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November 20, 2014
Peru lines up road, rail concessions for 2015
Peru plans to award next year infrastructure concessions including rail and road projects. Hydro and thermal power plants and liquefied petroleum gas distribution in the capital are also being lined up, a senior government official has said. Concessions will include the fourth stretch of the Longitudinal de la Sierra highway, which calls for the construction, operation and maintenance of a 640 kilometre stretch of Peru's Longitudinal de la Sierra highway, connecting Huancayo, Izcuchaca, Mayoc and Ayacuch
November 20, 2014
Experts see a trend towards BRT globally
Bus rapid transit has grown by 383 percent in the last ten years, with hundreds of systems in dozens of countries qualifying as true BRT, according to new data released by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. While costs vary across nations, BRT capital costs are generally less than ten per cent of the cost of metro, and 30-60 per cent of the cost of light rail. BRT can also be implemented much more quickly that rail-based transit, allowing systems to be created and expanded quickly t
November 20, 2014
RATP Dev and SAPTCO win contract to operate the future Riyadh bus network
RATP Group subsidiary RATP Dev and Saudi Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) have won a twelve-year US$2.1 billion contract to implement, operate and maintain the future bus network in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The network’s 103 lines will gradually enter service after two years of preparation starting from the launch of the contract. The network will be run using a fleet of approximately 1,000 vehicles and will include four BHLS (Buses with High Level of Service) lines, two circular lines, 17
November 20, 2014
Mott MacDonald Grontmij JV wins Highways Agency’s framework contract
The Mott MacDonald Grontmij joint venture (MMG JV) is to provide professional engineering design services to support strategic investment in England’s road network. The JV has been appointed on Lot 1 of the Highways Agency’s new US$7.8 billion Collaborative Delivery Framework (CDF), the country’s largest ever framework for the improvement of motorways and major A roads. The Highways Agency’s CDF is Collaborative working practices and knowledge sharing between designers, the Highways Agency, delivery part
November 19, 2014
Conference highlights role of transportation in smart cities
On 18 November, key players from across the mobility debate took part in a wide ranging conference on Intelligent Mobility for Smart Cities in Brussels. The conference examined how intelligent mobility technologies will integrate into the everyday life of smart cities through the development of vehicle connectivity, automation and adaptive infrastructure. Keynote speaker John Baekelmans, CTO of CISCO’s Smart+Connected Communities, highlighted the crucial role that transportation will play in smart citie
November 19, 2014
EU funds cross-border driving of electric vehicles
The EU's TEN-T Programme is to invest over US$4.4 million in studies and pilot deployment of 115 high power re-charging points on Central European roads, to enable long-distance driving of electric vehicles and promote sustainable transport modes. The EU says Europe needs to adapt the road infrastructure to meet consumers' e-mobility requirements as the number of cleaner and more efficient vehicles, including electric ones, is increasing. One priority is to enable efficient long distance driving on an i
November 19, 2014
Hub Parking Technology expands into Latin America
Hub Parking Technology has appointed John Lovell as the new managing director and CEO of its North American companies, Hub Parking Technology USA and Hub Parking Technology Canada. Robert Kempton, the current CEO of Hub USA is to become the general manager of the new Hub Latin American region. Kempton has 38 years of industry experience and has held a number of senior management positions, most recently as CEO of ZEAG North America and then of ZEAG Canada, which has been part of Hub Parking Technolog
November 19, 2014
Michigan DOT receives best of ITS award
The Michigan Department of Transportation’s (MDOT’s) Automated Vehicle Location (AVL) and Maintenance Decision Support System (MDSS) Program - designed and implemented by Delcan Technologies, a Parsons company, in partnership with Iteris - recently received the Best of ITS award from the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America). Honoured as the Best New Innovative Practice in the Sustainability in Transportation category, MDOT was recognised for the program’s leading-edge technology as we
November 19, 2014
RATP Dev to operate Valenciennes transport network
SITURV, the transport authority for the Valenciennes city and region transport network, has awarded RATP Group subsidiary RATP Dev the contract to operate its Transvilles network, connecting 81 municipalities in its metropolitan areas of Valenciennes Métropole and Porte du Hainaut and their 350,000 inhabitants. The seven-year contract will begin on 1 January 2015. The Transvilles network has two tram lines, 27 bus lines, one future BHLS (bus with a high level of service) line scheduled for 2016, two corp
November 18, 2014
Santiago's public transport system ‘at full capacity‘
Santiago's public transport system is operating at full capacity, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said. Her comments come after a power failure resulted in the closure of three key metro lines on Friday, leading to the worst service disruptions in the subway network's history, forcing hundreds of thousands of commuters to find alternative means of transport. The shutdown caused Metro de Santiago president Aldo González to resign and government and opposition lawmakers have asked transport minister
November 18, 2014
EMV Transport Forum launched
The first of the EMV Transport Forum meetings will be held at Transport Ticketing & Passenger Information Global 2015, the world’s largest gathering of the public transport industry for smart fare collection and passenger services, on 29 January at the Lancaster in London. The EMV Transport Forum is the UK’s first industry collaboration focusing directly on aspects of implementation and market adoption of EMV transport ticketing. With the discussion shaped by pre-submitted concerns and questions, the
November 18, 2014
TRL's DigiCar driving simulator becomes fully automated
As the path to acceptance of automated vehicles on the UK’s roads moves forward, so does TRL’s role in developing robust research tools to provide the necessary evidence as to the human response to automation and its general acceptance by the driving population. Behind the scenes, TRL experts have been working on developing the software required to enable the transition of DigiCar to run as an automated vehicle as and when required. As a result, TRL’s full mission driving simulator, DigiCar, has devel
November 18, 2014
UK’s M6 to get VMS to boost safety
Four of the latest variable message signs (VMS) are to be installed around junction 35 of the M6 motorway at Carnforth, giving drivers better warnings of incidents and other information about the motorway such as weather conditions. As part of the work, new CCTV cameras will be mounted on the VMS signs and standalone masts, allowing Highways Agency traffic officers at the North West Regional Control Centre at Newton-le-Willows to monitor and manage motorway incidents more effectively. A similar, US$2
November 18, 2014
Blip Systems and Traffic Data Systems partner on traffic management
Danish IT company Blip Systems has appointed German traffic monitoring specialist Traffic Data Systems as its value added reseller for German-speaking countries. Traffic Data Systems is now offering BlipTrack, a non-intrusive solution that collects, analyses and visualises real-time data. BlipTrack sensors collect data from passing vehicles equipped with Bluetooth and wi-fi-enabled devices and calculate journey times and traffic flow. The solution is also able to analyse data from third-party data source
November 18, 2014
Report calls for extension of point to point cameras
A report on the role of speed in vehicle crashes in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, makes a number of recommendations to isolate speed as a causal factor in crash rates by improving data collection and conducting specific research to identify the triggers for speeding, particularly in rural and regional areas. The report, by the Joint Standing Committee on Road Safety (Staysafe) also looks at the appropriateness of speed limits and approaches adopted in other jurisdictions and the adequacy of existing