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The European GNSS Agency (GSA) and the European Commission have concluded Galileo Exploitation Delegation Agreement which delegates a range of tasks for Galileo to the GSA, providing a framework and budget for the development of services and operations through 2021 and serves as an initial step towards the full Galileo exploitation phase.. Under the terms of the Agreement, which runs until 2021, the European Commission is responsible for the overall programme supervision, the European Space Agency (ESA)

A new research report by MarketsandMarkets, "Smart Highway Market by Technology (Intelligent Transportation Management, Intelligent Traffic Management, Communication, Monitoring), and by Display (Variable Message Signs, Digital Signage) - Global Forecast to 2019", estimates that the global Smart Highways Market is US$12,564.4 million in 2014 and is expected to grow to US$27,992 million in 2019. This represents an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.4 per cent from 2014 to 2019. In the cur

The UK government’s THINK! road safety website is launching a new campaign to warn drivers of the dangers of country roads. It says 60 per cent of people killed on Britain’s roads die on rural roads and new research shows many more drivers are needlessly putting themselves at risk of an accident. Three people die each day on average on rural roads; the number of people killed on country roads is nearly 11 times higher than on motorways. A shocking 25 per cent of drivers report having had a near miss o

President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), Scott F. Belcher, is to become CEO of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) on 9 November, 2014 after serving for seven years at the helm of ITS America. During his tenure, ITS America significantly grew its membership and public profile as the champion and leading voice for the use of technology to create a safer, smarter, more efficient and sustainable transportation system. From vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)

Road safety campaigners and European traffic police have welcomed the agreement by EU transport ministers to back a change to rules on cross-border enforcement of traffic offences such as speeding. This comes on the heels of an Institute of Advanced Motorists report that 23,295 overseas drivers have escaped UK speeding penalties since January 2014. The European Commission published a revised cross-border enforcement law in July in response to a European Court of Justice ruling in May that said the exi

Vector and BaselabS have formed a partnership aimed at jointly creating products and services for the development of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and automated driving. Vector will focus on special software tools for the development of ADAS and automated vehicles, while Baselabs will concentrates on software for data fusion in multiple-sensor scenarios, including the necessary algorithms. Baselabs will also provide application support in the development of ADAS and automated vehicles. Th

PTV Group’s truck parking app, Truck Parking Europe has been awarded this year's telematics award in the Best Innovation category at the recent IAA Commercial Vehicles exhibition. Launched in November 2013 for iOS devices, the app now lists over 15,000 registered parking spaces along Europe's main traffic routes. It is now available as an Android application and is said to be the largest free platform for lorry parking, with plenty of additional features and information on their availability. Drivers

Volvo Trucks has developed new technology specifically to protect pedestrians and cyclists. The technology, developed in a research project called Non-Hit Car and Truck in cooperation with Volvo Cars. Volvo Trucks’ research shows that limited visibility is one of the main causes of heavy truck accidents with vulnerable road users in Europe. It claims its new technology enables a vehicle to do a 360 degree scan of everything that happens around it, receiving information via sensors, radars and cameras

A recently updated report by IDTechEx, Electric Vehicle Forecasts, Trends and Opportunities 2015-2025, indicates that the global market forecast for all hybrid and pure electric vehicles is expected to exceed US$533 billion in 2025. Sales of the BMW i3 and Tesla Model S pure electric cars are rising rapidly, with Tesla holding back demand because it cannot produce enough for at least a year. Those are premium priced vehicles. The major problem with mainstream pure electric cars is price. However, App

A detailed survey carried out by international tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, road charity Brake and internet-based market research firm YouGov has revealed that a third of primary school parents have witnessed near misses outside the school gates. More than half of parents are also worried about their child’s safety near roads on the school run, as autumn arrives and the nights get darker. The survey also revealed that: Two thirds see 4-11 year olds crossing the road without holding the hand of an a

TransCore is to develop, integrate, and maintain a network of express lanes on behalf of San Francisco’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority (BAIFA). The competitively procured US$54.6 million project will see 90 miles of existing high occupancy vehicle (HOV) converted lanes into express lanes on I-680, I-880 and I-80. The aim is to improve connectivity by closing gaps in the existing HOV network and improve freeway efficiency by making the best use

Red-light safety cameras are reducing traffic dangers in Orange County, Florida, according to a recent program update presented to the Board of County Commissioners that showed drivers are stopping on red and crashes are diminishing. The presentation from the Traffic Engineering Division of the county's Public Works Department included two years of red-light camera program data (July 2011 to June 2013) from the annual reports submitted to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which

In a new effort to warn drivers to focus on the road, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is using its more than 250 dynamic message signs on interstates and major highways to send safety messages to drivers. The state says speeding, impaired driving, not wearing seatbelts and distracted driving are some of the leading causes of the 550 deaths to date in 2014. "Messages like ‘Put Down Your Phone and Drive, It Can Wait' or ‘Leave All Tailgating at the Game' are designed to raise awareness o

Southern Railway’s the key ITSO smart card, developed by Cubic Transportation Systems, has won the prestigious Putting Passengers First category at the National Rail Awards 2014 in London. The award recognises the close cooperation of the two organisations with the judges noting that together, Cubic and Southern have produced the first mass application national rail smart card. It provides passengers with unrestricted travel on most of the Southern network, stretching along the south coast of England, t

Austrian traffic technology corporation Swarco has acquired Munich-based transport research and consultancy firm Transver, in an agreement that will see them aggregate their comprehensive knowledge of international transportation systems (ITS) and push their cooperation with universities and research institutions in the field of intelligent traffic management. Swarco sees the acquisition as an important step in mastering the mobility challenges of the future. Both companies have extensive experience in t