News

Cubic has opened an Innovation Centre in London with the aim of advancing mobility in urban transportation. The centre is effectively a space that can be configured to accommodate any number of business needs and will be used as a meeting venue for company employees, transport planners and operators, universities and research establishments from the UK and elsewhere. It will host discussions about all travel modes (roads, bikes, bus, walking, rail, metro, and ferry) as well as the interaction between mod

Verband Region Stuttgart (Stuttgart regional association) and Robert Bosch are to launch an pilot active parking lot management project to provide drivers with real time parking information via an app or online. Fifteen park and ride facilities to be equipped with Bosch occupancy sensors to identify unoccupied parking spaces on a minute-by-minute basis and communicate this information in real time via the VVS Transit and Tariff Association Stuttgart app and website. Eleven cities and communities in the

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has received its eighth Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its work in improving road worker safety. The Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards recognise achievements in road safety and are presented to the most outstanding road safety initiatives across the world. TRL won the prestigious award for its research underpinning off side signs removal (OSSR), a signing technique for road works which has enabled elimination of live carriage

Austrian railway telecommunication specialist Kapsch CarrierCom has joined the European rail joint technology initiative SHIFT²RAIL, which focuses on research and innovation to accelerate the development of new technologies, products and solutions for railways. Kapsch will contribute its expertise to SHIFT²RAIL’s Innovation Program 2 (IP2) for advanced traffic management and control systems and will carry out the analysis, specification and implementation of a prototype for an emergency call application

In the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Germany's transport minister Alexander Dobrindt has announced that major automakers would have to disclose their engine software to state regulators, according to German website The Local. Dobrindt also announced there would be follow-up tests by the state motor transport authority KBA to double-check the results of exhaust tests ordered by the manufacturers. The minister said there would be "a comprehensive package of measures" to tighten the approval

Siemens has chosen Ann Arbor, Michigan as the company’s first centre of excellence for intelligent traffic technology. Siemens will provide Ann Arbor with its latest innovative hardware and software technology to help expand the city’s smart traffic system infrastructure. Ann Arbor will be among the country’s first real-world implementations of this latest intelligent traffic technology and the partnership will allow the city to continue to modernise and enhance its transportation systems, while enablin

The UK's first ever tram train has been unveiled in South Yorkshire. Vehicles from this government-funded project are designed to run on both the city’s tramlines and the rail network between Sheffield and Rotherham. This will allow passengers to make single journey between tram stops and conventional rail stations from early 2017, once the works are complete. Prior to this, the tram trains will undergo a period of testing, before being introduced on the Supertram network in summer 2016, to provide extra

Ford is investing an additional US$4.5 billion in electrified vehicle solutions, adding 13 new electrified vehicles to its portfolio by 2020, when more than 40 per cent of the company’s global brands will come in electrified versions. This represents Ford’s largest-ever electrified vehicle investment in a five-year period. On the way next year is a new Focus Electric, which features all-new DC fast-charge capability delivering an 80 percent charge in an estimated 30 minutes and projected 100-mile range

Sydney Trains, which provides railway services in the city of Sydney and surrounding area, has awarded Indra a contract valued at around US$52.6 million to modernise the railway network video surveillance system, using state-of-the-art technology. The project is expected to be completed within five years and includes maintenance for three years. Indra will fully equip two control centres using closed-circuit television (CCTV) in a network of over 150 commuter stations, and will install state-of-the-art o

Atkins North America is to play a key role in the development of a freeway that aims to boost safety, mobility and accessibility in Las Vegas. Considered the most important and ambitious project in Nevada Department of Transportation's (NDOT) history, it also accommodates regional economic redevelopment through improved access to downtown Las Vegas and the Resort Corridor. As design lead on the team led by Kiewit Infrastructure West, Atkins will manage all design and engineering services for NDOT’s Pr

Kapsch TrafficCom has reached an agreement with Schneider Electric to acquire its global transportation business. Formerly operating as Telvent Tráfico y Transporte, the business offers an industry portfolio of integrated advanced traffic management software (ATMS) solutions for urban, highway and tunnel applications as well as tolling and transit solutions. This acquisition will enable Kapsch TrafficCom to offer its current and future customers around the globe an integrated portfolio of intelligent tr

The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) reached a major milestone when it switched on the automated payment option at several of its toll plazas, meaning that road users with electronic tags no longer have to stop to pay tolls manually with cash or credit cards. Automated payment is carried out automatically through a tag fitted to the vehicle to identify the account holder, debit their toll account with the appropriate toll fees and automatically open the toll boom, without the need to stop and

Tachometer breaks, the mandatory rest stops commercial operators must take when driving, were the cause of nearly 1,700 road closures in one year alone, according to newly released figures from IAM Drive & Survive. According to the Road Haulage Association, 85 per cent of everything sold in the UK is carried by truck at some stage of the supply chain, with this number set to increase as more retail purchases are made online in the run up to Christmas. The numbers come from a Freedom of Information re

On 10 December, Elżbieta Bieńkowska, European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, took a part in the presentation of a fully autonomous car at Munich airport. The event was designed to highlight the role that driverless cars could play in enabling safer and more efficient vehicles, while also addressing legislative and consumer challenges posed by this new technology. The event coincided with the launch of the new European Commission high level group for the automotive

An autonomous car developed by Chinese language Internet search provider Baidu has successfully completed rigorous, fully autonomous tests on one route with mixed roads under a variety of environmental conditions, says the company. The Baidu autonomous car is the first in China to have demonstrated full autonomy under mixed road conditions, marking a milestone in China's autonomous driving effort. The road tests were carried out under complex road conditions, and the Baidu vehicle, a modified BMW 3 Serie