News

Vix Technology has been named Global Ticketing Partner for the Transport Ticketing & Passenger Information Expo and Conference Global Series in 2015 and will provide all delegates with a smart card ticket at the exhibition in London on 27-29 January. It is the first time that delegates will ‘tap-in’ and ‘tap –out’ at entry validators as they move throughout the exhibition and conferencing areas and in doing so qualify for competitions and incentives. The feature will give attendees first-hand experience

ESP Group has been appointed by the UK’s Rail Settlement Plan to provide personalisation, encoding and fulfilment services for a major smartcard programme that will simplify travel for millions of passengers on the UK’s busiest train network. The company’s smartcard operation Systex will produce and issue a range of powerful contactless smart tokens for short and long term use that will include high capacity microprocessor cards, lower capacity smart tickets, wristbands, key fobs and accessories. The

In the US, Q-Free Open Roads has begun the year with an order for advanced transportation management systems (ATMS) valued at US$1.5 million from West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH). “We are proud to see WVDOH continues to retain Q-Free Open Roads, which deployed the initial state-wide ATMS, the backbone of the West Virginia ITS program, in 2008,” says Q-Free CEO Thomas Falck. The collaboration between Q-Free Open Roads and WVDOH has resulted in many successful ITS initiatives West Virginia, i

Following targeted long-term marketing efforts, Sensys Traffic has succeeded in winning an order for traffic safety systems worth US$754,000 from a customer in Qatar. The Middle East is now Sensys’ second largest market and the order from Qatar means the company now has customers in eight of the region’s 14 countries. In light of this development, Sensys has decided to establish a local presence in the Middle East during 2015, in order to better meet demand from both existing and new customers. The mai

Econolite Group has appointed Mark Nogaki as its vice president of sales, responsible for the company’s worldwide sales program, reporting directly to Econolite Group president and COO David St Amant. Nogaki will be responsible for driving Econolite’s domestic and international sales programs to the next level. His track record with companies such as Toshiba, Raytheon, Cambio Technologies and ClosingCorp will be vital in helping Econolite identify and realise key business development objectives to meet t

Google and various automakers have increased their activity and investments toward the goal of self-driving vehicles, while Google has shifted from its previous strategy to now focus on fully driverless vehicles for the future. If successful, it will have significant implications for the auto industry, according to IHS Automotive, based on findings in its new report, Autonomous Driving: Question is When, Not If, which is an update to a previous report issued early in 2014. OEMs remain geared toward aug

French public transport operator Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP) is to invest a record US$1.95 billion in 2015 in the Ile-de-France region for network expansion, modernisation and maintenance. This includes investment in extension of RATP-operated networks, replacement, modernisation and increase of rolling stock, modernisation of systems and investment in the railway network, tram and bus networks, and passenger information systems and services. “Thanks to support accorded by STIF, the

The High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh, represented by Arriyadh Development Authority, has awarded a significant contract to Trapeze Group, a division of Constellation Software's wholly-owned subsidiary, Volaris Group, for the provision of a comprehensive intelligent transportation system (ITS). The ITS solution for Riyadh is designed to help to improve the efficiency of both fixed-route and flexible public transport services in the area and includes automated vehicle management and real-ti

Audi and Inrix have joined forces to introduce Inrix XD Traffic services to Audi vehicles in North America, available in model year 2015 Audi vehicles with Audi connect. Inrix XD Traffic services cover more than two million miles of road in North America, including highways, ramps, interchanges, arterials, city and other secondary roads, delivering real-time navigation information, including routes, travel times and alerts to incidents on the road. The addition of Inrix XD Traffic to the Audi connect

US Senator Bernie Sanders is to introduce legislation when the new session of Congress convenes this month to authorise a US$1 trillion, multi-year program to rebuild crumbling roads and bridges and invest in other infrastructure modernisation projects. The investment not only would begin to address a growing backlog of badly-needed repairs, it also would put 13 million Americans to work at decent-paying jobs, according to Sanders, who will take over this month as the ranking member of the Senate Budget

Thales, through its local joint venture Thales Saic Transportation, has been awarded the signalling contract for phase 1 of Guangzhou metro lines 14 and 21. Spanning around 138 kilometres in total, both lines will be equipped with Thales’ SelTrac CBTC rail signalling system. The two lines are designed to run with a combination of express and normal routes, which will significantly reduce journey times. Lines 14 and 21 are expected to be operational by the end of 2017. Based on a 100 per cent transfer

ABI Research’s latest report, Smart Transportation Market Research, covers ITS data, physical roadside transportation infrastructure virtualisation technologies and a systems approach to transportation management, as well as relevant connectivity, analytics, cloud platform, security and identity technologies. Traditional smart transportation approaches to address traffic congestion, safety, pollution, and other urbanisation challenges are expected to hit scalability and efficiency obstacles by the end of

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has just launched its plans for the future of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) research. The ITS Strategic Plan 2015-2019 builds on the progress of the 2010-2014 plan and presents a wide array of technical, policy, institutional, and organisational concepts. It provides a comprehensive perspective that is based on an inclusive, collaborative, interactive, and iterative process, with a wide mix of stakeholder engagement opportunities that ensured that t

TrafficLand has partnered with information solutions provider Exelis and TrafficLand to apply Exelis’ Helios next-generation image science to America’s largest traffic camera network to deliver real-time weather condition information at a hyper-local level. The Helios digital platform applies Exelis image science to thousands of ground-based cameras and sensors across the US. Access to the Helios data is made available through three standard application programming interfaces (APIs), Helios4Forecast,

The deadline for the ITS World Congress 2015 Call for Papers and Special Interest Sessions submission is fast approaching. Authors must submit technical, scientific, commercial papers and special interest sessions by 19 January. No extensions will be granted.