News

Espírito Santo governor Paulo Hartung is pushing for the construction of a US$2.69 billion railway that will connect sea ports in the south-eastern states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. The proposed 550 kilometre railroad would connect Vitória and Anchieta ports in Espírito Santo to Rio's Açu port in the town of São João da Barra, and would be used for the transport of ore, according to one local paper. The project would contribute to Brazil's overall strategy to boost its commercial competitiv

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has set out final plans for the construction of Europe’s longest substantially-segregated urban cycleways, the centrepiece of his US$1.3 billion commitment to get more Londoners on their bikes. Subject to approval by Transport for London, construction of the routes will begin in March. Two continuous cycle routes, almost completely separated from traffic, will cross central London from east to west and north to south, opening up thousands of new journey opportunit

According to transport planning consultancy Steer Davies Gleave (SDG), the experiences of European cities like London, Milan and Stockholm show that implementing a congestion charging scheme has a positive effect on road user behaviour leading to a better quality of life for residents. However, it also poses challenges for decision makers, technicians, the private sector and users. In Latin America, where congestion levels are high and continuing to rise in its major cities, there is an opportunity to le

Self-driving vehicles are expected to improve road safety, improve the mobility of those who currently cannot use conventional vehicles and reduce emissions. However, a new report by researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) reviews some of the safety aspects attributed to autonomous vehicles and indicates that safety is likely to be an issue as long as self-driving cars share the road with conventional vehicles. Report authors Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoe

Oregon’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) has preliminarily chosen Sanef, Verizon and telematics company Azuga as vendors in the nation’s first large scale pay-by the mile road usage charge (RUC) program, according to Michelle Godfrey, the program’s public affairs officer. Sanef was selected as the ODOT account manager to provide full turnkey mileage reporting and account management equipment and operations. The company served as the account manager in Oregon’s earlier pilot project. Verizon, alon

By 2020, there will be a quarter billion connected vehicles on the road, enabling new in-vehicle services and automated driving capabilities, according to Gartner. During the next five years, the proportion of new vehicles equipped with this capability will increase dramatically, making connected cars a major element of the Internet of Things (IoT). Gartner forecasts that 4.9 billion connected things will be in use in 2015, up 30 per cent from 2014, and will reach 25 billion by 2020. It also predicts

Transport for Greater Manchester has installed variable message signs (VMS) on some of the city’s busiest roads to provide motorists with live traffic information. Eight VMS are now fully operational on roads across the region, displaying live journey time estimates and details of road traffic incidents and disruption. A further 19 signs are expected to be operational by the end of March 2015. Each sign is carefully located near to a key decision point, such as the intersection of a main route, a park

A consortium comprising HDR, Plenary Group, Walsh Group and Granite Construction Company has been awarded the contract to replace 558 bridges as part of the Pennsylvania Rapid Bridge Replacement Project in the US. As lead design engineer for the construction joint venture, HDR will be responsible for bridge and roadway design services, environmental permits, right-of-way plan development and construction phase services. The team will begin construction in summer 2015 and complete all bridge replaceme

The City of Plovdiv has signed a US$25.6 million contract to modernise, develop and promote sustainable urban transport in the city. The project is being delivered by Bulgarian-German consortium Plovdiv Intelligent Transport Systems and is planned for completion by October 2015. As well as upgrading Plovdiv's entire transport system, the project includes the construction of a new centre for traffic management. The consortium will also conduct a study on traffic signage, upgrade infrastructure at impor

Kapsch has been selected to provide the TETRA radio infrastructure for a new metro line in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Kapsch will provide four base stations, 30 in-train cab radios and 140 hand-held portable radios, as well as planning, design and deployment, to integration with existing communications systems on other metro lines. With 15 trains serving six major stations, the new Line 4 will take more than 2,000 cars off the road at peak times, helping to resolve some of the city’s worst traffic bott

Kapsch has been selected to provide the TETRA radio infrastructure for a new metro line in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Kapsch will provide four base stations, 30 in-train cab radios and 140 hand-held portable radios, as well as planning, design and deployment, to integration with existing communications systems on other metro lines. With 15 trains serving six major stations, the new Line 4 will take more than 2,000 cars off the road at peak times, helping to resolve some of the city’s worst traffic bott

Brazil's national development bank BNDES has earmarked US$15.2bn for urban mobility works in the metropolitan regions of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro from 2015-18. The works include the construction of metro, monorail, bus rapid transit (BRT) and light rail transit (LRT) systems. The investments are part of urban mobility projects planned by the federal government under its growth acceleration plan, many of which will be carried out through public-private partnerships. Approximately US$10 billion is e

The Dutch government has given its approval to large-scale testing of autonomous cars on roads in the Netherlands, saying the technology could reduce congestion and smooth traffic flow. The cabinet has agreed to adjust road rules, which will enable the Dutch transport authority, RDW, to grant permission for testing. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, the Netherlands has become a test-bed for autonomous vehicles, although until now tests have largely been carried out at priv

Ford’s newly opened Research and Innovation Center Palo Alto, US, will drive the company’s innovation in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, customer experience and big data, it says. The new research centre will continue the company’s work on autonomous vehicles, including ongoing work with University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It will also expand collaboration with Stanford University that started in 2013 and will contribute a Fusion autonomous research vehicle to t

Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area (C-TRAN) has awarded a contract to Init for the delivery of a state of the art electronic fare collection system in Vancouver, Washington, US. C-TRAN will equip its fleet of more than 100 vehicles with PROXmobil ticket terminals that, when fully operational, will offer passengers both closed loop and open payment fare options. The agreement was made in cooperation with the transit agency of Portland, Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Orego