News

The vision of Austria’s transport experts of implementing a comprehensive integrated transport network is about to become a reality with Traffic Information Austria (VAO). Launched at the ITS World Congress, VAO is scheduled to go live in late spring 2013, using technology provided by software companies PTV Group and Haco, in partnership with Austrian motorway operator ASFINAG, the Austrian transport association organisers ARGE ÖVV, ITS Vienna Region, ÖAMTC, Ö3 traffic editorial staff, the City of Graz, th

After more than a decade of delays, the New South Wales (NSW) government in Australia is to begin trials of the Opal electronic ticketing system on select ferry routes, with a trial set to commence on Sydney ferries in December. NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian said that commuters would be able to use a single card to pay for tickets on ferries, trains, buses, and light rail by 2015. The Opal card will be available on all Sydney ferries and some trains in 2013, with buses and light rail to come on

A report by the Local Government Association (LGA), the organisation representing councils in England and Wales, predicts road tolling or pay as you drive road pricing could be introduced by 2018. With traffic predicted to nearly double over the next 25 years, the LGA believes the Government will have to consider tolls or even pay as you drive road pricing to raise the money it needs.

Work has begun on the long-awaited integrated traffic management system (ITMS) for Chennai in India. The new system is designed to help police monitor traffic violations more efficiently, as well as creating an automatic intelligent traffic control system to give priority to police cars and ambulances. The system, that includes high powered surveillan¬ce cameras, number plate readers and wi-fi at junctions, is to be first insta¬lled by local IT company Purple Infotech.

Within the framework of its Sustainable Urban Mobility campaign, the European Commission has announced the twenty winning actions set to receive up to US$9,000 each in financial support. This money will be used to further the activities of the winning initiatives promoting sustainable urban mobility.

Within the framework of its Sustainable Urban Mobility campaign, the European Commission has announced the twenty winning actions set to receive up to US$9,000 each in financial support. This money will be used to further the activities of the winning initiatives promoting sustainable urban mobility.

The Bulgarian government is considering inviting investors to help it develop an electronic system for truck tolls. The project, which is worth up to US$648.26 million, will be developed on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. "We are looking for heavyweights, partners capable of making a serious investment of 200, 300, maybe 500 million euro, depending on the estimated cost of building such a system," Lilyana Pavlova told reporters at the Southeast Europe Business Forum.

Fostering ITS Policy, an international workshop jointly organised by TTS Italia (National Association for Telematics for Transport and Safety) and the IRF Policy Committee on ITS, aims to bring together key partners from the public, private and academic sectors in Italy to discuss ITS policy frameworks and developments in ITS university education. The workshop takes place as part of the New World Conference The New World II, the ITS for mobility management convention in Bologna on 5 December 2012 at Savoia

UK-headquartered IT consultancy firm Smart421 is to design, build and manage a new Live Sales Management system for Rail Settlement Plan (RSP). This system will provide the rail industry with a flexible, high availability cloud-based solution to support ticket on departure - the collection of rail tickets from self service ticket machines after purchasing them earlier on the web.

The results of two one-year electric vehicle (EV) trials carried out in the Netherlands and Sweden were presented at the European Electric Vehicle Congress (EEVC) 2012. All aspects of EVs were taken into account during these trials; results show that after an EV is integrated in people’s daily use, most preconceptions are proved wrong.

Welsh local authority Ceredigion County Council has adopted remotely hosted street lighting software from Mayrise Systems to give frontline staff and external contractors secure access to live service information on fault updates and current service levels. Ceredigion County Council also hopes to introduce mobile working, using the hosted solution, to improve both the safety and efficiency of maintenance workers. Mayrise Street Lighting utilises the latest Microsoft 2008 server and virtualisation technologi

A report released by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD highlights the role of national governments in improving pedestrian mobility and proposes twelve measures to create safer walking environments. The study, entitled Pedestrian Safety, Urban Space and Health, was prepared by a working group of transport experts and urban planners from nineteen countries and the World Health Organisation under the leadership of the ITF. The report comes to a number of conclusions, including the fact that

England’s least car dependent city, Nottingham, is to further develop its public transport system with integrated ticketing solutions from Germany-headquartered ITS provider INIT, which is to supply systems for the town’s bus and tram network. With more than 40 million customer journeys per year, Nottingham’s independent bus operator Trent Barton was already successfully using INIT’s integrated ticketing solution comprising of Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM), validators and Mango smartcards. Passengers

Derbyshire based Mobile Visual Information Systems (MVIS) and Safety Vehicle Hire and Lease (SVHL) from Leicestershire have joined forces in a deal that they say will not only enable wider market access to the latest generation of variable message signs (VMS), but which they hope will also promote the case for legislative evolution facilitating the greater efficiency of the UK’s road network. MVIS supplies mobile and solar powered monitoring and visual information systems, including VMS, to the traffic mana

Denmark’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure is to be expanded with the installation of fifty smart DC fast chargers. Electric mobility operator Clever has chosen power and automation technology group ABB to supply and maintain the fast chargers throughout Denmark. The companies say the ABB Terra 51 chargers, which are to be installed at strategic locations in the country, are ideally suited for freeway driving and has the capacity to fast charge electric vehicles in a matter of thirty minutes.