News

In a pilot project, Deutsche Telekom is to integrate a number of parking spaces within a sensor-based parking management system in Piazza Carrara in the historic centre of Pisa, Italy, just a few hundred metres from the town's landmark, the Leaning Tower. Sensors in the parking area will provide information on available parking spaces and forward this to a mobile app on the driver’s smartphone. Drivers can also pay parking fees via their smartphone. The cooperation also includes a big data service, w

Drivers on the Delhi-Mumbai highway are to benefit from electronic toll collection (ETC) from August this year. According to the highways ministry, ETC using RFID tags will be implemented on toll plazas across the golden quadrilateral (GQ), a highway network connecting many of the major industrial, agricultural and cultural centres of India. There are about 80 toll plazas on the entire GQ. Toll plazas on east-west and north-south corridors would be brought under the scheme by October. To begin with,

As part of its active participation in an EU-US Harmonisation Task Group (HTG) on the international deployment of Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS), Transport Certification Australia (TCA) will host a meeting of the group working on behalf of the European Commission and United States Department of Transportation in Melbourne during March 2014. “TCA is delighted to be hosting our fellow HTG delegates, focusing on the objective of working with stakeholders across regions to develop can

Mowasalat, which provides ground transportation services in Qatar, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Turkish public transport solutions provider Kentkart, to develop intelligent transport systems (ITS) in the country. The joint venture company will be responsible for analysing, commissioning, implementing and operating ITS projects and providing technical support and maintenance for customers. Kentkart will implement, maintain and commission intelligent solution systems for public tr

The UK’s transport research Laboratory (TRL) provided a rapid response when asked for help as part of the investigation of the recent appearance of a hole in the central reservation of the M2 between junctions 5 near Sittingbourne and 6, near Faversham. The hole that appeared is believed to be a dene hole; an historic man made hole which may have been used to mine for chalk hundreds of years ago. The hole was filled in when the M2 was constructed, but recent wet weather contributed to the destabilisati

Image Sensing Systems’ (ISS) Autoscope RTMS G4 radars are in use in Sochi, Russia to support traffic management at the 2014 Winter Olympics. The radars were provided by ISS’ regional partner Allied Global to the Olympic Games Transport Directorate, which is responsible for the operation of the traffic management system. Autoscope RTMS G4 is being used to monitor traffic conditions, display speed-map representation of the highway and determine travel time for commuters. The traffic management system inc

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is urging motorists to beware of the perils of driving on autopilot following research which shows that one in ten drivers are often unable to remember their entire car journey. The poll of almost 1,500 drivers, carried out by Vision Critical on behalf of the IAM, also revealed that 54 per cent of drivers admitted to missing a turning because they were distracted. A further 14 per cent of drivers are quite often unable to recall any part of their journey in the

According to a study carried out by Santiago’s metropolitan transport department DTP Transantiago, the mass transport system operating in the Chilean capital has increased the number of buses operating and has improved frequency indicators in the last year. All seven companies operating different corridors within Santiago put more buses on the streets and exceeded the 90 per cent ratio set as the minimum to comply with regulations in the last three months of 2013 compared to the same period of 2012. Metb

Analyst comment from Frost & Sullivan indicates that the business consulting firm believes that Detroit OEMs are in trouble if Apple acquires Tesla and thinks that the rumours surrounding this potential acquisition have some fire behind them. According to automotive and transportation team leader Paraná Tharthiharan: "Apple has an arm that researches automated driving technology and Tesla is also interested in automated driving. Hence, the speculations carry more weight than mere rumours, as if about cel

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has inaugurated the new Metro Manila urban traffic signal system. Developed and equipped by Indra with the latest technology, the system’s core is Indra’s Hermes smart traffic management system. Installed in MMDA’s new command, control and communications centre, Metrobase v2.0, the system controls 85 key intersections and monitors traffic with the help of 25 video surveillance cameras installed at main points in the city. Hermes is capable of contr

The Vision Show, North America’s largest vision and imaging trade show and conference, will be held in Boston, Massachusetts at the Hynes Convention Center, 15-17 April 2014. Founded by AIA in 1996, The Vision Show provides vision users, system integrators, machine builders and OEMs with access to the latest vision and imaging technologies and applications from nearly over 100 leading manufacturers, distributors and suppliers from around the world.

Construction of the 26.4- kilometre Jinan-Changqing line of the Jinan-Liaocheng railway in China will begin during March 2014. The project includes nine stations and will cost US$2.18 billion in total, out of which US$202 million is scheduled to be invested in 2014. Meanwhile, two cross-river bridge construction projects will be kicked off in Jinan in May 2014. They include a dual-use bridge across the Yellow River that will cost US$262 million and the 13.5- kilometre Changqing Yellow River bridge, which

Brazil's civil aviation department SAC intends to define a construction model by April for a new US$503 million international airport in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. The 20 de Setembro (20 September) airport, an alternative to the state capital's Salgado Filho international airport, will be situated in Portão some 33km north of Porto Alegre. It is expected to boast two 3,200m x 45m runways, an international cargo terminal and an international passenger terminal with an operational capacity o

The first Social Innovation Forum taking place today in Istanbul, Turkey will focus on urban development and how new, ‘smart’ technologies can deliver innovations that answer society's challenges. Cities are projected to host almost 54 per cent of the world's population by next year, with the United Nations estimating that up to 80 per cent, or approximately 7.5 billion people, of the global population will live in urban areas by 2050. Urbanisation is leading to further stress on infrastructure – power d