News

Ertico–ITS Europe and Glonass Union have signed an accord between the HeERO eCall project and Glonass Union, covering the pan-European 112 eCall system based on 112 and the Era-Glonass eCall system being deployed in Russia. The HeERO project manages the pre-deployment of the 112 pan-European eCall based emergency service in fifteen European states. Glonass Union is the Russian navigation services provider responsible for implementation of the accident and emergency response system Era-Glonass in Russia,

A truck safety solution developed by Volvo Trucks is said to minimise the risks posed to trucks with trailers by slippery winter roads and downhill gradients. Stretch Brake automatically retards the trailer and straightens up the rig on slippery downhill stretches. Stretch Brake is a complement to the rig’s electronic stability program (ESP), another system introduced by Volvo Trucks. While ESP is at its most effective at higher speeds, Stretch Brake is only operational at speeds below 40 km/h. Both syst

Georgia Tolls has awarded contracts for their second and third toll express lanes project on I-75 south and I-75/575 northwest. With national interoperability planned they require the toll systems supplier to install multi-protocol readers on the toll gantries to E-ZPass transponders as well as 6C sticker tags. Toll system integrator will be 3M who is to provide the toll system including vehicle detection, tracking and classification loops, 3-protocol RF readers, license plate imaging cameras and illumin

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the national railways company, in its drive to radically improve energy efficiency across its operations. A US$40 million loan, US$700,000 of which will be provided by the Clean Technology Fund, will finance a series of new technologies to reduce energy consumption, from an upgraded lighting system to alternative heating solutions such as heat pumps, solar water heaters and boiler upgrades. The progra

Spanish technology multinational Indra has been awarded four new contracts worth US$17 million for its traffic control and toll technology in Mexico. The technology will be implemented on the Paquete Michoacán motorways, the Poetas fast lane, the Celaya ring road motorway and the Necaxa Tihuatlan tunnels. Intelligent traffic systems (ITS) and toll systems will be deployed on the Celaya ring road motorway, including a control centre to integrate the various ITS and surveillance sub-systems via closed circ

Iteris is one of three firms selected to provide traffic design and operations training services to the US National Highway Institute (NHI). Under the five-year indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract, awarded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), fixed price task orders will be issued for the development, update and delivery of instructor-led and distance learning courses covering transportation operations. The National Highway Institute (NHI) plays a vital role in the FHWA’s

Gatso Australia is to supply the Queensland Police Service with speed enforcement systems for the Legacy Way Tunnel which is is scheduled to open to the public early in 2015. The tunnel, which will include two two-lane parallel tunnels, is a major motorway tunnel which will link the Western Freeway at Toowong with the Inner City Bypass at Kelvin Grove Gatso will implement combined instantaneous and multi section control speed enforcement utilising the T-Series solution which uses non-invasive speed de

Kapsch TrafficCom has been appointed to deliver two high profile electronic tolling projects in Australia. The contracts will see Kapsch TrafficCom deliver multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) tolling solutions on the Eastern Distributor toll road in Sydney and the Legacy Way toll road in Brisbane using Kapsch multi-lane free-flow single gantry technology. Kapsch TrafficCom’s single gantry solution will be deployed in both projects and to provide stereoscopic vehicle detection and classification, front and rear l

German intelligent transportation systems supplier init has achieved contract wins in France and Finland. French local authority Le Grand Avignon has awarded the company a €5 million (US$6.7 million) contract for the supply and installation of a new control system for local public transport company TCRA (Transport en Commun de la Région d‘Avignon). The supplier will replace the existing control system and equip over 250 vehicles with the necessary hardware and software. Transport authorities in Turk

As this issue of ITS International goes to press there is considerable confusion over the introduction of the French Ecotax following widespread and sometimes violent protests. Following a series of postponements going back over several years, the GNSS-based tax on vehicles over 3.5 tonnes was due to come into effect on 1 January 2014 and was expected to raise one billion euros per year. However, the French government has announced that the tax has been suspended indefinitely but is stressing that this is

Transportation innovator Leo McCloskey has joined ITS America as senior vice president for Technical Programs, where he will manage the Association’s contract work with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and other public sector, private industry and research partners. McCloskey will lead ITS America’s Technical Programs group and direct the organization’s research, standards, and other technology-driven initiatives. He joins ITS America from telematics technologies and connected vehicle services s

Ertico – ITS Europe and communications standards body ETSI have staged the second eCall Testfest event where vendors tested the interoperability of their eCall systems. The week-long event was staged at CETECOM in Essen, Germany, and attracted more than 30 vendors – both in-vehicle and public safety answering point (PSAP) suppliers - from all over the world. During the event 350 pairing sessions were organised each of which allowed one in-vehicle unit to test with one PSAP unit. Over the course of the

During the ITS World Congress in Tokyo, ITS Finland, the Finnish Ministry of Transport, Ertico - ITS Europe, HERE and others joined forces to launch a best "ITS in your pocket" app contest for the ITS European Congress in Helsinki 16 to 19 June 2014. The App Contest 2014 is open to European companies, teams and individual developers and over the next few months, workshops and webinars will be organised in various European cities to support participants in their proposals. There are three categories ‘Mu

Dedicated to recognising emerging talent as well as established and successful players, nominations for the 2014 Telematics Update awards are now open. Past winners include Audi, BMW, Livio Radio, WirelessCar, Tweddle, TeleNav, Telogis and many more. The twelve categories include: Best Telematics Product or Service Launch in an Emerging Market (BRIC Region); Best Insurance Telematics Product or Service Launch; Best Telematics Service Provider Award; Best Telematics Content Aggregator Award; Best Telema

A new ten year plan released by the Maine Turnpike Authority defers decisions on work to upgrade its three largest toll plazas pending completion of a next generation toll collection study that will consider the costs and benefits of going all-electronic, versus open road electronic tolling (ORT) and cash and a timetable. Objections from local residents and the failure of the Turnpike to consider the alternative of all-electronic tolling (AET) led to the delay of a previous ten year plan in 2009 that set