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The Kapsch TrafficCom all-electronic toll (AET) system at the Tappan Zee Bridge went live and began collecting toll revenue on 24 April in South Nyack, on the 570-mile New York State Thruway. Kapsch installed this multi-lane free-flow AET system for the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), which operates and manages the bridge, over the winter after the system successfully passed a series of commissioning and integration tests. The on-schedule opening of these tolled, cashless traffic lanes elimi

Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) will focus on the benefits of intelligent traffic signal solutions for emergency vehicles at emergency medical services congress EMS2016, to be held in Copenhagen from 30 May to 1 June. The company will discuss using pre-emption priority control systems, technology to give emergency vehicles priority at signal-controlled intersections, allowing first responders to respond to incidents faster and more safely. In addition, on 31 May, GTT's market and development direct

From 2025, all new public transport buses operating in the Netherlands will be zero-emission vehicles, following an agreement signed by Environment Minister Sharon Dijksma with the country’s transport operators that all public transport buses coming into service from 2025 will be electric and hydrogen-powered. The provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg have already laid the foundations for this agreement, as bus companies in those two provinces will have switched completely to electric vehicles within a

Drivers who use cellphones while driving will soon face tougher penalties in British Columbia, Canada, after the government announced significantly higher fines, more penalty points and earlier interventions for repeat offenders, including driving prohibitions, as part of its push to eliminate distracted driving, a leading factor in deaths on BC roads. Effective from 1 June, the current penalty of $167 for distracted driving will increase to $543 for a first offence ($368 base fine, plus $175 in penalty

Copenhagen has been hailed as the most ‘vital’ city in a new study as a result of its strong sustainability, cycling and mobility credentials. The Future Spaces Foundation’s study, Vital Cities: Transport Systems Scorecard, an interactive data hub, awards connectivity ratings to twelve cities across the world. The research looks at key factors that make cities thrive, for example breathability, bike and foot networks, use of data and apps, ranking each city based on its performance across more than 30

As extreme pollution and congestion in urban areas coupled with limited transportation options continues to challenge major cities across the globe, market intelligence firm ABI Research, predicts an imminent rise in smart electric mobility. Data analysis forecasts global electric vehicle revenue will hit US$58 billion in 2021, more than five times its market value in 2015. "The role of vehicle electrification in urban areas is part of a broader smart mobility model that includes shared vehicles, chargi

Road transport organisation the IRU, the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Operation Lifesaver Estonia (OLE) have joined forces to raise awareness about level crossing safety amongst transport professionals. Their recently-published Level Crossing Safety aims to raise awareness of professional drivers of how to avoid risks potentially leading to a collision and reduce related accidents at this key interface between road and rail infrastructure. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

ITS America 2016 San Jose, with its theme of ‘Integrated Mobility. Transportation Redefined’ begins with pre-show public-private offerings on Sunday 12 June, including a discussion with state Department of Transportation executives on intelligent transportation deployment. Day 1 of the congress, on 13 June, will revolve around the Xerox-sponsored ‘Wheels & Things’, all things using, altering or creating new ITS technology. “We are in an exciting time in transportation with the changing face of cities,

Swedish city Linköping has introduced an innovative solution to enable drivers to locate available parking bays for motorists with disabilities. The designated parking bays, spread over 23 parking areas across the city, are equipped with Nedap’s wireless in-ground Sensit sensors which detect the occupancy status of each individual parking bay in the street and the parking duration. The sensors, which Swarco Sweden integrated with the city’s LinPark parking app, process occupancy data in real-time and dis

According to New York City Department of Transportation’s (NYC DOT) 2016 Cycling in the City brief, New York City has seen a recent dramatic increase in cycling, with the claim that the city has seen a 320 per cent increase in daily cycling between 1990 and 2014 and a 68 per cent growth in daily cycling between 2010 and 2014. The brief uses data collected by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) as part of its annual Community Health Survey, where 25 per cent of adult New Yorkers (almost 1.

Increasing traffic congestion, rising vehicle fleet size and growing technological advances will drive global traffic management market through 2021, according to the latest TechSci Research report, Global Traffic Management Market by Transportation Mode, By System Type, By Region, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011-2021. According to the research, the global market for traffic management is projected to surpass US$22 billion by 2021, due to rising demand for traffic management in roadways, ra

ITS Australia is to host a series of technical tours at this year’s ITS World Congress, to be held in Melbourne 10-14 October. A selection of Melbourne’s transport organisations will guide attendees through tours in Melbourne as well as Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland, New Zealand. Participants will be given a unique insight into the intricate details of systems that support the world’s most liveable city. Delegates will have the opportunity to take technical tours to: CityLink fully electronic toll road,

State Department of Transportation (DOT) executives in charge of intelligent transportation deployment will participate in a DOT roundtable, sponsored by HNTB, on 12June at 1500-1445 McEnery Convention Center as part of ITS America 2016 San Jose. These leaders will discuss their states’ experiences, successes, failures, challenges, and lessons learned in launching ITS projects while, on broader scale, endeavouring to prepare their states’ infrastructures to meet and support tomorrow’s ITS mobility dema

Mobility as a Service Australia (MaaS Australia), one of the investors and contributors to MaaS Finland, recently visited Helsinki to strengthen collaboration and to share their expertise in developing the MaaS concept into reality. During the visit, MaaS Australia members met a number of people from start-ups, transport operators and government who are involved in smart mobility. According to MaaS Australia director Andrew Somers, this network of innovators and the support and encouragement from govern

The New Zealand government has announced plans to double the number of electric vehicles in the country every year to reach approximately 64,000 by 2021 in an ambitious and wide ranging package of measures to increase the uptake of electric vehicles. The package also includes extending the road user charges exemption on light electric vehicles until they make up two percent of the light vehicle fleet and a new road user charges exemption for heavy electric vehicles until they make up two percent of the h