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The European Commission is supporting a joint effort between three regions – EU, US and Japan – to reach an agreement on a common assessment methodology for determining the impacts of ITS on energy efficiency and CO2 emissions. Ecostand believes that a standard methodology for assessing the impacts of ITS on CO2 emissions should have the following characteristics: • produce an accurate and fully reliable estimate of emissions, • be able to compare different ITS solutions operating under the same circumstanc

In a contract valued at around US$10.75 million, Chinese provider of automation and control technologies, Hollysys Automation Technologies, is to supply the ground-based signalling system for the 357 km Guangdong section of the Xiamen-Shenzhen high-speed rail line which has a designed travelling speed of 200 km/h. Hollysys will provide the ground-based high-speed rail signaling system, including train control centres (TCC), line-side electronic units (LEU) and other auxiliary equipments, which are expected

US-based designer and manufacturer of electronic components for traffic control systems, Eberle Design (EDI), has acquired Reno A&E (Reno) headquartered in Reno, Nevada. Reno specialises in the production of inductive loop vehicle detectors for the access and parking control, rail and traffic industries, as well as solid state load switches, power supplies, flashers and conflict monitors for the traffic industry. EDI says this highly complementary add-on enhances its product offering, provides greater indus

Miovision, US-based supplier of intelligent traffic solutions is to supply the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has purchased Miovision’s Scout video collection units (VCU) to standardise and automate their traffic data collection for state transportation projects. Indiana’s transportation agencies are responsible for the planning, building, maintenance and operation of the state’s transportation system that serves 6.5 million residents. In the past, INDOT used manual data collection methods or

US-headquartered traffic information and driver services provider Inrix is to partner with China’s traffic information services provider CenNavi to deliver premium real-time, predictive and historical traffic services across China. The companies say the collaboration leverages Inrix’s sophisticated traffic intelligence platform, vertical market expertise and connected services technologies with CenNavi’s real-time traffic information and advanced technologies, domestic experience and automotive relationship

Planning for the road ahead is something the New Mexico Department of Transportation (DOT) takes literally, as the department oversees the planning, design, construction and maintenance of 30,000 lane miles of highways, 3,500 bridges as well as the state's transit and rail operations, while keeping costs and environmental concerns in mind during the planning stages. To assist with the development of infrastructure projects, the department will roll out cloud-based building information modeling software late

US-based Perceptics, the company that performs most of the US government licence plate camera reads at the land borders, is to present its Build, Own, Operate and Maintain (BOOM) model for Automated Licence Plate Recognition (ALPR) systems at an Alliance for Toll Interoperability (ATI) webinar scheduled for 16 January. Perceptics claim BOOM will be an industry-first for e-tolling operators and integrators, helping to expedite new technology implementation in the field as an alternative to transponders, whil

New safety technology being installed along some rail lines across the US, including Central Minnesota, aims to prevent deadly train crashes caused by human error. The technology is designed to automatically stop or slow a train to prevent accidents such as a collision with another train or a derailment caused by excessive speed. The changes stem from federal legislation passed in 2008 after a commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in California, killing twenty-five people and injuring 135. An

New software from the PTV Group enables users to carry out traffic studies necessitated by planned housing schemes or shopping centre construction, which could have a substantial influence on traffic management. According to PTV, its PTV Vistro software simplifies traffic studies and allows users to quickly create networks, while at the same time enabling them to optimise traffic signals. The user can specify the geometry of the network, add data from traffic counts and specify traffic control rules for in

Siemens’ new energy saving LED pedestrian crossing wait indicator retrofit solution allows both Siemens and Peek 48 volt incandescent wait indicators to be upgraded to the latest Central Light Source (CLS) LED technology, says the company. Siemens claim the low power consumption the solution offers power savings typically in excess of 70% and represents a highly cost effective upgrade option for existing wait indicators, particularly when undertaken alongside a wider LED traffic signal upgrade program. The

In a partnership that they say will advance intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and car-to-X communications, US-headquartered IT provider Cisco and Dutch semiconductor supplier NXP Semiconductors are to invest in wireless communications specialist Cohda Wireless. The three companies will apply their collective expertise and technologies to help automotive OEMs, suppliers, enterprises and consumers to connect vehicles with ITS infrastructure. This will be spearheaded by producing the first automotive-q

Catching the next airport bus is expected to be a lot simpler for Citybus’s Cityflyer airport bus passengers. The IT and network technology provider NEC Hong Kong recently developed a fleet management system (FMS) that uses GPS-based technology to monitor airport buses and predict their arrival times at upcoming bus stops. Available at Citybus’ web site and as a smartphone mobile app, the estimated time of arrival (ETA) service covers around 300 bus stops of all Citybus A routes and the accuracy of predicti

In a response to a move to remove unnecessary clutter in cities and rural areas, more than 9,000 road traffic signs have been taken down in England, where local councils have been urged to think more creatively about the number and location of their location. Ministers have warned that excessive signs can be a distraction to motorists and make roads appear unattractive. In October 2011, the requirement for certain road signs was lifted; the government plans to give councils more discretion over where they p

Traffic police in Singapore are planning to implement an average speed enforcement system, to be trialled along the pan-island expressway and Changi coast road. The average speed enforcement system works by recording the time a vehicle takes to travel between two points to calculate its average speed, which the police say means that speeding motorists cannot evade the law even if they slow down before or speed up after the cameras. Speed detectors placed at the start and end points - to be determined in c

As part of the award of a frame agreement worth US$12.8 million for the supply of toll tags, Q-Free is to supply tags to the value of US$4.1 million to Centro Gestao Meios de Pagto (CGMP) in Brazil. Tags valued at US$8.4 million have already been supplied under the agreement. Q-Free says its OBU610 is the most advanced universal toll tag of its kind, designed to blend into the interior of any modern vehicle, small enough not obstruct the driver’s view, and yet powerful enough to support all applicable CEN