News

According to figures published by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, about 150,000 vehicles were stolen in Spain during 2013. According to Spanish communications specialist GMV, most drivers are unaware that a tracking device will make it much harder for thieves. Last November, a vehicle fitted with GMV’s fleet-tracking and -management system Moviloc was stolen in Madrid. The car owner reported the theft to the police and showed them the vehicle’s last recorded position on the tracking device. They w

The Road Safety Markings Association (RSMA) has responded to the UK government’s announcement giving driverless cars the go-ahead on UK roads, saying that it points to an exciting future, but hampered at the outset by the daily routine of road works, potholes, worn road markings, burst mains and failed traffic lights. “By 2025, at least half the travel on Europe’s roads will be in vehicles that can read the road ahead including markings and signs. But vehicles, like drivers, cannot function if basic road

In the last Calls of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) Programme, the European Commission selected a total of 106 projects that will benefit from over US$428 million in EU support for improving transport infrastructure across Europe. The 52 projects selected from the 2013 Multi-Annual Call and 54 from the 2013 Annual Call will use the EU’s financial support to bring forward the completion of the TEN-T network as well as studying innovative ways of reducing the transport sector’s carbon footprint.

The market for connected cars is growing rapidly, with an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.2 per cent between 2013 and 2018 and mobile network operators (MNOs) are jumping on the opportunity for new revenue streams and enhancement of customer loyalty that comes with this growth, according to the latest report from research firm Heavy Reading Insider, a research service from Heavy Reading. MNOs Hold the Keys to Success for Connected Cars examines the connected car market, analysing how mo

Queensland, Australia, is to deploy fixed and mobile automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to catch thousands of unregistered cars on the state’s roads. From October, eight fixed and fifteen mobile cameras will scan about 600,000 registration plates every week. The cameras will record thousands of plates a day and send the information back to a centralised database for cross-referencing with registration records. Owners of unregistered plates will automatically receive fines in the mail. P

UK business secretary Vince Cable has announced two new measures today that give the green light for driverless cars to take to UK roads from January 2015. UK cities can now bid for a share of a US$16.9 million competition to host a driverless cars trial. The government is calling on cities to join together with businesses and research organisations to put forward proposals to become a test location. Up to three cities will be selected to host the trials from 2015 and each project is expected to last

Siemens' central research department and electric vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter are to equip an electric car with an innovative electronic and software architecture as part of the Robust and Reliant Automotive Computing Environment for Future eCars (RACE) project. For the first time ever, the architecture will make it possible to retrofit functions such as electrical brakes and systems such as lane-keeping assistants using a plug-and-play process like on home PCs. The two companies plan to incorpora

Radio engineering specialist Simoco has announced has begun rolling out critical communications technology for VicRoads, Australia, to improve the efficiency of its mobile radios and safety of its vehicles and drivers. The move sees the supply of an in-vehicle P25 upgradable solution, specifically designed to address the needs of the emergency services, to the Victorian State Road Authority. Simoco project partner Retrolooms has already installed a number of customised SRM9000 mobile radio solutions whi

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed the award of its Electra ticketing and fare collection contract, starting in August 2015, to Cubic Corporation’s UK subsidiary Cubic Transportation Systems following a competitive tender. The seven-year contract is valued at over US$700 million and includes an option to extend the contract for a further three years, giving the contract an expected value of over US$1 billion. The announcement means the continuation of the partnership between TfL and Cubic which ha

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted Rheinbahn, the public transport authority in the Düsseldorf region of Germany a multi-million euro loan to become more efficient and environmentally friendly. Rheinbahn operates in an area of over 520 square kilometres, with more than a million people living within the Greater Düsseldorf area. The US$201.6 million loan will fund a four-year investment programme, including the purchase of 40 new trams and 87 new buses, measures to improve accessibility an

The review of transport resilience recently published by the UK Government today (has been welcomed by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT). The report looks at the resilience to extreme weather events of roads, railways, ports and airports across England and makes over 60 recommendations for action. David Bishop, President of ADEPT, said: “This review highlights the very real danger to our economic recovery from inadequate resilience in key aspects of the na

Constructed over the harbour, Copenhagen’s Cykelslangen, or Cycle Snake, is the city’s newest elevated cycle path. The orange cycle lane is the latest addition to Copenhagen's innovative approach to cycling infrastructure and connects to the harbour bridge, leaving the ground level free for pedestrians. The 220 metre long Cykelslangen was opened on 29 June, after eight years of planning and construction. Copenhagen is renowned for being a cycling city, as some 36 per cent of daily commutes are undert

Urban transport operator RATP Dev, through its RDMT subsidiary, has inaugurated its first tramway service in the US. The 3.9 mile long Sun Link Tucson Streetcar began operation in Tucson, Arizona, on 25 July, connecting the University of Arizona campus to the Mercado District, Arizona Health Sciences Center, the city’s main shopping artery, downtown Tucson and the convention centre. The tramway offers connecting services with the Tucson bus station and Tucson’s extensive bus network. RATP Dev will o

Cubic Transportation Systems has been awarded a contract for more than US$8 million to convert existing paper magnetic fare card vending machines to sales and reload devices for SmarTrip, the contactless smart card for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The project is part of the agency’s plan to eliminate paper ticketing from its fare system to all contactless media by spring 2016. Cubic will upgrade more than 500 machines with hardware kits including smart card readers and re

Navtech Radar’s AdvanceGuard radar based perimeter intrusion detection system (PIDS) for airports is ideally suited to the challenge of the wide perimeters of most commercial airports. Its frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) 76GHz technology and the robust design of the radars, coupled with the ability to operate 24 /7 in all light and weather conditions, even in dense fog, make AdvanceGuard the preferred technology for the challenges faced by airport operations and security services. With lo