on Walking and Cycling, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) claims that greater investment in such infrastructure could help save millions of lives and reduce emissions of global w

Siemens has been commissioned by the Acciona-Odebrecht construction consortium to electrify the entire Metro Line 1 in the Ecuador capital, Quito. Line 1 is intended to improve daily commuting in the city, since it will provide direct routes from north and south of the city into the downtown area and historical city centre. The line is scheduled to begin passenger service in summer 2019. The city's first metro line will run over 20 kilometres through the city and operate at an elevation of more than 2,80

Canada has not adequately addressed the changing transportation needs of seniors, leaving many without a range of accessible, affordable and appropriate transportation options to support active and healthy living, according to a new Conference Board of Canada report from the Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care and the Centre for Transportation and Infrastructure. This publication examines how seniors currently meet their transportation needs and preferences, changes in transportation strategie

The US Department of Transportation (US DOT) is seeking innovators and experts to join a cross-modal committee to shape the future of automated transportation technologies. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced the establishment of an Advisory Committee on Automation in Transportation (ACAT), which will serve as a critical resource for the Department in framing federal policy for the continued development and deployment of automated transportation. Members of the committee will assess th