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Two major companies in the field of signage systems for highways, urban and rail sectors have joined forces, Variable Message Signs Limited (VMSL) and Techspan Systems, creating a stronger business with a broad product range and an extensive technical capability. Following the acquisition of VMSL in 2014, Hill & Smith Limited realised the opportunity to create a world class provider of variable message signs and systems as part of its HS Roads Technology Division. The new combined business will operate und

With 16 million UK motorists set to take to the roads this Easter weekend, a new European survey finds that risky driving habits and failure to respect the rules are on the increase. The annual survey carried out for Vinci Autoroutes Foundation for Responsible Driving by IPSOS examined the behaviour of drivers from ten European countries. Each year, this survey draws up an inventory of driving practices and trends, allowing closer targeting of methods to prevent irresponsible driving and promote safer ro

AlMadinah AlMunawwarah Development Authority (MMDA) has appointed professional services company Louis Berger as program management office consultant (PMOC) for implementation of the AlMadinah AlMunawwarah Public Transportation Program (MPTP) in Madinah, one of the most ambitious transportation infrastructure initiatives in the Middle East. The value of the PMOC contract is approximately US$100 million. The contract will extend over a five year period, during which time Louis Berger will support and assis

Honda has announced a joint venture with the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) to test its driverless Acura RLX sedan at the Concord Naval Weapons Station in California. In conjunction with the City of Concord, Honda will use the newly branded GoMentum Station test-bed site at the CNWS to advance its technologies. Honda also plans to participate in a consortium committed to making Contra Costa County home to a premier testing facility for automated drive technologies. GoMentum Station, a

Kapsch CarrierCom and the Algerian railways operator SNTF (Société Nationale des Transports Ferroviaires) are to partner in a joint venture in to make the Algerian railway system fit for the future. The Rail-Telecom agreement anticipates a knowledge transfer initiative, the supervision and maintenance of the Algerian railways telecommunication networks, including the nationwide Global System for Mobile Communications - Railway (GSM-R) and Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) fiberglass backbone, and futu

The International Bridge, Toll and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) has applauded the Grow America Act 2.0 just released by the US Administration and US DOT. It says that once again, the Administration has boldly called for lifting the ban on Interstate tolling for the purpose of reconstruction, giving states greater flexibility to meet their challenging infrastructure and surface transportation needs. The six-year, US$478 is said to be US$126 billion more than current investment levels and US$238 billion mo

Trafficware’s release of its Synchro plus SimTraffic Version 9.1 traffic optimisation and simulation tool adds traffic impact analysis (TIA), a feature designed to assess the adequacy of existing or future arterial traffic generated by proposed property developments. Synchro’s traffic impact analysis will streamline traffic engineers’ workload by automatically generating routes into and out of a proposed development, automating calculations for trip assignments and distributions and facilitating planni

ASECAP, the association of European tolling companies, has published a report which outlines the challenges facing authorities and tolling companies in the European Union in complying with the Directives 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU. The new directives come into force in April 2016 and refine and strengthen the definition of a concession and establish procurement rules for contracting authorities in respect of public contracts. One of the key areas in defining a concession is that the concessionaire must b

TomTom’s today 5th annual Traffic Index, the barometer of traffic congestion in over 200 cities worldwide, reveals rising congestion levels around the globe In addition, for the first time, the Index took an in-depth look at the true impact of rush hour traffic on the work week, uncovering that evening rush hour nearly doubles the journey time for car commuters. The analysis of 12 trillion pieces of traffic data worldwide revealed that the evening rush hour is the most congested time of day. Traffic co

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a method of combining vehicle-level data with less precise, but more comprehensive, city-level data on traffic patterns to produce better information than current systems provide. They claim this reduce delays, improve efficiency, and reduce emissions. The new findings are reported in a pair of papers by assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering Carolina Osorio and alumna Kanchana Nanduri, published in the journals Tra

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced US$4.38 million in grants from the Federal Highway Administration’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) demonstration program to Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Vermont and Virginia. The grants will be used to fund innovative road and bridge work that will lead to better, safer road infrastructure efforts nationwide. “Innovation in our transportation infrastructure will change the way America moves,” said Secretary Foxx. “These

International Road Dynamics (IRD) will debut new features for its FleetSphere web-based GPS tracking and telematics system at the APWA Snow Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA on 12-15 April. With IRD's telematics solution, fleet managers have the ability to manage the spreading and ploughing work being done on an entire road network. FleetSphere will interface with all available components installed on a snowplough - including plough blades, spreader, blast, pre-wet, and anti-icing - and know thei

Romania’s UTI Group is to implement a US$10 million intelligent transport system for the city of Burgas, Bulgaria, to make its public transport safer and more efficient and convenient. Financed by Burgas, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the project will increase the attractiveness and comfort of the current system, provide real-time information for passengers and increase safety. The project will also introduce integrated ticketing and v

Over the past year, US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has visited more than 100 communities and heard one common story about crumbling infrastructure and dwindling resources to fix it with. Foxx has now sent to Congress his solution to this problem: a long-term transportation bill that provides funding growth and certainty so that state and local governments can get back in the business of building things again. The Grow America Act reflects President Obama’s vision for a six-year, US$478 billion

The FEHRL Infrastructure Research Meeting 2015 (FIRM15) will be held on 22 and 23 April 2015 at the Diamant Centre in Brussels, Belgium. Held every two years, for the first time FIRM15 is opening up to all transport modes with speakers and participants from the rail sector. With the theme of ‘Innovative maintenance of Transport Infrastructure: Faster, cheaper, more reliable, safer and greener’, FIRM15 aims at mapping the problems and challenges of innovative maintenance of transport infrastructure;