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Transport planning software company PTV Group has launched an online survey, 'The Strategy – How Cities Manage Traffic' (link http://vision-traffic.ptvgroup.com/index.php?id=8553), in an effort to discover the strategies used by the world’s cities and local authorities in planning their transport strategy. The survey covers actual requirements and the measures taken to achieve set goals on optimising driving speeds, increasing road capacity and moderating the effects of congestion; changes to mobility pl

The European Commission has announced the six finalists of two awards which honour the actions of European cities in developing and promoting sustainable approaches to urban mobility. This year’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) award recognises cities with SUMPs illustrating the ‘integration of economic, social, and environmental policy criteria’, the theme of the 2013 awards. The award is presented to local authorities which demonstrate excellence in developing and implementing their sustainable

Two states in the US, Florida and New York are working to reduce the risk of accidents caused by wrong-way drivers. In Florida, a six-month study conducted by Dr Haitham Al-Deek of the University of Central Florida found that only 10 per cent of drivers who witness a wrong-way driver called the police. The study does show that the number of ticketed wrong-way drivers has increased since 2005 and so have the calls to 911 reporting those drivers. "I do believe they happen more than

A two-year experiment by the Danish road directorate shows accidents have fallen on single-carriageway rural roads and motorways where the speed limit was raised. Since the speed limit on some stretches of two-way rural roads was increased from 80 to 90 km/h, accidents have decreased due to a reduction in the speed differential between the slowest and fastest cars, resulting in less overtaking. The slowest drivers have increased their speeds, but the fastest 15 per cent drive one km/h slower on average

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide a funding contribution of US$292 million towards the completion of the motorway link between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The project includes the completion of the M8 motorway between Scotland’s two largest cities and major improvements to the M73 and M74 to reduce congestion and safety and improve travel times on one of Scotland’s busiest road networks. “The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting crucial investment in essential infrast

Swarco has been awarded a contract for a major traffic management project with various locations throughout Hungary, including several urban areas, by the Hungarian Public Road Non-Profit. Swarco will develop a new fault indication system specifically tailored to Hungarian needs and also adapt its service software to suit local requirements. The final system will provide an advanced traffic control system that provides harmonised and adaptive traffic control with remote control to help improve traffic f

Q-Free has been awarded orders to the value of value of US$4 million for the extension of six out of eleven previous contracts for the service and maintenance of Norway’s AutoPass system. The new contracts will take effect in the first quarter of 2014 and the remaining contracts are to be negotiated in the near future. Administered by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, the AutoPass system enables automatic collection of roads tolls via a DSRC-based radio transponder on the vehicle’s windscreen

Spanish company Indra has successfully completed the implementation of the Chengdu and Xian air control centres in China; between them, the two centres manage air traffic in more than eight regions in the country for a total of 4.2 million square kilometres. Chengdu is one of Asia's largest air control centres, more than 400 air controllers who are responsible for an area of 2.3 million square kilometres. Indra technology is used to control the upper airspace of five regions in the territory and the co

A recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan estimates the number of vehicles in car sharing fleets to stand at around 2,000 in 2013 and forecasts that by 2020 there could be between 75,000 and 100,000 of such vehicles in operation, as providers such as OEMs, leasing arms, rental companies, car sharing organisations (CSOs) and technology providers continually enter the market and expand geographically with competing solutions. With more than half of European automobile sales now accounted for by fleet sales, set

Metrolink, southern California’s regional commuter rail service, has launched positive train control (PTC) in revenue service demonstration (RSD) in cooperation with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). PTC is one of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) top ten most wanted transportation safety improvements. It involves a GPS-based technology capable of preventing train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, unauthorised incursion into work zones and train movement through switches le

Brazil has invested US$18.3bn in federal highway projects during phase two of its growth acceleration plan, PAC, according to the federal government's ninth balance report on PAC 2 works. The report, reviewing phase two's first three years (2011-13) of the four-year program, affirmed that work was carried out on 3,080 kilometres of highway stretches and highlighted various projects which were completed last year. Among them was BR-376 near southern Paraná state's Maringá city, BR-448 known as Rodovia

Traffic Management Products (TMP) has announced the appointment of a new managing director. Daniel Robinson will take on the role on 14th April 2014. Dan joins the company from the London Borough of Southwark, where he was the senior lighting engineer and former chairman of the Young Lighting Professionals. Speaking of Dan’s appointment, TMP chairman Richard Dewhurst said “I am delighted that Dan has decided to join TMP. He has excellent industry knowledge, is highly thought of by his peers and we

FTA Ireland has said it would like to see the proposed new traffic laws matched with an increased resource for roadside enforcement by the Gardai. The response from FTAI followed the announcement of the Road Traffic No.2 Act 2013, introduced to improve safety levels on Irish roads, outlined by Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar earlier this week. The new traffic laws will include roadside impairment tests for drug driving; higher penalty points for speeding, mobile phone use and not we

Almost everyone who got behind the wheel of a heavy goods vehicle at the London Bike Show said that the experience caused them to rethink the way they cycle. More than 850 cyclists took part in Exchanging Places run by Crossrail and the Metropolitan Police Service, which allows them to see the road from a lorry driver’s point of view and get a better understanding of what drivers can and cannot see. Most were unaware of the size of blind spots from inside the driver’s cab. Chief Superintendent Sultan

Although San Diego County may see a downturn new freeway infrastructure projects during 2014, many projects, from rail to highways and cycle paths, are still in the pipeline for 2014, according to the region's transportation planning agencies. Laurie Berman, district director for the regional office of the California Department of Transportation, said last week that Caltrans' focus is transitioning from general purpose lane expansions to more traffic management. The new direction is meant to provide trav