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In a bid to help its 500,000 subscribers avoid traffic, Shanghai OnStar, the Chinese joint venture between General Motors, SAIC, and Shanghai GM, has announced the launch of a new feature. Aptly named Avoid Traffic, the service is an improvement to turn-by-turn navigation that utilises real-time traffic information to route users around traffic congestion via OnStar’s familiar turn-by-turn voice commands.

A poll carried out by the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA) reveals that machine vision companies have overall positive business expectations for 2013 business in Europe. In a quick survey conducted by the association in October, 56 per cent of the participants expect their own business to grow above five per cent next year, and another 13.3 per cent think their sales will increase up to five per cent. Only eight per cent of the participants expect their company’s business to decline in 2013. Asked

The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) at the George Washington Bridge (GWB), first installed in 1997, is to be replaced by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as part of a road improvements being planned throughout the region. The ITS provides information on traffic conditions, estimated travel times, and lane restrictions to motorists via electronic signs on roads leading to the GWB. An estimated 101 million vehicles crossed the world’s busiest crossing in both directions in 2011. Work on t

Drivers in Malta can soon expect to see improvements in traffic management, with the launch of an intelligent traffic management project to control traffic systems on arterial roads. Austin Gatt, Malta's transport and communications minister, has revealed the launch of the new intelligent traffic control project on the island's major urban routes within the coming months. The system will work to control traffic flow via new variable message signs, CCTV cameras and traffic light optimisation.

Cape Town’s public transport commuters can now use their cell phones to access real-time timetables and plan their routes, whether they are travelling by train, taxi, MyCiTi buses or the city’s Golden Arrow Bus service. FindMyWay is a free public service website that brings together all the modes of transport within the city, so that commuters can easily access the information in one place. Logging on to www.findmyway.mobi and www.gometro.co.za from a cell phone with an internet connection gives commuters

Spanish telecommunications provider Telefónica and US-headquartered smart parking solutions supplier Streetline have joined forces to offer telematics-enabled smart parking services that allow cities to optimise parking management, while reducing vehicle traffic. The companies have reached an agreement to jointly market M2M (machine to machine) products designed to target the growing smart parking market, initially in Europe and Latin America. The solution will be part of the Telefónica Smart City platform

Video surveillance, access control and licence plate recognition could soon be available to a broader user base. Montreal-headquartered security industry and IP solutions provider Genetec has entered into a strategic multi-year alliance with Microsoft to develop powerful Windows Azure-based hosted security solutions including video surveillance, access control and licence plate recognition (LPR) as a service. The new cloud-based security solutions will be built on Microsoft's Windows Azure cloud-computing

IBM researchers are piloting a system with the City of Lyon, France which will be used to help traffic operators in its transportation management centre to evaluate an incident and make more informed assessments about which actions would restore traffic flow. Using real-time traffic data, the new analytics and optimisation technology can help officials predict outcomes and analyse ways to resolve problems. The researchers say that, although traffic management centres have sophisticated video walls and colou

Motorists using the M90 in Scotland will face the country’s first variable speed limits in three weeks time when a new traffic control system is launched on the road north of the Forth Road Bridge. The intelligent transport system, which goes live on 4 December on the M90 northbound, has been installed as part of construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing, which is due to open in four years time. Speeds will be automatically lowered by traffic sensors under the road surface when they detect congestion,

Dutch camera enforcement supplier Gatso has been awarded the first of four contracts to be issued over the next two years as part of the EG100 framework agreement for the replacement of 300 to 550 fixed installations in the Netherlands. Gatso will deliver, install and maintain 94 fixed speed and red light enforcement installations, utilising their latest T-Series enforcement system, which Gatso says captures clear images of moving vehicles in all conditions, and adapts and expands easily to meet future traf

Information technology provider Indra used the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona to demonstrate its contactless smart card that the company aims to develop into a card that integrates access to all services that require identification, access control or payment. Indra says this will provide increasingly personalised services, whilst offering the convenience of integrating everything into a single medium.

City officials in Washington, DC, are launching a two-year test of technology that they hope will ease traffic gridlock and improve public safety in the city. In 2013, they will begin connecting traffic signals to existing high-speed network cables that run beneath the city streets. Once connected to the network, the signals will be equipped with video cameras and wi-fi hot spots. The test program will cover traffic lights at 16 intersections. According to governing.com the DC metro area regularly turns up

Easytrip, Ireland’s largest provider of electronic tolling payment services has launched new Charge2Mobile toll payment service, in partnership with O2. Said to be the first of its kind, the service will provide a more convenient channel for paying tolls on Ireland’s M50 for car drivers who currently pay by cash. Available immediately to O2 customers in Ireland, Easytrip hopes to roll out its Charge2Mobile tolls offering across other networks over the coming months and to add to its support team for this ne

McCain, manufacturer and supplier of intelligent transportation systems, traffic control equipment and parking guidance solutions, has announced distributor partnerships with Quality Traffic Systems and M H Corbin. Both companies will represent McCain’s full line of traffic control equipment within their respective territories of Georgia and Ohio. “We are always looking for like-minded businesses to partner with,” said Nathan Welch national sales manager at McCain Inc. “Quality Traffic and M H Corbin are ju

Preparations for hosting the major sporting event, the Euro 2012 European football championship, enabled Ukraine and Poland to give their infrastructure the biggest facelift in the region and beyond. While three-quarters of Poland's expenditure was covered by EU funds, Ukraine financed the building of roads, hotels, and airports itself. Ukraine, however, did receive a EUR 2.2 billion loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). "The infrastructure sector will definitely remain one