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The EU's TEN-T programme has awarded 75 research and innovation projects a total of US$540 million in research grants, aiming to make Europe's transport systems greener, safer, and more competitive. All transport modes are covered including road, rail, water and air transport, as well as environmentally friendly vehicles, intelligent transport systems (ITS) and improvements to logistics and freight systems. Numerous projects are concerned with sustainable urban mobility, such as the US$4.5 million Sil

The city of Annapolis, Maryland has awarded American Traffic Solutions (ATS) for the installation and operation of a red-light safety camera program with an initial term of five years along with provisions for future term extensions. In Texas, the Harris County Department of Education/Choice Partners has exercised its second of four one-year renewal options, ensuring that school districts in Texas that are members of Choice Partners may contract with ATS for school bus stop arm camera programs.

Auckland, New Zealand, Council’s Budget Committee has agreed to introduce an interim transport levy so that work can begin on fixing the city’s transport problems. The interim levy is in response to the majority of Aucklanders opting to pay more for the Auckland Transport Network Plan during public consultation and in an independent survey earlier this year. To fill the US$9 billion funding gap for the full Auckland Plan network, Auckland also opted for a motorway user charge.

The Annual Summit of the International Transport Forum (ITF) provides a platform for global discussion on strategies for transport in the 21st century. Since 2008, the Annual Summit has developed into the leading global get-together of the key players in transport and transport-related sectors, providing a unique platform for high-level exchange on strategic policy issues. The theme of the 2015 Summit is Transport, Trade and Tourism. It takes place in Leipzig, Germany from 27-29 May 2015, under the presi

The first six months of the pilot phase of SolaRoad, the first road in the world to generate solar power, have produced an energy yield beyond expectations, according to its Dutch developer, TNO. The cycle road, installed in Krommenie in the Netherlands, has already generated over 3,000 kWh. "We did not expect a yield as high as this so quickly,” says Sten de Wit, spokesman for SolaRoad. “This can provide a single-person household with electricity for a year, or power an electric scooter to drive of

Cubic Transportation Systems has been awarded the contract to deliver Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM) new Optimised Public Transport Integration System (OPTIS). OPTIS will contribute specifically to the delivery of two projects within the Smarter Travel package: Travel Information and Network Efficiency, the latter involving integration with TfGM’s AToM (Advanced Traffic Management) solution. The award is the culmination of two years’ work during which Cubic has established partnerships wi

Transportation solutions supplier McCain has reported on the positive deployment of its QuicTrac adaptive signal control technology along a busy corridor in Pueblo, Colorado. The installation, on behalf of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) Region 2 traffic section, successfully met all project goals including reducing travel times and stops, while maintaining or increasing corridor speed. Installed on an 8.2 mile stretch of US highway 50 in an effort to ensure traffic signal timing kept pa

The Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) will unveil a new connected vehicle training workshop at ITS America's 25th Annual Meeting and Exposition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The course is based on the successful Connected Vehicle 101 classes that the ITS JPO has been conducting since 2013. The workshop will be held on 31 May 31 in the Welk Room of the Omni William Penn Hotel. This instructor-led workshop builds on the Connected Vehicle 101 workshop by providing additional

Daimler Trucks launched its newly developed autonomous transport truck, the Freightliner Inspiration, at an event that turned the Hoover Dam in Nevada into a large projection screen. The Level 3 autonomous truck uses Highway Pilot sensors and hardware with cameras and radar to safely operate under a range of highway conditions, and has been granted a licence to operate in Nevada. The Freightliner Inspiration is based on the US Freightliner Cascadia model, but with the addition of the Highway Pilot techno

Driverless vehicles have begun operation on the Milan Metro line 5 extension which opened on the 29 April. Ansaldo STS delivered 19 trains to Milan Metro operator ATM, which will run on the extended 12.8 kilometre line to San Siro Stadio and will stop at five newly opened stations. A further five stations will be opened in October this year. The system allows remote supervision of daily train traffic and is able to change the frequency of trains to meet the fluctuating demands of daily traffic, ad

Iteris has released a third generation SmartCycle cycle detection and differentiation algorithm for its Vantage video detection platform. SmartCycle provides the unique capability of distinguishing cycles from other vehicles across all lanes of traffic. When a cycle is detected at an intersection, the system extends the green light for that phase, ensuring the cyclist is able to safely cross the intersection. This new generation enhances the accuracy and capabilities of the system to detect and diff

The Eurocouncil of the Federation Nationale de l’Automobile (FIA) claims that EU policymakers must take responsibility for facilitating the deployment of automated motoring. Made up of 73 FIA Automobile Clubs in Europe and with 37 million members, the Eurocouncil believes in the potential for automation to improve road safety, and urges EU institutions to streamline the deployment of this technology. The declaration was adopted at the annual FIA Region I Spring Meeting, taking place in Gammarth, Tunisia fro

Construction work on Line 2 of the Lima metro will get underway this month on Lima's eastern outskirts, according to government officials. Construction works include a tunnel and five stations along the central highway from the district of Ate to Santa Anita, said José Zárate, head of the electric train authority (AATE). The US$5.8 billion metro line is scheduled for completion by 2020, transport and communications minister José Gallardo said. The industrial district of Ate will be linked to Lima's city

Most battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) manufacturers in Europe and the US have been adopting onboard chargers with a power output between 3 to 3.7 kilowatts (kW), according to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan. Now, EV manufacturers are moving towards onboard chargers with a power output greater than 6.6 kW to reduce charging time. While high-end PHEVs are contributing to this trend, lower-end models in this segment are still using 3.7 kW onboard chargers. Consequently, onboard chargers

A new analytics platform and two associated services for measuring traffic and people movement have been launched by the vehicle data specialist Inrix. Inrix Insights is the first system of software to provide business and government with vehicle data for transportation and urban planning, retail site selection and measurement of advertising and marketing campaigns, the company claims. The platform leverages real time GPS data from a growing global network of over 250 million vehicles and con