News

Following its recent announcement of new directors Imtech Traffic & Infra has now announced its new name, Dynniq, which it calls a modern name to match its ambitions and focus on technology and innovation in three markets: mobility, parking and energy. The company has many years of experience in managing mobility and energy issues and is responsible for the delivery of several progressive projects, such as the intelligent intersections in Helmond, Netherlands where the traffic flow has been improved by

A recent report by US Volpe experts identifies eleven emerging technologies and innovative applications that may have significant impacts on our transportation systems within three to five years. The report, 2015 OST-R Transportation Technology Scan: A Look Ahead, identifies technological advances and innovative concepts, along with their associated benefits, challenges and risks that could fundamentally alter the transportation landscape:

In collaboration with Finnish plastics manufacturer Coreplast Laitila, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed a reflector that can be wirelessly controlled via a mobile phone application. A traditional reflector, carried by a pedestrian and equipped with sensors, LED lights and wireless charging and communication, can be made to blink and alert vehicle drivers when the pedestrian is approaching a dangerous crossing. In the future, researchers say it could communicate directly with smart traf

Vehicles equipped with front crash prevention are much less likely to rear-end other vehicles, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found in the first study of the feature's effectiveness using US police-reported crash data. The study found that systems with automatic braking reduce rear-end crashes by about 40 per cent on average, while forward collision warning alone cuts them by 23 per cent. The automatic braking systems also greatly reduce injury crashes.

British companies Westfield Sportscars, Heathrow Enterprises and Oxbotica have joined the GATEway (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment) project in Greenwich and are currently developing driverless shuttles for operation in Greenwich in summer 2016. Using entirely British engineering and software capabilities, the new consortium members will be developing the existing UltraPods currently in service at Heathrow Airport into fully autonomous and electric passenger shuttles. Operating at Terminal 5 for ne

Advanced traveller information system (ATIS) solutions provider Iteris successfully disseminated real-time actionable traveller information to residents and travellers in Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia during the record-breaking storm that brought up to 40 inches of snow in parts of the US East Coast. A snapshot of Iteris’ system dissemination statistics showed that: Telephone calls to the 511 phone system increased 231 per cent; Website user sessions surged by 1,210 per cent; Mobile ap

The Western Road Usage Charge Consortium (WRUCC) of the US has appointed sustainable transportation funding specialist D’Artagnan to develop a roadmap for states to consider road usage charges. Eleven WRUCC member states will collaborate to study and adapt best practices from successful road usage charge efforts around the globe Road usage charging (RUC) has grown in popularity in recent years among state government officials in search of long-term solutions to address declining gas tax revenues. However, t

Danish regional energy and fibre broadband provider EnergiMidt and Swiss technology company Paradox Engineering are to partner on the development of innovative smart city networks and provide advanced services to public sector and private business customers in Denmark. The two companies are already collaborating on a smart lighting and smart parking pilot project in the village of Almind, in the community of Viborg, Denmark, to test both smart lighting and smart parking solutions to evaluate possible extens

Four cities have been awarded significant funds to promote green vehicle technology after successfully bidding for a share of a multi-million pot created to support the take-up of plug-in electric cars across the UK. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced the winners of the Go Ultra Low City Scheme, after the successful cities proposed a number of initiatives to support greener vehicles as part of a government competition.

Innovation and excellence will be rewarded at Intertraffic 2016, 5-8 April in Amsterdam, when the winners of the 2016 Intertraffic Innovation Awards will be announced. An international jury has scrutinised 91 potential candidates and after careful analysis and intense consideration has shortlisted 15 final entries. Awards will be presented in five categories – Infrastructure, Traffic Management, Safety, Parking, and Smart Mobility. One of these five winners will then be chosen as the overall winner of the 2

San Francisco’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has allocated US$494 million to help more than 20 Bay Area transit agencies replace or rehabilitate aging buses, ferries, rail cars, tracks and bridges; update safety, control and communications systems; install new fare-collection equipment; maintain services for elderly and disabled passengers; and make other capital improvements. The commitment includes US$447 million of federal transportation funds, supplemented by US$47 million of revenues fr

In the wake of the VW emissions scandal in late 2015, the European Commission has published its proposed revision of vehicle type approval legislation. In a clear effort towards reform, the Commission calls for market surveillance for vehicles after their release. The proposal increases the oversight of type approval authorities and introduces regular checks from independent market surveillance authorities.

A new report from IDTechEx Research, Printed and Flexible Electronics in Automotive Applications 2016-2026, indicates that the market for printed and flexible electronics in vehicles is expected to grow to over US$5.5 billion dollars in the next decade, spearheaded by the projected growth of in-mould electronics and OLED technologies. Printed and flexible electronics are beginning to proliferate, with a variety of components and devices coming to market. Several end-user verticals are expected to benefit

Jacobs Engineering Group is to provide the Welsh Government with technical advisory services for the upgrade of sections 5 and 6 of the A465 between Dowlais Top and Hirwaun. The A465 is a key transport link in Wales and forms part of the trans-European transport network. It is an important strategic route for the urban area of South Wales, providing routes between key settlements. It connects South and West Wales to the Midlands and beyond, to ports serving Ireland, and to other European destinations.

NaviSite Europe is to provide engineering solutions provider Costain with its NaviSite hybrid cloud hosting services to support the roll out of its complex Electronic Service Delivery for Abnormal Loads (ESDAL) application for Highways England. UK legislation requires highways authorities, structure owners and the police to be notified of vehicles and their loads exceeding standard dimensions. Costain developed the ESDAL application to automate this process and worked with NaviSite to provide a secure a