News

Established in 2011, Indian technology and infrastructure company Vaaan has been awarded two major projects valued at around US$25 million from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) through its highway operations management agency, Indian Highways Management Company (IHMCL). The company is to deploy electronic toll collection (ETC) on 164 dedicated lanes across 82 public funded toll plazas in a bid to to reduce traffic congestion and commuting time. In addition, in a move to identify which h

More than 128,000 taps using contactless payment cards and devices have been made since Transport for London (TfL) launched the new option to pay across the London transport network on 16 September. The first day saw contactless used at more than 600 train stations across the Tube, DLR, Overground and National Rail stations that accept Oyster. Contactless payments have been available on the bus network since December 2012. This week has seen a further significant rise in the number of taps on buses w

North Yorkshire County Council continues to invest in improved parking facilities for residents and visitors, with the installation of 19 new Parkeon Strada Transfer terminals in Northallerton High Street. The council is also investing for the first time in the Parkeon Parkfolio parking information and management system, with each terminal connected to the cloud-based platform, enabling the local authority to monitor the terminals remotely. Parkfolio generates alerts and provides access to financial info

A new report, released in advance of United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Summit on 23 September, claims that more than US$100 trillion in cumulative public and private spending could be saved and 1,700 megatons of annual carbon dioxide (CO2) - a 40 percent reduction of urban passenger transport emissions - could be eliminated by 2050 if the world expands public transportation, walking and cycling in cities. The report, A Global High Shift Scenario, from the Institute for Transportation Development

Mercedes-Benz is expanding its research activities in the US, now that it has received a licence permitting it to test autonomous vehicles on public roads in California. The company says it now plans to take autonomous driving to a new level in the US, despite the differences between US and German traffic systems, which it says are vast. While motoring in Germany commonly takes place on narrow roads, the roads in the USA are frequently wider and may have more than six or even eight lanes. Traffic lights

Mobile Visual Information Systems (MVIS) and the creator of the Intellicone temporary work zone safety system, Highway Resource Solutions (HRS), have teamed up to create the Safelane automated traffic management system and the Multisafe Smart VMS. The companies say these are the first temporary road maintenance safety solutions to combine industry-leading modular electronic perimeters and variable message signs (VMS), providing a cost-efficient method of improving the safety of both road workers and road

RedflexRed-radar, Redflex’s innovative fixed traffic enforcement solution has received type approval from the Traffic, Acoustics and Vibration sector at the Federal Institute of Metrology (METAS) in Switzerland. RedflexRed-radar is a fixed traffic enforcement solution, utilising proprietary Redflex non-intrusive mapping radar technology with high resolution cameras to detect and photograph intersection red light and speed offences across up to six lanes of traffic. The proprietary Redflex phase monopulse

Valeo has announced the seven teams selected by its experts to in a challenge to develop a solution to revolutionise the automobile of 2030, with the chance of winning the €100,000 first prize. The shortlisted teams, from Australia, Germany, the United States, Brazil, Canada and India, selected from 1,000 teams from 55 countries, will present their project to the Challenge jury during the 2014 Paris Motor Show. The teams are: UTS Unleashed team from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia Sade

Kapsch CarrierCom, in partnership with Sierra Wireless, has launched two improved railway cab radios. The RC900 voice and data cab radio and the RD900 data radio are equipped with the latest Sierra Wireless HPRM1radio modules called, which ensure additional robustness against unwanted radio interference and blocking. A stable radio connection is an essential requirement for the railway system. Due to the growing networks of public operators, more and more interference is affecting the communication withi

Colombia plans to award the construction of four more highways by November as part of a US$25 billion plan to expand and improve road quality and logistics, President Juan Manuel Santos said. Once the contracts are signed, the government will have wrapped up the concessions to build nine highways, the first leg of its 4G plan to build 8,000km of roads. Most of the projects will be carried out under public-private partnerships. "We have four more [highways] to award ... Those projects will be awarded b

Two high-tech projects championed by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) have been recognised by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) with ITS America's Best of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Awards. MDOT earned an award in the Best New Innovative Practice-Partnership Deployment category for its automatic vehicle location (AVL) and maintenance decision support system (MDSS) project and was a finalist in another category, Best New Innovative Practice-Susta

Transport for London (TfL) has begun work on a programme to overhaul the capital’s road safety camera network; replacing hundreds of old wet film cameras with modern and more efficient digital safety cameras in order to help further reduce casualties on London’s roads. According to TfL, safety cameras have proved successful in reducing road casualties in recent years. At locations where safety cameras operate in the capital, research shows that the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) fell

A consortium of Strabag and Budimex has signed a US$1.64 million contract to build a 41 kilometre section of the A4 motorway from Rzeszów to Jarosław in south-eastern Poland. The contract includes the construction of the 41 kilometre roadway as well as three motorway interchanges, 78 bridge structures and 20 wildlife crossings.

Moxa and genetic are to join forces to develop an integrated solution for the unification of onboard and wayside IP video surveillance in a single, seamless system.

Cubic Transportation Systems and Ernst and Young (EY) have spoken in support of Transport for London’s (TfL) introduction of contactless payments on Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground and National Rail services that accept Oyster.