News

In a new report Carplus sets out how car clubs in new developments can work to reduce parking requirements, optimise land use and make developments viable in areas of parking pressure. According to Carplus, one car club vehicle replaces as many as ten privately owned vehicles, freeing up space whilst allowing people to have access to a car alongside public transport, walking and cycling.

New Zealand-based infrastructure investment company has announced a US$30m deal with US electric vehicle powertrain manufacturer Wrightspeed to supply its Route 500, which it intends to deploy on its public transport business through NZ Bus. Wrightspeed's Route 500 range-extended powertrain is capable of powering vehicles weighing up to 36,000 pounds, in grades as steep as 40 per cent, and maintains an efficient drive, with an estimated 11.1 miles per gallon gasoline equivalent. The 80kW, fuel agnostic fulc

French transport tech developer Adgero will unveil what it says is the world’s first operational energy-saving, hybrid electric system for road transport at the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham next week. Adgero’s hybrid technology consists of an electrically driven axle mounted under the semi-trailer, powered by a bank of ultra capacitors, and controlled by intelligent management software that automatically controls regenerative braking and acceleration boost.

Abellio Greater Anglia, a subsidiary of transport provider Abellio Group, and Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) have been awarded Product Innovation of the Year at the SmartRail Europe Innovation Awards 2016. The award, announced April 19 in Amsterdam, recognizes the best and most innovative products in the rail and metro industry.

TomTom and Norwegian road construction and maintenance software developer Sima are to collaborate to offer Sima24 applications based on TomTom’s Bridge solution, a hardware platform that seamlessly connects business applications with TomTom technology. TomTom Bridge provides an open platform to enable users to connect Android-based business applications seamlessly with TomTom navigation solutions, helping to provide mobility solutions on a single device.

SMRT Services and 2Getthere have formed a joint venture to market, supply and operate 2getthere’s automated vehicle systems in the Asia-Pacific region. The new Singapore-based JV, 2getthere Asia, will jointly market, install, operate and maintain the Automated Vehicle systems for customers in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific. The JV aims to showcase 2getthere’s third generation Group Rapid Transit (GRT) vehicle capabilities in Singapore by the end of the year, highlighting the vehicle’s new features.

Analysis released during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month by American Traffic Solutions (ATS), Distracted on Red, showcases the dangers of distracted driving behaviour and impact on red-light running. ATS sampled data from 67 intersections with red-light safety cameras across the United States over a three-month period. Distractions were coded into several categories, including cell phone use, looking away, eyes closed, smoking, eating/drinking, reading and applying make-up. ATS data showed distr

In an effort to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage cycling, the city of Liverpool in the UK has installed Flir’s thermal imaging technology to give cyclists a head start at two busy intersections and make cycling safer. The City is keen to make cycling easier and more convenient in the city and plans to invest in the creation of a network of safe cycle routes, improvements in safety training and enforcement, and ensuring that cycling is included in council policies.

South Gloucestershire Council has purchased two mobile speed indicator signs (SIDs) from UK company Traffic Technology, which will be used to monitor traffic speeds at sites where there is a community concern about speeding vehicles or a history of speed-related injury accidents. The signs will be installed following a site survey to ascertain whether there is a problem with inappropriate speed. SID is a rugged, lightweight radar activated speed indication display that can be used at temporary or perm

Legal uncertainty and a lack of uniform implementation of existing European and international legislation by Member States is holding back EU-wide digitalisation of the transport logistics sector, says the Association of European Vehicle Logistics, ECG. Lack of standardisation at European level regarding multimodal transport e-documents is a barrier to seamless, streamlined, flexible transport logistics within the EU. The economic, social and environmental advantage of e-documentation is clear. The 16.5

US financial research organisation Fitch Ratings has released its spring US Transportation Trends report which indicates that growth will remain healthy for all three US major transportation sectors (airports, ports and toll roads) this year. Commenting on toll roads, Fitch notes that low fuel prices have boosted growth in traffic (6.6 per cent) and revenue (8.3 per cent) since the second half of 2015. The south-east and south-west US have and will continue to lead in traffic performance. The higher rate

Q-Free has appointed Håkon Volldal as its new chief executive officer; he will take up his new position on 1 August. Volldal is currently executive vice president and head of business area for TOMRA Collection Solutions, where he has held several senior positions since 2004. “I am impressed with Q-Free’s history, solutions and ability to adapt to changing market needs over time. I really look forward to joining the Q-Free organisation and I trust I can use my experience to contribute to profitable gr

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced the latest project selections for the Low and No-Emission Vehicle Deployment Program, known as Low-No. Seven transit providers in five states will receive a share of US$22.5 million toward transit buses and related facilities that utilise battery-electric, fuel cell and other innovative technologies to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and improve operating efficiency. FTA awarded the FY 2015 funds after a hi

PTV Group’s head of global research, Professor Dr Christoph Walther, has been appointed to a four-year term on the World Road Association (WRA) Road Transport System Economics and Social Development Committee. Together with experts from around the world, he will deal with issues concerning transport reliability and ex-post evaluation of transport infrastructure projects. Supported by the governments of its member countries, the WRA aims to promote international cooperation in roads and road transport. Ex

Flir’s new Certified System Engineer two-day course provides certified training on automatic incident detection and data collection solutions using Flir intelligent transportation systems visual and thermal detection systems. The interactive and hands-on training takes place in Ghent, Belgium on 14 and 15 June; topics covered include: The architecture and principles of thermal and visual detection; Camera selection and position; Safety and security in tunnels, on highways and bridges; Traffic data collec