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London’s DriveNow has expanded its car-sharing service with the addition of thirty BMW i3 electric vehicles (EVs). , The BMW/Sixt joint venture offers one-way flexible car-sharing in the North London boroughs of Islington, Hackney, Haringey and Waltham Forest. Following its launch in December 2014, this takes the growing fleet total to 270 vehicles being used across the boroughs, offering residents and businesses a viable alternative to use of private cars with it's on demand, pay per use model. Commentin

Deloitte's Public Sector Research organisation has released a report titled, Smart Mobility: Reducing congestion and fostering faster, greener, and cheaper transportation options, which indicates that the expansion of alternative modes of transportation could lead to reduced congestion and other benefits, and identified the types of transportation suited to a city or suburb. The study uses geospatial analytics, such as coupling location data with existing government data, to examine the potential conges

Daimler Trucks has become the world’s first manufacturer to be granted a road licence for an autonomous heavy-duty truck. The state of Nevada licensed two Freightliner Inspiration trucks for regular operation on public roads. The first journey in the Freightliner Inspiration truck equipped with the intelligent Highway Pilot system for autonomous driving took place on US highway 15 in Las Vegas.

Five prism signs have been installed Swarco Traffic to manage traffic control approaching an Enforcement Checksite operated by the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on the M74 motorway in Scotland. The signs have been installed at strategic points along the M74 by Beattock Summit to guide heavy vehicles into the nearside lane and direct selected vehicles into the weighbridge and inspection area. The signs feature a combination of control solutions with urban traffic management and control (UTMC)

The world’s first electrical car and passenger ferry powered by batteries has entered service in Norway. The unique solution is a result of a competition that Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration launched in 2010. The ferry only uses 150 kWh per route, which corresponds to three days use of electricity in a standard Norwegian household. Built in conjunction with shipbuilder Fjellstrand, Siemens installed the complete electric propulsion system and install

An innovative solution for managing traffic queues at international borders is the winner of the 2015 Transport Achievement Award offered by the International Transport Forum at the OECD. The Award recognises demonstrated achievement of excellence in transport provision that has improved, enabled or facilitated tourism. The GoSwift queue management service, an Estonian public-private partnership, allows pre-booking of time slots and virtual queuing for border crossings via the web, a call centre or self-

Highways England and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will see the two bodies work in partnership to develop shared priorities and a long-term vision for motorways and key roads across the city region. The move follows the formation of Highways England earlier this year, a government-owned company with a five-year budget of over US$17 billion to invest in England’s motorways and major A roads. The new joint document aims to support economic growth in

The Midlands Highway Alliance (MHA) has awarded AECOM and its supply partner Waterman Group a US$47 million professional services partnership (PSP) contract to deliver multidisciplinary professional design services. Under the three-year contract, which has the option to be extended by an additional year, AECOM and Waterman will support the 20 councils that are members of the MHA on highway projects across the Midlands. Formed in 2007, the MHA creates opportunities for local councils to collaborate in

According to the FTA Logistics Carbon Review 2015, Logistics Carbon Reduction Scheme (LCRS) members are leading the way in making significant progress in reducing carbon emissions – compared to the rest of the logistics industry. Released at the Freight Transport Association’s annual Logistics Carbon Reduction Conference last week, the report incorporates the fifth annual results of the LCRS and reveals that the freight industry is contributing to national climate change reduction targets. Rachael

The concession to build Panama City's metro line No. 2 has been awarded to a consortium comprised of Brazilian company Norberto Odebrecht and Spanish infrastructure giant FCC. The 22 kilometre long elevated line will connect the city's northern and eastern sectors and line No. 1. The consortium, known as Consorcio Línea 2, offered US$1.86 billion for civil works, US$50.7 million for maintenance works, and US$214 million for financing, totalling roughly US$2.2bn, according to Metro de Panama.

Singapore has won the rights to host the 26th Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) World Congress 2019. The ITS World Congress provides a platform for government transport agencies, industry players and academic/research institutions to exchange information, share views, as well as to review and showcase the latest global ITS products, services, plans, technological achievements and upcoming trends. This conference typically attracts about 5,000 participants from all over the world annually. Chew Men L

In a recently published Quinnipiac University poll, 49 per cent of voters on New York opposed a proposal to toll the East River bridges and at the same time reduce tolls on the ‘outer borough’ bridges between the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island and use the money for mass transit. Forty-four per cent backed the plan. Opposition to just setting tolls on the free East River bridges remains strong at 69 per cent, with just 27 per cent in favour, the independent poll finds. There is no group that co

Google has announced the next step in its autonomous vehicle program and is about to begin testing its new prototype self-driving vehicles on public roads. This summer, the company will move its cars from the test track to the roads with safety drivers aboard. The company has been rigorously testing the cars at its test facilities for several years. The new prototypes are based on the company’s existing fleet of self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs, which has logged nearly a million autonomous miles and recen

According to a new market research report by MarketsandMarkets, Intelligent Transportation Systems - Analysis and Forecast to 2014 – 2020, the intelligent transport systems (ITS) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.30 per cent from 2014 to 2020 and reach US$33.75 billion in 2020. The report describes the market trends, drivers and challenges of ITS market and forecasts the ITS market from 2013 to 2020, based on the various systems of ITS, applications, and geography. This report covers geographies

In its latest report, Global Bus Rapid Transport Systems (BRT) Market 2015-2019, Research and Markets analysts have forecast that the global Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRT) market will grow at a CAGR of 9.82 per cent over the period 2015-2019. BRT systems are highly sophisticated bus-based transit systems that are meant to deliver efficient, rapid, and cost-effective high capacity public transportation services. Apart from vehicles, BRT systems also comprise right-of-way lanes, on-board ITS and stations.