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Bristol mayor George Ferguson is in talks with the city’s Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens to consider switching speed cameras back on in the city. The city’s thirty-seven fixed point speed cameras and traffic light cameras were switched off in April 2011 as part of a nationwide cost-cutting exercise. It was left to local authorities to make the final decision on whether to cut the deterrents. The Bristol Safecam partnership was abolished, leaving the cameras, twenty of which were red light c

To make the toll collection process on the national highways easier and more transparent, the Indian government will roll out RFID-based electronic toll collection (ETC) across all the toll plazas on national highways throughout the country by 2014. "By 2014, we intend to have by ETC on all toll plazas in the country,” Road Transport Minister C P Joshi said. He added that pilot projects have already been launched on some national highways. Based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, ETC uses

Australia’s National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) has praised the New South Wales (NSW) government's plan to use revenue raised by speed cameras to help boost funding for road safety programs by US$7.3 million. The new Safer Roads Program is part of the Centre for Road Safety's state-wide strategy aimed at cutting the state's road toll by thirty per cent by 2021. The additional funds will see a total of US$37.6 million a year spent on works in areas where the worst crashes are occurring, with the

Drivers in Massachusetts may no longer need to worry about having cash on hand as they hit toll roads. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is planning to replace every tollbooth in the state with electronic tolling systems that read E-ZPass transponders in cars and send monthly bills to drivers who use toll roads without passes. “We’re trying to look at doing things faster, more efficiently and provide more information to the public,” said MassDOT Highway Administrator Frank DePaola.

OnTheMove, a free, customisable travel information service launched by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is designed to provide travellers with email alerts prior to their journey, about road and driving conditions, incidents and road works on New Zealand’s state highways. NZTA Regional Traffic Operations Manager Kathryn Musgrave says the new service is a customer-friendly way for road users to check road conditions before they travel on our state highways. OnTheMove can be accessed from any PC or sma

The Technical and Scientific Committee of the 17th IRF world meeting and exhibition is inviting surface transportation experts and researchers from all over the world to submit paper abstracts for evaluation. Abstracts should reflect original research or innovation in technical, institutional, economic, business and policy issues that are relevant, recent and significant. This global event, to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 9-13, 2013, will provide a unique forum for sharing the latest industr

By tracking moving objects, a new system from Volvo could help prevent accidents. The system uses a camera embedded in a car’s rear view mirror, combined with a radar instrument in the grill to scan the road ahead. If it sees an object, an onboard computer will determine whether it is a cyclist or a pedestrian, and prepare to apply the brakes if someone swerves out into traffic or darts across road. Many cars already come with safety systems that will brake if a collision with another vehicle or a pedestria

TEST Controls has international test appeal

Peek Traffic Corporation will use the ITS America Annual Meeting to announce the next addition to the successful family of Peek ATC controllers. Joining the ATC-CBD and ATC-1000 controllers is the upcoming ATC-2000 which will make its debut. Designed to utilize the same robust Greenwave local intersection control software used in the ATC-1000 NEMA style controller, the company says the ATC-2000 will bring that level of advanced functionality to the Caltrans style 332/336 cabinet. The design combines the adv

Visitors to this year’s ITS America Annual Meeting & Exposition are being provided with a powerful tool to help them plan and manage their meeting experience. A brand new, user-friendly, smartphone app will offer new services and provide a truly interactive, connected experience for attendees. Some of the features provided by the smartphone app include access to all exhibitors, speakers and the latest schedule information, as well as mobile alerts for upcoming events occurring at the Annual Meeting. Users w

Kapsch TrafficCom will appear at the 23rd ITS America Annual Meeting with an important recent validation of the versatility of its 5.9 GHz DSRC multi-modal, integrated and interoperable technologies. Earlier this month, the company announced it had been selected by HNTB and the Michigan DOT (MDOT) to deliver a Truck Parking Connected-Vehicle System at five sites along the I-94 corridor in Michigan.

Delegates to the ITS America Annual Meeting will have an opportunity, on Sunday, April 21, of attending a unique event – the State DOT CEO Roundtable. Attendees will hear first-hand from more than 19 State DOT CEOs as they discuss how they are using technology to address their transportation challenges, what the results have been, and how their ITS strategy may change given the passage of MAP-21. Never before have so many State DOT leaders come together to discuss in an open forum the issues that matter mos

In partnership with the US DOT/FHWA, ITS America will provide a new opportunity for public and private sector ITS and transportation professionals to attend official training courses conducted by US DOT instructors. This is an excellent opportunity for anyone wanting to expand their knowledge base, grow professionally and take back real-world information that can help their ITS systems operate more efficiently.

Iteris will use its presence at the 23rd ITS America Annual Meeting to highlight how the company is doing its part to mitigate congestion through planning, engineering, and implementing technology based solutions. The company says its focus is to measure (collect travel behaviour and pattern data); manage (analyse and monitor travel conditions); inform (provide real-time information to traffic managers and motorists); and guide (deliver actionable and predictive information).

An important strategic task every company must do periodically is review products and make sure they match the goals and direction of the company. In March, Vaisala, the global weather solutions provider, concluded that three non-weather road transportation products no longer match its long term strategy, and thus sold these products to another company. Vaisala says the change will allow it to increase its already industry-leading innovations, such as the non-intrusive road weather sensors, and the Conditio