News

Following the publication of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute/Inrix report on urban traffic congestion in the US, Robert Puentes, senior fellow with the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program , says that while the focus and themes of the report are largely the same as previous years, big changes are underway in how we study, think about, and address metropolitan traffic congestion. This new, modern approach calls into question whether the endless pursuit of congestion relief makes sense a

APT Skidata is to deliver a fully integrated parking solution for the Bradford Broadway shopping centre development – the UK’s largest retail centre to be opened in 2015. Currently in its final construction phase, the shopping centre, situated in the heart of Bradford’s retail district, is part of a wider urban regeneration project in Bradford, ‘Connecting the City’, and is due to open on 5 November.

The USDOT's Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Professional Capacity Building (PCB) Program is to host a free Talking Technology and Transportation (T3) webinar to discuss workforce skills that support the future connected vehicle (CV) environment. The webinar, entitled Connected Vehicle Workforce, is scheduled for 10 September from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm EST.

Larry Yermack, strategic advisor of Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) is to be a panellist at the ‘A Trip into the Future of the Industry’ session of the IBTTA 83rd Annual Meeting and Exhibition, taking place in Dublin, Ireland from 30 August to 2 September. Yermack will join a panel of experts offering perspectives on new technologies, policies and business decisions that may impact the toll industry.

Siemens has been awarded a US$156 million contract by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to install communications-based train control (CBTC) on the Queens Boulevard Line, one of the busiest subway lines on the New York City transit system. Siemens is supplying the onboard equipment for a total of 305 trains and installing the wayside signalling technology at seven of eight field locations.

UK gas distribution company SGN is expecting to save in the region of US$1.5 million by implementing a driver performance improvement programme across its 2,000-strong fleet. The company, which operates across the south of England and the whole of Scotland, , is using TomTom Telematics technology, including driver behaviour improvement system OptiDrive 360, to tackle inefficient practice.

In-vehicle lane-departure warning systems can help reduce the risk of dangerous run-off-the-road crashes, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Minnesota’s HumanFIRST Laboratory. “Run-off-the-road crashes are a huge concern, especially in rural areas,” says project co-investigator Jennifer Cooper, a HumanFIRST Lab assistant scientist. “Crash statistics tell us they contribute to more than half of all vehicle fatalities nationwide and that these crashes occur most often on two-la

Don’t miss the ITS World Congress programme highlights webinar on Friday 4 September at 1300 CEST. Senior Congress Programme Advisor Eric Sampson and Director of Congresses Didier Gorteman will walk participants through this year’s Congress programme, highlighting some of the most engaging sessions and events of the week, including This includes the opening and closing ceremonies, three plenary sessions, two high-level technology summits, fourteen executive sessions, a public afternoon open to all and ma

A driverless truck, demonstrated this week by Pennsylvania vehicle manufacturer Royal Truck and Equipment, could help improve workzone safety, says the company. The truck, fitted with special rear-end crash attenuators and lights, was demonstrated using GPS waypoints and following a lead car, mimicking its path, braking and speed. The company has teamed up with Micro Systems to integrate military technology into truck mounted attenuators (TMA), which are used on many roads in the US to protect workers

Aiming to fight worsening traffic congestion on San Diego’s roads, city officials have created a US$163 million master plan to install modern stoplight timing systems and other advanced technologies that combat gridlock, says the San Diego Union-Tribune. The master plan, the first of its kind in city history, comes as many neighbourhoods are bracing for more dense developments to absorb the region’s growing population. In addition, recent analysis by the San Diego Association of Governments shows that

The 2015 urban mobility scorecard for the US, published jointly by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Inrix, indicates that urban areas of all sizes are experiencing the challenges seen in the early 2000s and population, jobs and therefore congestion are increasing. The US economy has regained nearly all of the nine million jobs lost during the recession and the total congestion problem is larger than the pre-recession levels. Cities of all sizes are experiencing the challenges last seen before t

Msheireb Properties, a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation, has awarded Qatar-based Traffic Tech (Gulf) a car parking management system contract for the prestigious Msheireb Downtown Doha (MDD) project. The project is an important operational milestone, comprising the integration and future management of what is said to be one of the most complex car park systems in the world, with 10,000 parking spaces and over 200 gated entry/exits. Traffic Tech will design, fabricate, deliver, install and maintain the

Sensys Gatso Group has received an order for traffic safety systems, including red-light and speed camera systems as well as software design from a new customer in the Middle East. The order, worth US$783,000, is the third order received since June from a new customer in the territory and is expected to be delivered during the fourth quarter 2015. “I am delighted to see that we continue to strengthen our footprint in the Middle East and that our cooperation with this new customer is evolving” says T

High speed trains are poised to link Fort Worth to Houston and other metropolitan areas in Texas, following the approval by the Regional Transportation Council (RTC) of US$4.5 million up to 2018 for planning, design, project development and preliminary engineering. The plan calls for US$1.5 million per year to be spent on these activities starting in 2016. Texas Central Partners is working to deliver high speed rail in the Dallas-Fort Worth-to-Houston corridor by 2021, allowing travellers a smooth, conge

The 22nd ITS World Congress in Bordeaux will be host to 35 live, technical and interactive ITS demonstrations, each of which will take place in the immediate vicinity of the Congress Exhibition Hall during the World Congress. The demonstrations characterise the seven topics of the congress, including: Space technologies and services for ITS; Cooperative ITS deployment challenges; Multimodal transport for people and goods; Urban trends driving ITS changes; Solutions for sustainable mobility; Automated roa