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On the heels of last week’s announcement that Toyota is putting more boots on the ground in Ann Arbor to study fully autonomous driving and advanced mobility, Toyota is to partner with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) at the Ann Arbor Connected Vehicle Test Environment (AACVTE) in an operational real-world deployment of connected vehicles and infrastructure. AACVTE is a real-world implementation of connected vehicle safety technologies being used by everyday driver

Martin Howell, Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) director of external affairs has joined the board of directors for the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Alliance launched in 2015 by Ertico, the European public/private partnership for intelligent transport systems. MaaS is a transportation vision for packaging demand-based transportation services, including public transport, car-sharing, rental cars, taxis and bike-sharing, onto a single platform with one payment account for users. Customers pay for what t

TomTom has collaborated with the French PSA Peugeot Citroen Group in an EU gathering of top politicians in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam. TomTom provided its HD Maps and RoadDNA to enable PSA Group to participate in the self-driving car demonstration in Amsterdam, where EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc and 28 EU Transport Ministers gathered under the Dutch EU presidency, to work towards eliminating regulatory and technical barriers around autonomous driving. The vehicles were used in a demo

On 14 April, European Transport Ministers released the Declaration of Amsterdam on Cooperation in the field of connected and automated driving. FIA Region I and its European Mobility Clubs welcome the Dutch Presidency’s ambition to facilitate the introduction of highly automated and connected vehicles throughout Europe by 2019. The document’s objective is to intensify cooperation, leading to the expected benefits of vehicle automation in terms of safety, efficiency and sustainability while also supporting v

Kapsch has recently become a member of the Car2Car Communication Consortium, an association of European vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, IT companies and research organisations. The goal of the Consortium is the improvement of both safety and efficiency of road traffic by means of new communication technology. Toward this end, it is dedicated to the standardisation and improved use of technology for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication as well as vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, together

US-based Econolite has partnered with Clean Slate Group to provide customisable anti-graffiti vinyl wraps for traffic cabinets in support of decoration and anti-graffiti programs. Econolite says the proprietary vinyl film used for the wraps can significantly reduce city costs associated with removing graffiti vandalism. The fade-resistant film also reduces maintenance costs by eliminating re-painting services. The anti-graffiti wraps are ideal for supporting decoration programs that include new and updat

Infrastructure firm AECOM has been selected to provide technical advisory services on the Hurontario light rail transit (LRT) projects in Mississauga and Brampton and the Hamilton LRT project in Hamilton, Canada, for Government of Ontario agency Metrolinx. The Hurontario and Hamilton LRT projects are part of the largest infrastructure investment in Ontario’s history and are expected to have a notable impact on regional transit by providing crucial links between many of the existing lines, as well as on t

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Strategic Outlook of Global Autonomous Driving Market in 2016, indicates that the autonomous driving market is all set to receive a huge boost with 80 per cent of automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) looking to finalise their automation technology roadmap in 2016. This trend is expected to pave the way for new business models in the automotive ecosystem. Once the market establishes a conducive testing environment and develops improved sensing capabilities, t

According to the Road Traffic Safety Directorate in Latvia, 16 speed cameras that are currently installed on various roads in the country have contributed greatly to improving traffic safety and another 24 cameras will be installed this year. In some locations where many serious traffic accidents were previously recorded, there have been no more accidents with fatalities since the installation of speed cameras, which the Road Traffic Safety Directorate says proves once again that speed cameras are very e

Clearview Intelligence, which has been working with Nedap Identification Systems over the past year on the installation of car park monitoring solutions in a number of UK retail and employee car parks, has been awarded Nedap’s Certified Partner status for wireless vehicle detection. The recent installation of Clearview’s Insight Parking solution incorporating Nedap’s Sensit wireless parking sensor technology at the flagship Next retail store in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and the National Grid employee

A new Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study, which looked at the impact of speed limit increases in 41 states over a 20-year period starting in 1993, shows that increases in speed limits over two decades have cost 33,000 lives in the US In 2013 alone. The increases resulted in 1,900 additional deaths, essentially cancelling out the number of lives saved by frontal airbags that year. "Although fatality rates fell during the study period, they would have been much lower if not for states' dec

The province of Ontario is partnering with Thales Canada, a subsidiary of France-based Thales Group, to develop the next generation of rail signalling solutions for the province’s railways. Ontario, which is home to almost half of Canada’s full time R&D personnel, will invest up to US$9.4 million (CA$12 million) through the Jobs and Prosperity Fund with the overall project investment value set to reach approximately US$62.5 million (CA$80 million). Ontario, which spends more than US$11 billion (CA$14 bi

The latest report from RnR Market Research indicates that one of the major factors positively impacting the intelligent transport systems market is the growing need for public safety as collision avoidance and dynamic warning systems are introduced to reduce the frequency of accidents by making users more aware of their surroundings. The analysts forecast global intelligent transport systems market to grow at a CAGR of 8.23 per cent during the period 2016-2020. The report, Global Intelligent Transport Sy

Ford recently conducted tests at its Arizona proving ground to determine how autonomous cars could navigate at night without headlights. According to Ford, it’s an important development, in that it shows that even without cameras, which rely on light, Ford’s LiDAR, working with the car’s virtual driver software, is robust enough to steer around winding roads. While it’s ideal to have all three modes of sensors, radar, cameras and LiDAR, the latter can function independently on roads without stoplights.

US-based Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) has entered into a partnership with Middle East IT specialist and systems integrator Omnix International to distribute their products in the region. GTT, makers of Opticom priority control solutions and Canoga traffic-sensing solutions, began expanding into the international market last year by creating partnerships with established regional companies. GTT vice president of EMEA markets Richard Eltze says the company's focus on smart mobility solutions, incl