News

UITP has announced the creation of the International Urban Rail Platform for North America, which will bring together key rail industry players from the region and the rest of the world. This initiative aims to bring the North American rail scene into closer contact with UITP’s worldwide membership, to share knowledge and expertise and further advance the North American ‘rail renaissance’ currently underway, which has seen 23 new light rail systems in the USA since 1985, alongside the existing 36 LRT and

In a new report, authors Martin Cassini and Richard Wellings of the UK Institute of Economic Affairs demonstrate what they say are the negative social and economic effects of the government’s traffic management strategy, and argue for policies that harness voluntary cooperation among road-users. Using case-studies from around Britain, in conjunction with evidence from successful schemes in both Holland and Germany, they estimate that approximately 80 per cent of traffic lights could be ripped out in the UK.

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) is sponsoring three webinars to assist the Connected Vehicle Pilot sites, early installers and other interested stakeholders, as part of the Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment Program Technical Assistance Webinar series, which began last month. The Connected Vehicle Pilot Deployment Program seeks to combine connected vehicle and mobile device technologies in innovative and cost-effective ways. Ultimately, this program will improve traveller mobility and syste

The European Commission, which plans a strategy on connected vehicles later this year, has released a report outlining how to ‘catch up’ on connected vehicles as other countries―like the US and Japan―speed ahead, says EurActiv. Following a series of meetings, industry representatives, public authorities and EU officials have agreed on a shared vision for the coordinated deployment of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) in Europe. This is an important step towards connected cars as C-ITS ena

Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) engineers in Phoenix will get real-time information on the conditions of four interstate bridges in remote north-western Arizona thanks to technology funded by a US$768,000 Federal Highway Administration grant. To enhance safety and efficiency, ADOT will use the Accelerated Innovation Deployment Demonstration grant to add structural health monitoring systems to the Interstate 15 bridges, embedding sensors on the superstructures that record, analyze and share da

Siemens has been awarded a contract by Ansaldo STS to electrify the new double-track metro line 2 in Peru’s capital city, Lima, as well as the eight kilometre-long first phase of line 4 in the city. The two new metro lines will connect additional city districts and the international airport to the capital's mass transit network. The contract also includes the simultaneous extension of line 2 to the airport, the first phase of the future line 4. The project includes six feeder stations, two 20 kV cable

In advance of what turned out to be blizzard conditions along the US East Coast over the weekend, tolling authorities throughout the region shifted into high gear to prepare for the extreme, winter weather developments. “Toll facility operations sweat the details, plan well ahead, have the necessary tools and equipment needed for severe weather events and know how to use them,” said Patrick D. Jones, executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA). “Our t

According to the latest report from Research and Markets, by the end of 2014, the mileage of toll highways in China amounted to 162,600 km, including 106,700 km of toll expressways, accounting for 65.7per cent; there were 1,665 mainline toll stations on toll highways nationwide, 696.5 of which were the ones on expressways, making up 41.8 per cent. The report, China ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) Industry Report, 2015-2019, claims that by the end of Oct 2015, China had had 25.15 million electronic toll col

ASECAP, the European Association of tolled road infrastructures operators, is holding its annual meeting at the InterContinental Hotel, Madrid, Spain from 23-25 May. The event will explore the key role of the toll motorways in ensuring integrated and sustainable mobility in Europe and will offer the opportunity to discuss EU integrated transport approach and, more specifically, on how to meet the challenges towards the EU 2020 Strategy. It will also look into the future of transport from the current interna

According to GreenRoad Technologies, fleet performance solutions could help to reduce the alarming number of road accidents involving vans, which have risen by 11 per cent in the last year. The organisation says new data has revealed that the number of crashes involving vans across the UK rose by 11 per cent in a year to 14,043 during 2014. And across Europe, the cost of accidents is reckoned to be US$157 billion per year. David Rodriguez of GreenRoad Technologies said: “This latest data shows that accident

The EU-funded ARTRAC project has developed new sensor technologies which it believes could help meet the European Commission’s target of halving road accidents by 2020. The project, which includes carmakers Volkswagen and Fiat, developed an affordable radar sensor that uses multiple antennas to detect, classify and avoid obstacles on the road before collision and reduce the likelihood of vehicles colliding with pedestrians.

The International Bridge, Toll and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) Transportation Policy and Finance Summit will be held in Washington, DC on 13-15 March, bringing together individuals interested in transportation funding, road user charging (RUC) finance and policy to address the most effective ways to improve mobility in a constrained resource environment.

Mobile phone subscribers in Moscow will soon be able to enjoy the benefits of the city’s new mobile ticketing program. Digital security specialist Gemalto is supplying Russian mobile network operators MegaFon and VimpelCom with its UpTeq Multi-Tenant NFC SIM cards, which can be used with NFC smartphones.

A new survey from Xerox underscores the desire for self-driving cars and smart digital services like integrated apps and cashless payment by Europe’s Generation Z (those aged 18-24 years old). The study was conducted by TNS on behalf of Xerox between 5 and 26 October 2015 among 1,200 respondents in 12 cities across the UK, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. It revealed that by 2025, a third (32 per cent) of 18-24 year olds expect to be using self-driving cars, four in ten (41 per cent) say they w

According to Mayor Bill de Blasio, 2015 was officially the safest year on New York City streets since record-keeping began in 1910, thanks to the city’s Vision Zero program.He said the 231 traffic fatalities in 2015 are 66 lower than the 297 fatalities that occurred in 2013, the year before Vision Zero began. Pedestrian deaths, a historic low of 134 in 2015, fell 27 per cent during that period. The previous lows were 2011 with 249 traffic fatalities and 2014 with 139 pedestrian fatalities.