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The first Middle East conference and exhibition on ITS, held in December 2006 in Dubai, was opened by His Excellency Eng. Abdullah Al- Mogbel, the president of ITS Arab and Deputy Minister of Transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two-day conference, the theme of which was 'Shaping the Future with ITS Solutions', focused on traffic safety, congestion, security and demand management. H.E Eng. Abdullah Al-Mogbel said, "ITS Arab will play a vital role in the development of sustainable ITS deployments across t

Texas-based Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) is to launch Where’s my Ride, an integrated intelligent transportation system (ITS), which will provide passengers with real-time travel information. Where’s My Ride will allow passengers to obtain predictive arrival information for the next bus or train at a passenger’s particular stop location via mobile application, SMS text alert, telephone interactive voice response or through the DCTA website. DCTA anticipates deployment of this product late th

In a bid to prevent the overloading of trucks, the Walloon Region of Belgium is to introduce a dynamic weigh in motion (WIM) system. Sensors installed in the road surface upstream of the fixed weighing stations will detect the vehicle’s weight, while automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras will identify the its registration. Trucks identified as being overweight are then intercepted and directed to the static weighing system. WIM is already in use in the Flanders Region of Belgium. A total of fif

The Thai government is expanding its current transportation systems with plans for 55 transportation projects worth US$72 billion which are expected to be completed by 2020. Of the US$72 billion, 64 percent will be spent on 31 rail projects, 24 per cent on 13 road projects, 7 per cent for seven water transportation projects, and 4.75 per cent is for four air transportation projects. These projects are designed to make Thailand a crossroads for the ASEAN logistics network, enabling cities in the region to be

Thousands of UK motorists caught speeding on two stretches of the M62 in Warwickshire could have their convictions overturned because the wrong font was used on the speed limit signs. The Crown Prosecution Service said the signs showed miles per hour (mph) numbers taller and narrower than they should have been, failing to comply with traffic regulations. The regulations governing variable speed limit signs are set out in a government document called Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002. If

After two years of planning, all-electronic tolling will begin on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on 27 March. In 2011, when the bridge district was facing a five-year shortfall of US$89 million, the Highway and Transportation District approved a plan to pursue all-electronic tolling as a cost-saving measure. The district will trim its expenses by US$16 million over the next decade as a result of the new system. According to bridge district spokeswoman Mary Currie, the bridge will be the first in Califo

The UK’s Hampshire Constabulary’s Safer Roads Unit has recently introduced new mobile speed enforcement technology to combat excessive speeds on the county’s roads. The LASERwitness Lite from Truvelo comprises laser speed measurement and digital video technology, combined with built in infra-red illumination for night time operation. The unit is extremely compact and can even be deployed from a police motorcycle if desired. This is beneficial in those locations where there is no suitable parking for a spe

Italian communication systems and display technology provider Aesys has announced the appointment of Oliver Wels as the sales and marketing director for worldwide operations. From 1 March 2013, he will be responsible for accelerating the company’s growth and report directly to founder and CEO Marcello Biava. Wels joins Aesys after seven years at DRI and later Luminator Technology Group, most recently as the vice president of global sales and marketing. From 2005 to 2012, he managed the growth of internatio

Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is committed to implementing all-electronic tolling (AET) by the middle of 2016; the Tobin Bridge will be converted first as a demonstration to familiarise the public, according to Frank DePaola, the state's highway administrator. The state is going all-electronic because with modern technology it's the most cost-effective way to collect tolls, and because it reduces delays to motorists and improves safety at toll points, he said. MassDOT has estimated it

Sensys America, US partner of Swedish supplier of enforcement systems, Sensys Traffic, has received an order worth US$630,000 for speed and red light enforcement to be supplied under a framework agreement to Washington DC. This is the second call-off order from the framework agreement signed in October 2012. Delivery is estimated to be made in the second quarter 2013. "This is a follow-up of the order we obtained in December 2012 further to the equipment being installed and approved by the end-customer in

Siemens is to provide the UK’s Electric Corby with its CP500A AC electric vehicle (EV) charging points at the first of ten locations in Corby, with a further eight locations being finalised. With the support of Corby Borough Council, the latest Siemens EV charging equipment will be installed over the coming weeks. According to Siemens, the network of Siemens EV charge points will help Corby strengthen its position as a leading edge location for ‘cleantech’ business investment, and bolster the wider Plugged

Florida’s Hillsborough Area Rapid Transit Authority (HART) is testing a smartphone application that would inform passengers in real time when buses will arrive. The OneBusAway pilot project is part of HART’s ongoing effort to provide bus information on mobile devices, officials said. The system would allow users to enter a numeric code for their bus stop and receive information on the length of time before the bus reaches them. A HART survey found that more than half of 400 respondents indicated real-time i

In line with its long term strategy, Finnish road weather information technology company Vaisala has carried out a review of its products and has sold three non-weather product ranges, distance measuring instruments, portable traffic analysers, and highway advisory radio systems, to its US distributor, M H Corbin. M H Corbin is an established Vaisala distributor in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York. In addition to the three new product ranges, the company has also been a distributor of Vaisala’

To strengthen its close cooperation with partners and experts in the transportation field, Austrian network solutions provider TTTech has become a member of the competence group Safety in Transportation Systems (SafeTrans). SafeTrans is a group of industry experts and decision makers from railway, aerospace, space, automotive, off-highway and industrial segments and academia. The goal of the group is to combine know-how regarding research and development in the sector of embedded systems for transportation

Abu Dhabi traffic police are to introduce an electronic weather system to alert motorists of fog, rain, and visibility problems ahead. Dense fog is a major problem for motorists across the country in the winter months. Heavy dust storms in summer also affect visibility. The system uses the latest technology and combines the tracking systems, patrols distribution information, traffic accident analysis system, and smart traffic awareness system of the Smart Traffic System Centre at the Abu Dhabi Police and T