News

New York City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has launched its new and improved Zone Watch program as part of National Work Zone Awareness week, which runs from 7-11 April. The enhanced program will include nine camera-equipped trailers designed to better document and deter reckless driving through work zones and aligns with Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative to make streets safer. In addition to the nine custom trailers, DOT will also purchase additional camera equipment that can be mounted t

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded a consortium of ST Electronics and Trapeze Switzerland a contract to supply, install and commission an Intelligent Bus Management System with a total value of about US$54 million. Currently, both local transport operators, SBS Transit and SMRT, use separate bus fleet management systems to manage their daily bus operations and provide bus arrival information to commuters. This new system will provide a unified solution for operations control, fleet

The purchase of Oregon-based PSI Acquisition enables Trafficware Group to expand their product offering into CALTRANS approved traffic control cabinets. PSI Acquisition, a manufacturing company specialising in intelligent traffic solutions produces a variety of traffic control cabinets, controllers and conflict monitors, innovative power backup technology and the industry-leading Cyberlock security access system. According to Trafficware CEO John Newhard, the company is committed to bringing innovatio

The Swedish government has presented planned investments as part of its national transport plan 2014-2025, which is based on an infrastructure proposal from 2012. A total of US$80.32 billion is to be invested in the transport network, US$23.7 billion in the operations and maintenance of roads, US$13 billion in the operation and maintenance of railways, and US$43 billion will go towards developing the transport system. The government is to invest US$30.6 billion in new railway infrastructure, including

Brazil's Odebrecht group is planning to invest some US$18billion in infrastructure projects by 2017. According to CEO Marcelo Odebrecht, the company will invest US$4.5 to US$7 billion per year over the next three years and much of it involves concessions and public-private partnerships (PPP), according to local reports. Through Odebrecht Transport, the company will be investing in transportation infrastructure projects such as federal highway BR-163 in the mid-western state of Mato Grosso, Galeão int

The UK’s Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has scooped a prestigious Green Mind Award for the best Green Innovation project in Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The project, Investigating Recycled Aggregate Materials in Construction, aimed to reduce the amount of solid waste accumulating in Qatar and MENA and provide a practical solution for a cheaper and sustainable aggregate supply into the region. As a result, the Qatar Construction Specifications have been updated and a recycling target has been

As a result of the public consultation to consider route options for the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement scheme, the proposed scheme has been developed in more detail and plans to toll the road have been dropped. Changes that have been made in response to feedback from last year’s consultation include improvements to four junctions on the route and an updated local access road been proposed between two villages. The Highways Agency has now launched a ten-week consultation period, which forms par

With its integrated transport information system (ITIS) in ruins and waiting to be sold for salvage, Kuala Lumpur’s government has awarded a contract to improve its traffic management. GTC Global won the US$62 million contract last year to bring ITIS back on track. The company was recently acquired by Telekom Malaysia. In 2002, a traffic surveillance system costing more than US$93 million was launched to gather, process and supply real-time traffic information to reduce congestion in Kuala Lumpur. It we

A week-long police safety operation across Europe has led to the removal from the road of some 4,400 trucks for dangerous defects. The action followed checks of more than 137,000 trucks across 26 countries on 10-16 February. Co-ordinated by TISPOL, the European Traffic Police Network, the operation saw police carrying out a wide range of safety inspections that focused on speeding, alcohol, drugs, seatbelt use, tachograph infringements, excess weight, dangerous loading and document offences. A total of

The latest variable message sign (VMS) from French manufacturer SES is fully powered by solar panels, making it possible to install a sign virtually anywhere without the need for cables or mains power. Ideal for many applications from highway to urban, the signs use high intensity LEDs in a choice of character matrix, line matrix or full matrix display and are compliant with EN12966 European standards. With a display height of 160mm to 457mm, the signs are ideal for large VMS to small lane control signs

A new English-language web portal, www.French-rail-industry.com has been launched to promote France’s railways expertise to potential customers. The web portal aims to raise awareness among industry professionals worldwide of the know-how prevalent in France’s railway sector with sections devoted to the latest international company news and events such as Innotrans, which will take place in Berlin from 23 to 26 September 2014. The website will also help to establish connections between international

Vehicle security specialist Viper has launched its latest keyless vehicle entry system, Viper SmartKey, which it says provides hands free, keyless entry and exit from a vehicle using Bluetooth technology, controlled from the Viper SmartStart smartphone app. Viper SmartKey creates a wireless perimeter around a vehicle that responds to a smartphone via the cloud-connected technology of Viper SmartStart. Compatible with any Viper security or remote start system, the phone simply needs to be within a given r

International consulting and technology company Indra is coordinating the consortium of 15 companies and government bodies that is developing the Mobiwallet project, which will be piloted in the cities of Santander, Florence and Novi Sad and the West Midlands region of the UK. MobiWallet will turn any smartphone into a payment terminal with top-up on the go anywhere, thanks to technologies like NFC tags, 2D barcodes, interactive websites and augmented reality. An innovative platform will process the paym

Following its decision in March to make the first US$16.4 billion tranche of funding available for trans-European transport network projects, the European commission has now adopted the first work programmes within this framework: a multi-annual work programme covering larger projects with a total budget of US$15.1 billion and an annual work programme for 2014 addressing smaller projects with a budget of US1.3 billion. The funding priorities set out in these programmes include: The closing of missing lin

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is accepting applications for funding for transportation improvement projects under the Multimodal Transportation Fund created by Act 89. PennDOT can make available US$20 million in fiscal year 2014-15 to distribute to successful applicants. Eligible projects can cost between US$100,000 and US$3 million and they require a 30 per cent match from local sources. PennDOT will evaluate the applications and make selections based on such criteria as safety