News

Sensys Traffic has received orders worth US$264,000 for speed and red-light enforcement systems from two customers in the Middle East. In 2013, Sensys entered into a traffic safety collaboration agreement with a local partner in a new market in the Middle East, within which Sensys delivered systems for pilot projects. One of the orders now received is a consequence of this agreement and implies a next stage for Sensys within this market. The second order, for spare parts, is from an existing customer. Bo

In just three months, more than 11,000 users of the Nantes public transportation network, SEMITAN, have opted for post-payment. The service is based on the Libertan contactless cards introduced in August 2013, which allow passengers to travel on the entire public transportation system in the Nantes urban area, including buses, trams and regional trains. Libertan card users can opt for an unlimited annual pass or the customised post-payment service, where they are billed two months later. To deploy t

Mexico's transport and communications ministry (SCT) has launched a tender for construction of the Mexico City-Toluca passenger rail line. The project will be divided into a series of separate tenders, with the first open to Mexican companies only. The tender launched on 28 February is a public works contract for construction of the first 36km of railway. Subsequent tenders will relate to the acquisition of rolling stock and electromechanical works. The electric trains will travel at speeds of up to 1

Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) is planning to invest US$2 million in a new system aimed at decreasing the number of wrong-way drivers on the state’s highways. According to Robert Rocchio, managing engineer of traffic and safety at RIDOT, the state sees a minimum of one fatal crash per year due to drivers going the wrong way on the state's major highways. RIDOT hopes to begin installing intelligent transportation systems on highway off-ramps at twenty different locations across the s

UK business secretary Vince Cable has set out the latest steps the Government is taking to support ‘reshoring’, backing an encouraging trend of manufacturers bringing jobs and production back to the UK from low-cost countries in the East. He has announced the latest winners, including Clearview Traffic Group, GlaxoSmithKline, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and Cosworth, from a US$409 million government Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) which is helping to rebuild B

The Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi has commenced work on a US$9 million adaptive traffic control central system project, which is expected to be completed by early 2015. The project will see the implementation of a new Scoot (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) adaptive traffic control system to improve traffic flow at the capital’s 125 main signalised junctions. Scoot, installed in more than 120 cities worldwide, is a tool for managing and controlling traffic signals in urban areas.

The Asset Standards Authority (ASA) of Transport for New South Wales (NSW), Australia, has recognised Parsons Brinckerhoff as an Authorised Engineering Organisation (AEO), making the company the first major consultancy firm in NSW to be authorised to undertake engineering works on behalf of Transport for NSW. Parsons Brinckerhoff says the authorisation is a significant achievement; the status requires engineering firms to demonstrate they have processes and procedures in place to assure the design, safet

Dozens of locations across the UK capital are set to be transformed in a US$6.7 billion programme as part of the largest investment in the capital’s road and street network in a generation. In response to the recommendations of the Mayor’s Roads Task Force, a total of 50 projects are now underway. Alongside the transformation of 33 of London’s biggest and nastiest road junctions announced last week as part of the Mayor’s cycling programme, there will also be more than US$334 million of additional far-re

New Zealand company ERoad is helping transport operators reduce speeds in high-risk areas with its new virtual speed camera. Operators are now able to pinpoint areas of risk and apply their own speed limits to those areas for their drivers. They may be the same as the posted speed limit for the zone, or set lower to encourage extra vigilance around areas such as schools. Operators are able to use virtual speed cameras to monitor the speed of any of their vehicles that have ERoad hardware devices inst

A new report from leading traffic information and driver services provider Inrix shows traffic congestion in Europe rose in 2013 for the first time in two years. According to the 2013 annual Inrix Traffic Scorecard, traffic congestion across Europe increased approximately six per cent in the last three quarters of the year. The amount of time British drivers spent in traffic throughout the year has risen slightly, from 29 hours in 2012 to 30 hours in 2013. This puts the UK in sixth place in Europe, behi

Peek Traffic has expanded its distribution strategy to directly serve the states of Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia. All current, on-going and new projects will be supported by Peek Traffic Corporation and its affiliate companies. The company says this expansion demonstrates its ongoing commitment to provide high quality products and services and to build closer relationships with its clients.

Already a winner of the 2013 ITS America award for Best New Innovative Practices the the Interstate 15 integrated corridor management (ICM) demonstrator project in San Diego has recently completed a successful coordinated test plan with all members of the Interstate 15 integrated corridor management project team. This test, by project owner SANDAG (San Diego Association of Governments) involved all the agency partners who witnessed the first ever fully automated multi-modal corridor handling of a freeway

London Underground (LU) has begun the search for a supplier to build the 'new Tube for London, the next generation of deep-level, energy efficient, walk-through and air-cooled Tube trains. The new trains, capable of full automation, will operate on the Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly and Waterloo and City line and will enable more frequent and reliable services, boosting capacity and making journeys better and more comfortable for customers. 250 new trains will include air-cooling for the first time on

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced that a new report on the state of America's transportation infrastructure, 2013 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit: Conditions and Performance, confirms that more investment is needed to maintain and improve the nation's highway and transit systems. Last month, Secretary Foxx highlighted the need for transportation investment in a speech that took aim at America’s infrastructure deficit and identified ways to use innovation and improv