News

Bluetooth sensors monitor travel times on Ontario’s busiest highway
November 14, 2013
Danish wireless technology company Blip Systems and its Canadian partner G4Apps have installed wireless sensors to help reduce traffic congestion on one of Ontario’s busiest highways, the Queen Elizabeth Way, which averages close to 200,000 vehicles per day. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is using Blip Systems’ combined Bluetooth and wi-fi sensors to verify travel time prediction algorithms. BlipTrack sensor are mounted on posts at strategic points in the road network and detect wireless
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Australia trials ‘smart’ road barriers
November 14, 2013
'Smart' road barriers that will speed up emergency response times to crash sites are being trialled in South Australia. The wire rope technology, designed in South Australia, is expected to improve crash response times by sending an electronic message direct to the city's traffic management centre when a vehicle crashes into the barrier. The technology has been installed on one of the state's most notorious roads and will be trialled for a year at a cost of US$112,000. If successful, the government wi
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Kapsch and JSC NIS to bid for Russia’s heavy vehicle tolling system
November 14, 2013
A consortium of Kapsch TrafficCom Russia, Kapsch TrafficCom and Russian company JSC (NIS) have successfully pre-qualified and are now set to work on the next stage of the tender for the development of Russia’s nationwide tolling system for heavy vehicles. The system, based on the use of the GLONASS/GPS satellite signal, will target vehicles with a maximum authorised weight of more than 12 tonnes. The project duration is thirteen years. The consortium unites Kapsch and NIS in a joint venture that has a
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Siemens automation for Dutch road tunnel
November 14, 2013
In a deal worth around US$16 million, Siemens, in association with local construction company BAM, is supplying the road and tunnel technology for the Leidsche Rijn tunnel in the Dutch city of Utrecht. Siemens will also maintain the installed technology for a period of three years. Handover of the tunnel is scheduled for summer 2015. The 495 metre long tunnel is designed to relieve traffic congestion in the new Leidsche Rijn district which is currently under construction to the west of Utrecht. The new t
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Australian tunnel strike captured on video
November 14, 2013
City-bound traffic on Sydney’s M5 came to a standstill when the partly raised body of a truck struck the roof of the M5 East tunnel causing extensive damage. This video clip on the BBC’s website shows the incident unfolding
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JV paves way for US interoperability hub
November 13, 2013
A joint venture between Egis Projects and Sanef is paving the way for a new Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and transponder-based ‘hub’ for nationwide tolling interoperability in the US. The joint venture, called Secure Interagency Flow LLC, has an agreement with the Alliance for Toll Interoperability (ATI) and operations are due to start by the end of this year. The final contract signings took place at the recent IBTTA conference in Vancouver and within the joint venture Egis will focus on opera
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International Machine Vision Standards Meeting
November 13, 2013
Development engineers from leading image processing companies worldwide met at the end of October under the patronage of G3, comprising the three international machine vision associations EMVA, AIA and JIIA for this years’ second International Standards Meeting. The experts discussed the development of the current standards used in image processing and tested the products and their compatibility with the standards. Key discussions included: The GenICam software standard meeting agreed to force the devel
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Indra demonstrates smart cities technologies
November 13, 2013
Spanish technology company Indra will demonstrate its smart city solutions at the Barcelona Smart City Expo World Congress for applications such as energy efficiency, smart and sustainable urban transport, security and e-Government. The Indra urban platform for smart cities management and safety will be demonstrated, showing the company’s solution for major city management that facilitates the exchange of information between various systems and offers a complete overview of activities in order to adapt s
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Thai government in a hurry for infrastructure
November 13, 2013
The Thai government hopes to immediately kick-start its infrastructure investment spending as soon as the US$63.26bn borrowing bill is passed. The massive investment is expected to help reduce logistics costs and turn Thailand into an Asean transport hub. The plans include building four-lane roads and widening existing two-lane roads to four lanes, construction of five dual track rail lines and improvement of existing routes, some of which could begin immediately, together with 41 new customs checkpoints. F
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Brazil ratchets up electric car fleet
November 13, 2013
A study by business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan predicts Brazil’s electric vehicle fleet is set to increase 46-fold over the next four years as local energy firms prioritise the development of carbon-free technology, and by 2017 will boast 5,700 electric cars, up from 125 at the end of 2012. Brazil ranks as the world's fourth most important automotive market, with [an] electric vehicle (EV) and supporting infrastructure market that has immense potential for growth if automakers decide to invest in i
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''Ferry'' smart parking in Gothenburg
November 13, 2013
The busy ferry port of Salthomen, close to Gothenburg, Sweden has resolved its parking problem with the installation of a Sensit wireless parking sensor system developed by Dutch parking specialists Nedap. Parking bays are equipped with floor-mounted Sensit wireless sensors to detect in real-time whether or not a bay is occupied and for how long. The sensors are integrated with the Gothenburg’s existing P-IN parking management systems and information on available spaces is displayed on dynamic messages s
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Kyocera-Telenor Connexion partnership to provide automotive M2M solutions
November 12, 2013
Japanese wireless technology expert Kyocera Corporation and Telenor Connexion, provider of connected business solutions for M2M, have announced a partnership agreement to supply M2M solutions for the international premium car market. The companies say OEMs with applications in need of high speed connection and instant access such as car telematics and on-board units for intelligent transport systems, smart metering, telemetry and security will benefit from reduced time to market and future-proof connecti
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Fitch Ratings analysis indicates problems for toll express lanes
November 12, 2013
A special report, US Managed Lanes, by Fitch Ratings sees toll express or managed lanes (MLs) as especially difficult to assess for financial viability, saying that they vary enormously one to another and are likely to demonstrate very different performance and be subject to greater volatility than regular toll roads. But they say there is now sufficient experience with managed lanes (MLs) for some lessons to be learned. ML time savings compared to the regular lanes has been seen as the fundamental drive
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EU to co-finance study on Spanish intermodal hub
November 12, 2013
The European Union (EU) will use US$831,000 from the Ten-T Programme to co-finance study on the creation of an intermodal hub in the Spanish region of Asturias. The aim is to foster intermodality and modal shift from road to other modes of transport. The study, which was selected for funding under the 2012 TEN-T Annual Call, will support the construction of an intermodal hub located within the area of industrial and logistic activities of Asturias (ZALIA) near the Spanish cities of Aviles, Gijon and Ovie
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Swarco and Tinynode team up on smart parking
November 12, 2013
Smart parking solutions from Swiss-based Tinynode’s are to be added to Swarco’s road safety and traffic management portfolio in a partnership that sees the technology also added to Swarco’s own traffic solutions. Tinynode’s wireless vehicle detection systems for outdoor and on-street parking are used as part of smart parking solutions which enable motorists to locate a free parking space. The company says there are several million parking spaces in Europe alone that could utilise the system. The Swarco
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