News

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has unveiled the new measures Transport for London (TfL) is introducing to ease traffic in the capital and minimise disruption on the roads as major work to improve the network continues as part of the Mayor’s US$6 billion Road Modernisation Plan. The innovations include: Trials of new technology - for the first time on the TfL road network a new generation of digital road signs will provide people with real-time information on journeys using major routes into London.

Metrolinx and York Region Rapid Transit Corporation (YRRTC) today announced the award of a US$248 million contract to the EDCO joint venture to design, build and finance the next phase of the dedicated York Viva Bus Rapid Transit rapidways along the Highway 7 transit corridor Southern Ontario, Canada. This initiative is part of the York Viva BRT project which represents a US$1 billion transit investment from the Government of Ontario and is part of Metrolinx's 25-year Regional Transportation Plan for an

Kapsch TrafficCom has secured a new contract in Chile through a subsidiary company. It will implement the tolling system and intelligent transport system (ITS) for the first 15 km of the Ruta 5 Norte, located in the north of Santiago and operated by Sociedad Concesionaria Autopista del Aconcagua (SCADA). The contract, valued at around US$23 million including maintenance services, includes all the technology needed to upgrade a highway section into the urban standard of Santiago, including ten multi-lane

A European research project led by Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands makes real-time information available for the whole transport chain for the first time. The GET Service software platform, which is being presented at an international symposium in Rotterdam on 1 October, enables a flexible response to unforeseen circumstances, making transport faster, more environmentally friendly and cheaper each year by many billions. The researchers are confident that the total fuel consumption

In December 2015 the California Road Charge Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will complete its pilot project design recommendations as directed by California Senate Bill 1077 (2014). Vendor procurement will begin once the TAC’s recommendations are complete and submitted. The pilot test is scheduled to commence in summer 2016. D’Artagnan Consulting is hosting a workshop on 4-6 November on behalf of the California State Transportation Agency and the California Department of Transportation for vendors int

A new report by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), in conjunction with AT&T, investigates how evolving mobile technology and changing demands of the traveling public are shaping the future of transportation in a more connected world. This report, entitled Rise of the Real-Time Traveler, examines the public’s changing demographics and purchasing behaviors while focusing on shared-use mobility in an increasingly connected world. Utilizing a broad array of research, this report

A city with half a million inhabitants would save about US$11.8 million per year if its buses ran on electricity instead of diesel, according to analysis conducted the Volvo Group and audit and advisory firm KPMG. The analysis has taken into consideration such factors as noise, travel time, emissions, energy use, taxes and the use of natural resources. The analysis was based on a city with about half a million inhabitants and 400 buses. If the buses were run on electricity instead of diesel, the total an

Q-Free Open Roads has been awarded a US$1.8 million one-year extension to its contract with the Virginia Department of Transportation for the supply of transportation operations technology support services and maintenance of the Open TMS advanced transport management systems (ATMS) system. “We are pleased to receive this extension order for technology service, support and maintenance of the Q-Free Open Roads ATMS in Virginia. This continues our strong relationship with the Virginia Department of Transpor

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced the availability of US$22.5 million through the latest round of the low or no emission vehicle deployment program (LoNo) that will help deploy the next generation of energy-efficient vehicles nationwide. The funds are intended to encourage adoption of green technologies in transit buses, such as hydrogen fuel cells and electric and hybrid engines. The program focuses on commercialising the cleanest and most energy-ef

A Belgian court has confirmed a ban on controversial ride-sharing app UberPOP, giving it 21 days to close operations in Brussels or risk massive penalties. UberPOP is the cheaper and less regulated service from Uber, the Silicon Valley start-up with a valuation of some US$50 billion that launched in capitals across Europe, often in open violation of local taxi laws. A spokesman for Uber confirmed the decision from the Brussels court, which followed a ban decided in April 2014 that the company ignored.

With 35 live, technical and interactive ITS demonstrations at this year’s World Congress there will be plenty of opportunities to see and experience first-hand the latest technology being developed and implemented in the industry. Each of the demonstrations will take place in the immediate vicinity of the Congress Exhibition Hall during the World Congress. Some demonstration highlights in each of the categories include: Space technologies and services for ITS: the Satellite Applications Catapult will dis

In light of the VW emissions testing scandal, FIA Region I continues to urge the introduction of a more rigorous testing procedure for vehicle emissions and fuel consumption in the EU. Although vehicles are passing the tests, a growing body of evidence shows that virtually no vehicle, whether diesel or petrol, can comply with emissions levels achieved in testing when in real-world settings. The FIA and its members have consistently supported the introduction of a robust test cycle and real driving emiss

Spanish technology company SICE is to design the integrated tunnel management system for Waterview Tunnel in Auckland, New Zealand, which is part of the Waterview Connection project. One of the most important infrastructure developments ever to take place in New Zealand, the Waterview Connection will complete a motorway ring route around the city. The project will be delivered by the Well Connected consortium, comprising local companies Fletcher Construction, Beca Infrastructure and Tonkin & Taylor, alon

ADVA Optical Networking has successfully completed a rigorous trial of its 400Gbit/s coherent data centre interconnect (DCI) technology with the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Centre (PSNC), conducted over 385 kilometres of fibre between two research and education centres in Poznan and Warsaw. The ADVA FSP 3000 CloudConnect with its unique DCI technology transported data continuously for 14 hours without any block errors. ADVA Optical Networking used software-defined optics to deliver flexible data

A coalition of European partners has launched the Hydrogen Mobility Europe project (H2ME), co-funded with US$36 million from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU). The project will support the deployment of 200 fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), 125 fuel cell range-extended electric (FC RE-EVs) commercial vans and 29 new hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK by 2019. H2ME is based around an