News

The French ministry of the interior has ordered an additional 240 fixed speed enforcement systems from French speed camera manufacturer Parifex. These will be deployed on the national highway network replacing the existing conventional systems. The VIGIE systems provide lane identification, vehicle classification and bi-directional monitoring. The systems are also able to differentiate between three categories of vehicles with specific speed limits (large trucks/coaches/light vehicles), providing accura

Mapping and navigation specialist TomTom and the City of Moscow have signed a Letter of Intent to design an intelligent transportation programme developed with the goal of improving the overall situation across Moscow’s road network. Moscow recently won an Achievement Award from the International Transport Forum 2016 for its exemplary approach to improving traffic conditions in the Russian capital. Using data from TomTom’s Traffic Index, Moscow has gone from last place in 2013 to fifth place in this yea

A white paper published by the Rolls-Royce led Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) outlines the project’s vision of how remote and autonomous shipping will become a reality. Published to coincide with its presentations at the Autonomous Ship Technology Symposium 2016 in Amsterdam, the AAWA whitepaper explores the research carried out to date on the business case for autonomous applications, the safety and security implications of designing and operating remotely operated ships,

In response to the UK Government’s Fifth Carbon Budget, Freight on Rail says that the Department for Transport must support EU plans to introduce CO2 truck standards to bring HGVs into line with cars and vans. In the UK, HGVs contribute 17 per cent of surface transport’s CO2 emissions even though it only makes up five per cent of road miles driven. Philippa Edmunds, Freight on Rail manager, Campaign for Better Transport said CO2 standards and reduction targets for HGVs are long overdue as truck manufac

PTV Group and the city of Karlsruhe in Germany are to cooperate in the development of smart mobility in the region, with the goal of establishing a real-time traffic prediction system for the Karlsruhe Technology Region. At the company’s newly renovated, PTV is investing in a new demonstration room, the Mobility Lab, where traffic engineers and municipalities from around the world can experience virtually the new Karlsruhe smart mobility concepts. The Karlsruhe city traffic management unit will maintain

BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye are collaborating to bring solutions for highly and fully automated driving into series production by 2021. The BMW iNEXT model will be the foundation for BMW Group’s autonomous driving strategy and set the basis for fleets of fully autonomous vehicles, not only on highways but also in urban environments for the purpose of automated ridesharing solutions. The three partners are committed to working towards an industry standard and defining an open platform for autonomous

The City of Toronto, Canada, has awarded Jenoptik’s Traffic Solutions division an order to continue its red light monitoring program and to expand it in the Greater Toronto area. The contract, which extends one awarded ten years ago, will run for five years from January 2017, also includes an optional extension for a further five years and a centralised back office system.. Jenoptik will shortly begin negotiations with seven other municipalities in Canada’s Ontario province. Jenoptik had already installe

Singapore-based SMRT International is to acquire a 20 per cent state worth US$4.4 million (€4 million) in Dutch automated vehicle (AV) manufacturer 2Getthere Holding (2Getthere). Abu Dhabi technology company United Technical Services (UTS) is increasing its holding in 2getthere to 11 per cent. The companies say these investments are a strategic step that aims to increase 2getthere’s technological capabilities as a provider of AV systems. It will also enhance the delivery of current and new projects in th

A new study by the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds, commissioned by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) finds that better coordination and connectivity between vehicles and infrastructure is likely to improve energy efficiency, as well as potentially make road transport safer and quicker. The LowCVP says that the combination of connectivity, automation plus shared vehicle ownership and use has the potential to m

Dutch engineering company Fluor Corporation is part of the 3Angle consortium, a special purpose company selected as the preferred bidder by the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands (Rijkswaterstaat) for the A27/A1 public private partnership (PPP) project in the Netherlands. The 3Angle consortium, comprised of Fluor, Heijmans Capital and 3i Infrastructure, will carry out the design, build, management, maintenance and financing of existing and new infrastructure of t

As part of the Planet M initiative, the US Army Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) have partnered to test connected vehicle applications on the I-69 freeway in Lapeer County, Michigan. WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff is part of the MDOT team leading the infrastructure deployments. The test involved the installation of six road side units (RSU) at different locations to create a vehicle communications system. The system evalu

Independent road safety charity IAM RoadSmart and safety charity the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) have called for government action following the release of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) reported road casualties in Great Britain 2015. The 2015 figures show there were 1,732 reported road deaths – two per cent fewer compared with 2014. According to the DfT, this is the second lowest annual total on record after 2013. The number of people seriously injured in reported road tr

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary investigation into a fatal crash involving a Tesla autonomous car in Florida. According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, the 40-year-old driver was killed when his 2015 Model S drove under the trailer of an 18-wheel truck. In a blog post on the crash, which happened in early May, Tesla said “the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to t

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Two has selected Parsons to provide final design services for an expansion of FDOT’s freeway traffic management system on I-95 from north of the Jacksonville International Airport to the Georgia state line. The 17-mile project will include various intelligent transportation systems and solutions, including archived data management, automatic vehicle identification, closed-circuit television cameras, dynamic message signs, microwave vehicle detectio

Juniper Research has found that smart traffic management and smart parking initiatives, will save some 4.2 billion man-hours annually by 2021 - equivalent to each city driver saving nearly an entire working day per year. Juniper found that while the ‘smart city’ remains a relatively young concept, many cities are beginning to recognise the need to improve in terms of competitiveness and quality of life. Increasing urban populations are creating pressure on city resources, driving the need for new and eff