News

TRW Automotive Holdings has developed a new, active seat belt technology which assists the driver to grasp the belt during the buckling up process. The system, known as TRW's active seat belt presenter, can help to support elderly or less mobile passengers, as well as act as a reminder to fasten the seat belt upon entering the vehicle.

Transit agencies in Quebec, Canada, are going to spend almost a half-billion dollars buying 509 diesel-electric hybrid buses from Nova Bus, a Volvo-owned company, with an option to buy another 679. The 509 new buses will cost $471 million and will be delivered between 2014 and 2016.

Procurement has begun on a US$305 million programme for a bus rapid transit (BRT) network in the Greater Bristol area of England, with construction anticipated to be underway by 2014. The network, which will connect commuter areas of North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, will offer a much improved public transport service to the Greater Bristol area. The three schemes that make up the BRT network are at different stages of design prior to build, providing a number of opportunities for contractors. West

GreenTech Automotive (GTA), a US-based manufacturer of environmentally friendly, energy-efficient vehicles, has unveiled its revolutionary MyCar, a two-seat all-electric vehicle that produces zero emissions and provides a range of up to 115 miles (185kms). Former President Bill Clinton and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour attended the unveiling, which also celebrated GTA's relocation to the United States. GreenTech Automotive purchased Hong Kong-based EuAuto in 2010 and relocated the company's operatio

Project management, engineering and consultancy service provider Royal HaskoningDHV has been selected to tackle 30 major traffic bottlenecks in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh over the next two years. ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA) awarded the US$1.84 million contract to DHV following a call for tenders.

The Renault-Nissan Alliance will provide 15,000 vehicles in an exclusive fleet contract with the Paris-based nutritional food company Danone. The first-of-its-kind deal for the Alliance provides a full range of vehicles to Danone in 25 countries for at least five years.

Visteon Corporation and Huayu Automotive Systems Company have agreed to terminate the non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with respect to a potential transaction that would have combined the majority of Visteon's global interiors business with Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Trim Systems. According to Don Stebbins, Visteon chairman, chief executive officer and president, “both parties worked hard to move the agreement forward, but there were a number of items that kept us from doing so.”

Telent, a specialist in ITS solutions including real time passenger information (RTPI) systems, urban traffic control (UTC) systems, as well as a wide range of traffic signal productS, has opened a new traffic R&D centre of excellence at its UK head office. This new centre brings together Telent’s ITS research and development teams with extensive laboratory and proving facilities and it will also provide full ‘hands on’ customer training.

Peek Traffic Corporation has announced the addition of the VideoTrak-IQ series vehicle detection system to the Florida Department of Transportation's Approved Product List (APL). The system provides the ability to view and monitor four video channels at the same time using a single card, while also providing the ability to easily modify configurations of up to 26 detection zones per channel. The company says that VideoTrak-IQ offers powerful camera options and both the zoom and focus settings of the camera

UK-headquartered AMG has supplied its AMG3700 series transmission solution for the integrated security and surveillance solution at the newly opened Woodsville Tunnel in Singapore. According to Sartah Bullock, the company’s international sales and marketing director, the CCTV surveillance solution for the tunnel complex is engineered to give maximum resilience and performance. The solution operates within a dual redundant configuration with video insertion points providing analogue video, data and Ethernet

According to a new research report, Fleet management in the Americas, from Berg Insight, the number of fleet management systems deployed in commercial vehicle fleets in North America was 2.8 million in Q4-2011. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9 per cent, this number is expected to reach 5.9 million by 2016. In Latin America, the number of installed fleet management systems is expected to increase from 1.3 million in Q4-2011, growing at a CAGR of 16.6 per cent to reach 2.8 million in 20

The German motorist organisation Automobil Kraftfaher-Schutz (KS) has awarded Scania its Energy and Environmental Prize for 2012 for its intelligent cruise control system, Scania Active Prediction. The system uses GPS in order to determine the vehicle's position and to predict the topography of the road ahead.

ParkMe, a provider of dynamic and real-time parking data, and Parkeon, a specialist in multi-space parking solutions, have completed an integration which will enable the companies to provide free parking solutions to residents of major US cities.

New research by Frost & Sullivan reveals that there were more than 0.7 million members in Europe alone who adopted car sharing as a sustainable transport solution for daily travelling at the end of 2011. Car OEMs as well as transport operators have started to get active in this market, increasing competition for already existing market players.

Pennsylvania's 511PA system, which provides free travel information including construction alerts and real-time traffic cameras, reached a milestone in June of two million total website visits, PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch has announced. The 511PA telephone system has received more than 1 million calls and more than 15,000 people have signed up for personalised text or email alerts.