News

ITS America will once again lead administration of the US Technical Advisory Group for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and serve as International Secretariat for the International Organization for Standardization’s ITS Technical Committee. ITS America takes over from the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), which had administered the groups since 2006.

Iteris has been selected by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) to synchronise 68 traffic lights along Katella Avenue in Orange County, California, as part of the Proposition 1B - Traffic Light Synchronization Program (TLSP). The contract, valued at $674,000, is expected to begin immediately.

Zetes has acquired ProScan, a leading South African company in the field of supply chain, automatic data entry and mobility solutions. Explaining the background to the acquisition, Alain Wirtz, CEO of Zetes, said, “ProScan offers a solid foothold in Africa for Zetes’ Goods ID solutions. There is a high demand on this continent for traceability solutions, particularly to track raw materials. This is a region of burgeoning growth, offering important potential for the Group. Africa represents a natural expansi

Leading Spanish IT company, Indra and Siemens have signed an agreement to develop a new thorough railway signalling solution which comprises traditional signalling and the ERTMS level 2 technology for the future European railway traffic management system. The agreement includes commercialisation of the platform by both companies at national and international level.

A new bill being presented in the US may ban the use of cell-phones by drivers while at the wheel. Should this bill go ahead, it would unify actions in a number of states under a single law that applies to the entire country. The move, called the Safe Drivers Act, is seen crucial to plans to tackle distracted driving.

India’s horrific death toll on its roads presents a major threat to the country’s fast economic development. Estimates from the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) suggest that some 130,000 people die on the roads/year, at an average of around 14 deaths/hour. Under-reporting of accidents is thought to be endemic and the figures available exclude the 1.6 million serious injuries that have been estimated by the IRTE. Close to 146 million traffic violations/day occur in the country according to the IRTE

Iteris has released a major upgrade to its leading video detection management software. VantageView 2.0 provides enhanced data collection and graphical display, including vehicle counts, speed, and occupancy, as well as multi-video viewing capabilities from a web-based application. This intelligence is essential for traffic engineers and planners seeking to maximise efficiency of traffic flow. VantageView is an integrated software platform that enables traffic managers to monitor video feeds from Iteris’

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has awarded a contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) for the design of a new fibre-optic communications network in metropolitan Detroit. The project is a multi-phase effort to build an MDOT-owned fibre-optic network for communications with the Detroit region’s intelligent transportation system deployment, including hundreds of closed-circuit television cameras, dynamic message signs and vehicle detection systems along regional freeways.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority with Transport for Greater Manchester have awarded to Siemens one of the most significant service contracts of its kind for the long-term maintenance of traffic signalling equipment across all ten districts of Greater Manchester. Under Transport for Greater Manchester’s guidance, the service contract is designed to secure substantial energy savings and reduce carbon emissions.

Graham Construction has won the contract, worth over US$21 million, to provide the state-of-the-art ITS for the new Forth Bridge replacement crossing in Scotland. The company will deliver the traffic flow management system along the M90 to control traffic flow using overhead signal gantries and provide motorists with current travel updates via variable message boards. The ITS contract is to provide and install seventeen gantries, along with foundations and associated maintenance lay-bys. Further work wi

Safetran, an Econolite Group company, has been awarded a two-year traffic cabinet purchase order contract from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and will begin shipping cabinets this month. This contract marks the second time in a row Safetran has successfully competed and passed Caltrans’ stringent quality assurance criteria to be selected as the traffic cabinet supplier to the transportation agency.

A new report from Frost & Sullivan - “Strategic Technology and Market Analysis of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Europe” predicts that the electric venicle (EV) charging infrastructure market could grow from less than 10,000 charging stations in 2010 to more than two million in 2017, 3% of which would be based on very-fast charging and inductive charging. “We are awaiting that European governments will forecast a budget of €700 million over the next seven years to build a charging infrastruc

Brigade Electronics has been awarded the Quiet Mark for its white sound reversing alarms (bbs-tek) which only sound in the immediate danger area, preventing noise nuisance associated with old-style beeping alarms. White sound reversing alarms are the only reversing alarm to receive the award and work effectively at much lower decibel ratings than old style beeping alarms, which cause a huge noise nuisance to local residents. With white sound alarms the sound is contained in the immediate danger area so peo

The Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners II-Abertis Infraestructuras consortium has been chosen by the Puerto Rican Government to operate the PR-22 and PR-5 motorways for a period of 40 years for US$1.08 billion. The operation will be formalised in September 2011.

TomTom has announced the availability of its latest map product update for automotive, government, and enterprise customers. Some of the enhancements include continued expansion in India with the addition of over 2,000 km of roads in 47 cities, the addition of 64,000km of roads with navigable coverage in Brazil, improvements in Mexico, the Mega Manila area of the Philippines, full coverage of Croatia, and the introduction of a MultiNet map for Namibia and Botswana in Africa. TomTom claims its maps now cover