News

A government announcement has revealed that the UK’s Highways Agency will be replaced with Highways England and will be a government-owned company from April 2015. In support of the changes, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said that “the new name reflects the importance of its new role.” In its first strategic business plan, Highways England sets out how the new body will deliver the Government’s US$23.5 billion road investment programme over the next five years. The plan envisages spend

Utrecht municipality Bestuur Regio Utrecht (BRU) has awarded the construction of the US$547 million Uithof tram line to Royal Bam Group, with construction set to start next year ready for passenger services in mid-2018. Spanish supplier CAF will be responsible for the supply of 27 low-floor trams with delivery set from January 2017. The contract includes the construction of the eight kilometre-long tram infrastructure, including tram tracks, overhead lines and nine stops.

The EU's TEN-T Programme is to provide function of over US$1 million for development studies of the Austrian port of Linz, an important intersection of continuously increasing international freight flows between inland water, rail and road transport. The project aims to increase the port's capacity to receive larger inland water, rail and road transport flows. The project features design studies for the expansion of the tri-modal terminal at the port to address its growing needs. It will deliver a maste

Flir's ThermiCam thermal sensors have been installed at a major signalised intersection with the Utrechtseweg (N237) and Wilhelminalaan in Utrecht in the Netherlands In a bid to smooth traffic flows while also taking account of the presence of cyclists. ThermiCam is an integrated thermal camera and detector for vehicle and cycle presence detection and counting at signalised intersections and provides an alternative to in-road loops. The sensor detects heat energy generated by cyclists and motorists and

An Arup-led consortium, UK Autodrive, has won the UK Government’s US$15.6 million ‘Introducing Driverless Cars’ competition. Other members of the consortium are Milton Keynes Council, Coventry Council, Jaguar Land Rover, Ford Motor Company, Tata Motors European Technical Centre, RDM Group, MIRA, Oxbotica, AXA, international law firm Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co, the Transport Systems Catapult, the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and the Open University. The aim of the project is to establis

Cubic ‘s NextBus fleet management application has received the Most Innovative New Product (MIP) award in the Communications and IT category at the annual 2014 CONNECT MIP Awards, CONNECT's largest and most prestigious event, attracting more than 700 of the region's top business leaders, researchers and capital providers In addition to the eight companies honoured for their outstanding new products, the Distinguished Contribution Award for Technology Innovation went to Dr Robert S. Sullivan who has serv

The WestConnex Delivery Authority (WDA) in Sydney, Australia, has awarded Kapsch CarrierCom subsidiary, Kapsch CarrierCom Australia, the contract to supply a roadside tolling system to support capacity enhancement to the M4 motorway widening project as part of Stage 1 of the WestConnex motorway scheme in Sydney. The award covers two contracts for the initial phase of the project, one for the roadside equipment for the M4 widening segment and one for maintenance and support. The project is designed to in

The European FP7 project TRANSFORuM is to release four stakeholder-driven roadmaps towards the implementation of the European Commission's White Paper on Transport on 8 December. TRANSFORuM focuses on four goals of this document and provides recommendations for: Clean urban mobility, with the goal of halving the use of conventionally fuelled cars by 2030; shifting 50 per cent of long-distance freight over 300 kilometres to rail or waterborne by 2050; High-speed rail; and Multimodal transport information,

Plans for a US$427 million light rail transit (LRT) system in Brazil's Minas Gerais state are moving forward. The project, for Uberlândia city, is being spearheaded by Uberlândia federal university (UFU) and the local authorities. A draft proposal was presented to the public this week for feedback and the university is now working on a basic engineering plan. City hall and the federal government would seek funding for the construction of the project. The LRT will have two lines, one spanning 6.9 kilom

The EU's TEN-T programme will invest almost US$4.3 million in studies preparing a European network of hydrogen infrastructure for transport. The network is expected to enhance the use of fuel cell vehicles in Europe leading to cuts in overall transport emissions. The uptake of fuel cell cars, zero emission vehicles that run on electricity powered by hydrogen, depends on the availability of refuelling infrastructure on the main European roads. This project is the second part of a larger action aiming

The Audi Urban Future Award aims to stimulate new visions for cities and urban mobility; research collaborations with academic and cultural institutions worldwide; interactive events and workshops that bring together experts from many fields; and an internal interdepartmental think tank dedicated to issues of urban mobility. According to Audi, by 2050 two-thirds of all people will be living in large cities, a development which will pose major challenges for society and raises the question: what will be t

The Highways Agency has unveiled three possible route options for a new link road between the M54, the northbound M6 and the M6 Toll in Staffordshire. The plans are on show at exhibitions starting today, marking the start of an eight-week public consultation for the scheme, which will reduce congestion on local roads, improve safety and support economic growth in the surrounding area – all part of the government’s long term economic plan. Highway Agency Project Manager Bill Birkett said: “It is import

Bolivia aims to start work on the first of five new cable car lines in the capital next year, part of US$2.5 billion planned investment in infrastructure projects in 2015. The La Paz-El Alto cable car system's second phase, which includes an investment of US$450 million for the five new lines, will be completed by 2020, said César Dockweiler, CEO of state-owned operator Mi Teleférico. Bolivia's government plans to increase its 2015 public spending budget 37% to US$6.18bn, economy minister Luis Arce sa

A wide range of Brigade Electronics’ vehicle safety products is now certified to E-Mark (UN ECE Regulation 10, Revision 4), in line with new regulations which came into force at the end of October. Only electrical products carrying the E-Mark can be fitted to approved vehicles in advance of registration without the vehicles then requiring further homologation testing as ‘complete’ or ‘completed’ vehicles. To comply, Brigade reviewed its product range and ensured all of its main lines are certified. St

A new study, Autonomous Driving, by Roland Berger Strategy consultants finds that automatic driving will generate additional revenue volume of up to US$40 billion in component sales in the period through 2030. In addition, new software solutions needed for automated driving will reach a global market volume as high as 20 billion dollars by 2030. There are specific technologies to be mastered, to a large extent unknown territory for both OEMs and suppliers and considerable investments will be needed to de