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Plans have been announced to install 43 new toll stations on Greek motorways over the next few years. Toll prices are expected to go up as private companies take on contracts, with some suggesting that the price of journeys could triple. A total of 21 toll stations are to be constructed on the Egnatia Odos highway, eight on Ionia Odos, seven on the Trikala-Domokos motorway and six on Olympia Odos.

A team of IBM experts completing a month-long pro bono consulting assignment has presented recommendations to Nigeria's Lagos State Government to ensure that private traffic and public transportation flows more efficiently in Africa's most populous city, Lagos. Working with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority and the Lagos State Ministries of Transportation, Works and Infrastructure, Science and Technology, the IBM team of experts proposed technology-driven strategies to make travel easier.

After the identification of the irregularities in Germany and Poland, it became clear that Imtech was not going to meet its year-end 2012 financial covenants. On 19 March 2013, Imtech reached agreement with its main financiers on the provisional continuation of the outstanding facilities, and on 15 June 2013, the company reached final agreement with its main financiers regarding a waiver and amendment agreement for the outstanding facilities.

The challenging issue of revenue collection was under discussion at the 2013 Australian National Electronic Tolling Committee (NeTC) Forum hosted in Brisbane in May by ITS Australia. ITS Australia chief executive officer Susan Harris said the collection debate focused on ways to educate customers about the rationale for charges, payment processes and tactics to avoid repeat deliberate non-payers. The Forum provided an opportunity for industry and government to explore case studies about the costs of process

Consumers who purchase an electric vehicle will find that costs to own the vehicle are competitive with conventional and hybrid vehicles, according to an analysis conducted by the US Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). The study compares the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf with petrol-fueled cars that reflect average costs for different makes and models. Nissan lowered the price of the Leaf by about US$6,000 in January. It looks at several factors, including petrol and power prices, incentives, financi

The European Commission has adopted two proposals to ensure that, from October 2015, all new models of passenger cars and light duty vehicles will have to be fitted with 112 eCall, enabling them to automatically call emergency services in case of a serious crash. eCall is activated automatically as soon as in-vehicle sensors detect a serious crash. Once set off, the system dials the European emergency number 112, establishes a telephone link to the appropriate emergency call centre and sends details of the

Experts leading a major three-year trial into the impact of electric vehicles and the role they could play in our transport systems of the future, have shown that rolling them out across our city’s roads would protect both our health and the environment. Data gathered and analysed by transport experts at the UK’s Newcastle University shows that daytime air pollution levels in our towns and cities regularly exceed the Government’s recommended 40µg m-3 (21 parts per billion) for prolonged periods, putting peo

Public transport solutions provider Xerox has been successful in winning orders for its ticketing systems, most recently in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Chihuahua, Mexico. In Kuala Lumpur, the company will supply its Atlas contactless ticketing system and equipment to public transport operator Mass Rapid Transit Corporation for a new railway line that will cross the urban area of the city. Over the next five years, Xerox’s field teams will deploy the ticketing system, install 300 gate controllers and 200 tick

Technology developed by Melbourne’s La Trobe University’s Centre for Technology Infusion that aims to reduce or even eliminate accidents at railway level crossings is to be trialled by the Queensland government as part of a $2 million commitment to address safety at rail crossings. The system uses GPS and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) wireless technology to establish a wireless connection between trains and vehicles approaching a railway crossing. The system is designed to detect the possibili

A new report from ABI research concludes that global vehicle to vehicle (V2V) penetration into new vehicles will increase from just over 10 per cent in 2018 to 70 per cent in 2027, with the EU, US, and Japan as key regions adopting V2V in the mid-term. “V2X market and regulatory dynamics vary greatly from region to region. While the US will decide whether or not to mandate V2X by the end of 2013 with implementation not expected before 2018, in Europe the Car 2 Car Communication Consortium (C2C-CC) has issue

San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) is considering implementing congestion charging in an effort to alleviate the rush hour gridlock in the city that it says is going to get worse in the coming decade. A congestion pricing plan from the city Transportation Authority is shortly to undergo an environmental review. Congestion charging would involve a toll for vehicles entering or leaving downtown at certain hours. Drivers would pay a fee when they drive downtown. They’d be charged automatica

A trial using wireless communications technology to deliver real-time traffic information has been launched by New Zealand’s Ministry of Transport and ITS consultants AraFlow. The Co-operative Intelligent Transport Systems trial will investigate whether providing accurate real-time information about traffic conditions to participating commercial transport operators improves the productivity of freight movements. Ministry of Transport Chief Executive Martin Matthews says “We are testing whether this informat

According to the RAC’s 2013 Report on Motoring, the condition of the UK’s motorways and local roads, characterised by the now year-round problem of potholes, ranks as a top concern for motorists. While the cost of driving is understandably still the number one concern for nearly half (46 per cent) of Britain’s motorists, two in five (41 per cent) say maintenance of local roads and motorways is their top spending priority. In addition, 84 per cent of motorists believe their local roads are deteriorating and

Toll and transit authorities in Tampa, Florida, are to jointly propose a first bus/toll lanes (BTL) project for the region this autumn. Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA) in Florida is developing a bus/toll lane (BTL) project in partnership with Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART), the regional governments' bus service provider. BTLs are toll managed lanes added to existing expressways that are designed for express transit buses plus toll-paying vehicles in volumes capped by dynamic prici