News

The organisers of the 19th ITS World Congress which will take place in Europe this year in beautiful Vienna, Austria from 22-26 October 2012, have launched the preliminary programme and announced that registration is open.

Bartco, a traffic management company based in Melbourne, Australia, has won a US$1.92 million contract to supply portable variable message signs (VMS) to Transport for London (TfL) for use during the Olympic Games. Some 200 signs display both directional and security advice to motorists about road conditions during the Olympics, as well as the management of special Olympic Route Network traffic lanes.

Volvo Trucks has announced it is running successful field tests with vehicles powered by bio-DME, a fuel that can be produced cost- and energy-efficiently from biomass. Since last autumn, ten specially adapted Volvo trucks have been operating on Swedish roads using the fuel which reduces carbon emissions by 95 per cent compared with conventional diesel. The field tests have now reached the halfway point and the results so far have both met, and exceeded, expectations.

Top transportation officials from across the US, including Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez, have headlined the launch of a new initiative to bring protected bikeways to six US cities at a national kickoff event in Chicago. The Green Lane Project (www.greenlaneproject.org), created by the national bicycling non-profit organisation Bikes Belong Foundation (www.bikesbelong.org), is working with Austin, Chicago, Memphis, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and Washington, DC, to support each city's deve

Parsons Brinckerhoff has named Anas A. Kassem operations manager of the company's Middle East and North Africa region. Kassem previously served as general manager of the company’s operations in Kuwait and has been with PB for more than 23 years, over 15 of them working in the Middle East with clients that have included Kuwait's Ministry of Public Works, Qatar's Public Works Authority and the Saudi Royal Committee for Al Haram Expansion.

GE Capital Fleet Services has announced the opening of its Vehicle Innovation Centre, to provide businesses, industry groups and researchers with first-hand experience of alternative fuel vehicles and enabling GE technologies. Showcasing the latest in a growing array of alternative fuel vehicles in electric, natural gas, propane, hydrogen and other formats, the centre gives GE’s commercial customers the opportunity to learn about and test drive numerous alternative fuel cars and trucks in a single location

The Mineta Transportation Institute has released a peer-reviewed research report, Low-Stress Bicycling and Network Connectivity. As part of its work, the research team created measures of low-stress bicycle route connectivity that can be used to evaluate and guide bicycle network planning. As a result, the team proposed a set of criteria by which road segments can be classified into four levels of traffic stress (LTS). The report includes a sample case study in which every street in San Jose, California, is

Embarq, the World Resources Institute’s centre for sustainable transport, has released the draft “Traffic Safety on Bus Corridors” guidelines to improve traffic safety worldwide. Based on more than two years of research, the guidelines are part of the Road Safety in 10 Countries (RS10) project, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Peek Traffic Corporation has announced the addition of its ATC-1000 controller to the Florida Department of Transportation's Approved Product List (APL). FDoT conducted rigorous testing procedures to verify suitability of the ATC 1000 for NEMA TS2 Type 1 and Type 2 operations. Peek says the device builds upon its long-trusted family of traffic controllers and represents the next generation of traffic management based on compliance with the latest NTCIP, NEMA and ATC standards.

Asseco Poland has ordered 109 Hoeft & Wessel Almex.station ticket vending machines for bus and tram stops of the municipal transit association of the industrial region of Upper Silesia headquartered in the city of Katowice (KZK GOP Komunikacyjny Zwiazek Komunalny Górnoslaskiego Okregu Przemyslowego). These units are part of a project for the introduction of a new smart card featuring RFID technology.

The border-to-border vision of the West Coast Electric Highway moved closer to becoming a reality this week with the opening of new EV charging sites, extending the highway to the Canadian border and opening it to electric vehicle (EV) drivers from both countries. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDoT), along with electric charging station partner AeroVironment opened ten new public charging stations—seven along Interstate 5 and three along US Route 2 in northern Washington – that provide

Plextek, the design house behind the Blighter electronic-scanning ground surveillance radar system, has announced today that its radar units have been deployed to enhance Heathrow’s perimeter security. The Blighter B400 series electronic scanning radars – with Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) and Doppler processing – form part of an integrated perimeter security system at Heathrow, developed and supplied to BAA, the airport operator, by Touchstone Electronics, a specialist security provider to the

Telvent GIT has announced that it will provide continuous engineering and IT services to upgrade and enhance Pinellas County’s advanced traffic management system (ATMS) and ITS. Since becoming operational in 2006, the county’s ATMS has reduced the number of stops and delays and improved overall travel times. Additionally, Pinellas County has realised an improvement in air quality. Telvent, which has worked with the county since 2003, will upgrade and enhance the ATMS and ITS systems with its advanced techno

Fleet operators have been warned that police forces across the UK are waiting to convict one of them under corporate manslaughter and corporate homicide legislation. The chilling message was delivered to fleet decision-makers attending this year’s Mercedes-Benz sponsored ACFO (Association of Car Fleet Operators) Conference and AGM by Sgt Gareth Morgan, supervisor of South Wales Police Driver Training. To-date there have been just two successful prosecutions under the 2007 Corporate Manslaughter and Corporat

ComNet Europe, which is headquartered in the UK, has announced the creation of a new position in India to support the growing demand for its fibre optic and ethernet transmission solutions. Jaiprakash Vappala has been appointed as the company’s new regional manager for South Asia, covering India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He has worked in the security industry for more than 17 years, and has extensive experience with Group4, Tyco, and CBC.