News

Arcontia Technology, a Swedish producer of contactless smart card readers and terminals, has announced the launch of the new CAS2340 dual interface smart card reader for applications using contact and contactless technology. The dual interface reader is designed to be fitted on the backside of Casio IT-800 handheld computers, making it an ideal solution for accessing a number of multi-applications using a single device. The new smart card reader is compliant with ISO/IEC 14443 A/B and ISO/IEC 7816 for con

Spie has signed a 15-year Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the municipality of Maurepas outside Paris, for street lighting and traffic lights. It covers financing, construction and/or renovation, power management and maintenance. The contract aims to modernise 90 per cent of the town's lighting network, with lighting levels adjusted to match residents' movements and needs. It is estimated that electricity usage in Maurepas will be reduced by some 30 per cent.

Vicon Industries, a leading designer and producer of network video management systems, has announced that FVR Security will serve as the company’s representative within the countries of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. Headquartered in Sao Paolo, Brazil, FVR Security has more than ten years of expertise providing physical and video security management solutions through the use of information technology. The firm is a silver partner of Motorola Solutions, making the addition of Vicon’s cameras

Johnson Controls has announced the results of a survey of some 2,800 young people in Germany, Great Britain, China, and the US, to find out what ‘digital natives’ expect from the car of the future. Approximately 2800 young people were surveyed in Germany, Great Britain, China and the United States. Their key desire: to stay connected to the digital world while driving, too.

The development of effective, evidence-based road safety policies is at the heart of an initiative unveiled by the International Transport Forum at the OECD, the World Bank, the Ministries of Interior of Spain and Argentina, and the Ministry of Health of Mexico in Bogotá, Colombia. A memorandum of understanding to establish a new database covering road safety data for the 20 countries participating in the Ibero-American Road Safety Observatory (OISEVI) was signed during the 3rd Ibero-American Road Safety Co

By 2015, all new cars must be fitted with eCall devices to alert the rescue services automatically to road crashes through the public 112 emergency call system, say Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in a resolution adopted jointly by the Internal Market and Transport Committees yesterday. This system would speed up the arrival of the emergency services, saving lives and reducing injuries, adds the non-binding resolution.

Xerox has announced it will continue to help the Philadelphia Parking Authority simplify parking for Philadelphia drivers and make the process more efficient for the city with a new seven-year, US$75 million contract. Xerox’s parking management programme was selected after a public bidding process to improve customer service with a new website during the next year that allows for online applications for resident parking permits, the ability to schedule hearings and submit inquiries online and enable individ

Kapsch TrafficCom has won an order, valued at just over US$355.5 million, for the implementation and operation of a nationwide electronic toll collection system in the Republic of Belarus. The agreement signed by Erwin Toplak, COO of Kapsch TrafficCom, and Ivan I. Shcherbo, Minister for Transportation and Communication of the Republic of Belarus, extends over a total road network of 2,743km and is for both the implementation of a dedicated short-range communication-based system as well as its operation over

Over 80 traffic monitoring systems from Jenoptik Robot, equipped with non-invasive Robot radar technology allowing accurate lane identification capability, have been delivered to the State of Qatar to enforce speed as well as red light and speed violations. The speed enforcement systems are equipped with Robot’s latest camera generation, SmartCamera IV, providing high resolution violation photos, night and day, and across the large number of lanes on Qatar’s roads, while the red light systems are housed in

Norfolk County Council in the UK has simplified the laborious task of updating bus timetables and bus service information across 2,000 of its bus stops with a new web-based solution from ITO World which automates the process. ITO Go, has been developed to create and manage bus posters and information more cost effectively and with fewer staff. Jeremy Wiggin, travel development team manager at Norfolk County Council explains: “We found ourselves struggling to keep up when funding and personnel were reduced.

Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Metro) working with prime contractor TransCore has commissioned the first of five reversible high occupancy toll (HOT) lane corridors. One of the most substantial undertakings of its kind to date in the United States, Metro’s conversion of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to HOT lanes will increase utilization of the HOV system and subsequently relieve congestion in the general purpose freeway lanes. When completed, the programme will span 135kms

Highway surveying company Yotta DCL has signed a four year contract worth around US$3.61 million with the UK Highways Agency to survey and monitor some 140,000km of motorway and other major roads across England. As part of the agreement, the company DCL will perform a traffic speed condition survey (TRACS) to determine the condition of the road surface, assess the areas in particular need of repair and determine where immediate action needs to be taken. The company will use its new state-of-the art Tempest

Swedish company Edeva, which was hived off from Prodelox, has successfully tested a new traffic calming method in Linköping, Sweden. The technology, called Actibump, monitors traffic approaching a dangerous junction and if cars are exceeding the speed limit a metal trough is activated in the road that cars then bounce over. The trough is six centimeters deep, which the developers say is deep enough for drivers to notice but does not cause any physical damage to either the car or its occupants. Edeva says Ac

Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) has installed the country’s first vehicleactuated wirelesss traffic signal controller (Wi-TraC) at a busy junction in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of India’s Kerala state. Developed by C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), the premier R&D organization of the Department of Information Technology, and manufactured and installed by major Indian electronics corporation, Keltron, Wi-TraC has distinct features over conventional signals. The camera in the system c

A traffic centre aimed at dealing with traffic congestion will be set up in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City. The project will involve the construction of a traffic control centre to manage buses, the traffic light system and the installation of traffic equipment at over 1,000 crossroads. The project, which will cost an estimated US$187 million, will be carried out in three phases between 2012 and 2017.