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US manufacturer and supplier of infrared (IR) and white light illuminators and license plate recognition products, iluminar, is supporting NBC Universal’s The Weather Channel Tornado Track crew. Featured regularly on The Weather Channel on the road chasing storms, the Tornado Track crew uses a GMC Yukon SUV to check severe weather conditions and report their findings live, on-air and online. Helping the Tornado Track crew to see the powerful natural phenomenon in the dark is iluminar’s new Q-Ball came

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has teamed up with robotic technology consultants GOBOTiX to create a vehicle that will be used to test a variety of advanced vehicle functionality. TRL, with a long history in studies of the development and impact of advanced vehicle technologies, has donated a Toyota Prius to GOBOTiX, who will adapt the vehicle for innovative systems research. The first step will be for GOBOTiX to install drive-by-wire systems to replace mechanical linkages and actuators for

Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the US cities opting to use variable-rate parking to make it easier to find a parking space. Los Angeles is piloting LA Express Park, program covering a 4.5 square-mile area of downtown using technology to match on-street parking prices with demand. The objective is to ensure that between 10 and 30 per cent of the parking spaces on each block are open throughout the day. Smart meters and sensors compile occupancy and payment data and based on that information, a pr

To ensure reliable communication between tram and track and to enhance passenger comfort and safety on the new 14.5 kilometre tram network in the French city of Besancon, officials opted to use Moxa’s wayside infrastructure network to manage the on-board communication network for video surveillance and passenger information. The wayside infrastructure network was built as a multi-service Ethernet network using Moxa´s managed industrial Gigabit EDS-P510 Ethernet switches equipped with SFP connectors to bu

With a deficit of US$58 billion in infrastructure, ranging from highways to ports and airports, Chile's priority should be urbanisation, local construction chamber CChC has said. "Today, over 80 per cent of Chileans live in cities. Urban areas are where a significant part of the economy and life happens. So if you want to make real improvements to quality of life, focus on urban areas," CChC head of studies Javier Hurtado said in an interview. Hurtado cited a need for roads, subways, water infrastructure

University Campus Milton Keynes is working with Clearview Traffic Group on a 13-month research that could lead to the development of innovative traffic management systems. UCMK, part of the University of Bedfordshire, will receive $195,000 of funding from the UK’s innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board, to carry out the research. The project will see UCMK and the University’s Department of Computer Science and Technology partner with Clearview Traffic Group to explore the feasibility of extendi

The San Diego Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) pioneer site, which has been in operation for over a year, has been awarded the Operational Efficiency Program of the Year at the 25th Annual California Transportation Foundation (CTF) Transportation Awards. The San Diego ICM deploys an innovative system designed to coordinate and optimise all available infrastructure, routes and modes. As part of the USDOT’s larger initiative for reducing congestion in metropolitan areas, Sandag is leading the I-15 dem

A sum of US$24.2 million has been earmarked for improvement of Welsh roads, public transport, and walking and cycling routes. The funding will boost 41 projects in counties across Wales. This includes cycling and walking links and facilities in Merthyr Tydfil and along the Montgomery canal. Provision for a bus interchange in Newton and improvement of the bus corridor between Port Talbot and Swansea is also foreseen. Transport minister Edwina Hart said: 'The projects selected will support the Welsh gov

The President of the Polish Office of Rail Transportation (UTK) has granted approval for the operation of the Global System for Mobile Communications - Railway (GSM-R) system implemented by Kapsch CarrierCom on route E30 on the Bielawa Dolna–Węgliniec–Legnica route. The authorisation recognises, for the first time in Europe, that implementation of the GSM-R system has been completed in compliance with the European Union’s new Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) for the control-command an

“Policymakers are facing greater levels of uncertainty in decision making, with the speed, nature, intensity and timing of change” Ministers of Transport from around the world have called for more international co-operation to create transport systems for the needs of a changing world. “Global transformational change is a characteristic of our age”, ministers from the 54 member countries of the International Transport Forum (ITF) state in a declaration agreed today at their Annual Summit in Leipzig,

At this year's annual summit of the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, German PTV Group called on lawmakers to establish the rules and guidelines required to ensure open, standardised and secure data exchange. The company claims that the legal issues relating to the ever increasing amount of data available have to be resolved soon to will allow industry partners to launch new applications that solve transport-related issues in a more efficient manner. As a representative of the IT industry and OE

Hailo, an app that allows Londoners to hail a taxi through their smartphones, was founded in 2010 by three black-cab drivers and three technology entrepreneurs. Hailo is now causing tensions with the capital’s black-cab drivers, who are angry that Hailo bosses have applied to Transport for London for a private hire licence - the same as minicabs. Limousines and a pre-booking option are among services Hailo could offer under the new licence. It is understood that Hailo hopes to receive a decision from TfL wi

São Paulo state transport department STM has re-launched its US$2.13 billion tender to build, operate, and maintain a monorail for the state capital's metro line 18, also known as the bronze line. The concession involves building and operating the line for 25 years. The line will be a monorail stretching nearly 15 kilometres between São Paulo city and the neighbouring ABC region of Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo and São Caetano do Sul, with 13 stations. The new line will connect the southern neighbou

More than 100 French rail companies will be exhibiting in the French pavilion at Innotrans, the international railway industry trade show, in Berlin, 23 to 26 September. Sponsored by French export support agency UBIFrance in partnership with Fer de France and co-sponsored by CENTRALP, SCOMA, and Leroy Automation, the pavilion will display equipment and systems for all rail applications, including car layout, infrastructure, on-board embedded-electronics systems, technologies and solutions for passenger i

Xerox is to begin upgrading the bank card payment modules in devices on the public transport networks of Nantes in north-west France and Lyon in south-east France, to ensure they conform to the latest banking standards. Ticket vending machines in both Nantes and Lyon and ticket booking office terminals in Lyon, installed between 2000 and 2005, will be upgraded.