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Within the next four or five years, more than US$19.44 million will be invested by Efkon India in its urban transportation and highway tolling businesses in the country. Pushkar Kulkarni, CEO of Efkon India told The Economic Times that the company will be increasing its investments since more contracts are being awarded by the National Highways Authority of India. He projected the domestic highway tolling equipment segment to grow by 10 times within the next five years, while the toll plaza operation and m

Swarco in Norway has announced that Avinor, which operates 46 airports in Norway, has extended the framework agreement with Swarco for the supply and upgrade of turnkey parking solutions. Thirteen of the largest Norwegian airports will be equipped with the latest technology from Swarco. According to Swarco Norge director Hans Petter Odegaard, the agreement includes new solutions as well as an upgrade of the existing Skidata parking systems. The overall goal is to meet the latest market requirements by facil

Elite pay and display parking machines manufactured by Metric Group in the UK have been shipped for the first time to New Zealand. The Aura Elites were ordered by Metric Parking’s distributor Automated Solutions who have implemented a marketing strategy for New Zealand. Metric has also received an order from its Australian distributor TMA for a total of 26 machines, 11 of which are for a hospital. The remainder have been ordered by TMA for stock. The New Zealand and Australia orders follow another export

Volkswagen of America is this month starting a pilot scheme to test 20 prototype E-Golf battery electric vehicles (BEVs) over a nine-month period in the US in Detroit Metro, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. markets. Twelve of the E-Golf BEVs, will be allocated to selected Volkswagen employees during the time period. By studying E-Golf use across multiple geographical regions, Volkswagen will monitor the effect of climate conditions, driving patterns, and energy performance; the data and insights gained du

IBM has teamed with Zapadoslovenska energetika, (ZSE), the largest distributor and supplier of electricity in Slovakia, on a smart energy feasibility study that will help prepare the capital city Bratislava for electric vehicles (EVs). Using e-mobility technology, the study will help identify the possibilities of connecting two neighbouring metropolitan areas – Bratislava, Slovakia and Vienna, Austria with a ‘green’ highway that will interconnect the two cities with a network of public charging stations for

The UK government plans to announce new laws next month that will mean people who drive a vehicle while impaired by prescription drugs can be prosecuted. The new laws are also aimed at 'legal high' drugs, over-the-counter remedies, and will also target a series of loopholes relating to drug driving. According to estimates for the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) drugs are a primary factor in almost 25 per cent of fatal road accidents, while one in ten young drivers admitted to driving while impaired by

Ingenico, a French company specialising in payment solutions, has announced that its EFT930G wireless payment terminal has been selected by the Angolan Ministry of Home Affairs for the payment of traffic fines. Starting with a pilot in Luanda, this new payment method will allow drivers to pay fines with their own credit card, by authorising the amount, and then continue on their way. Currently, 120 officers have been trained on this new POS solution and the number is set to increase in the near future. This

Sweden-headquartered Sensys Traffic says it has received an order worth US$3.54 for red-light enforcement in an un-named Middle East country. This is also the first major order for the new Sensys RS242 radar, which in addition to recording traffic offences also identifies lanes and classifies vehicles. "This breakthrough comes further to a several-year procurement process where the competition was very tough,” says Johan Frilund, CEO of Sensys Traffic. “We see this as confirmation of our competitiveness and

Linde North America, a specialist in the design, construction and operation of hydrogen vehicle fuelling systems, has commissioned an installation at AC Transit, the bus operator for 13 cities in the East Bay Area, including Emeryville, Oakland and Berkeley, and also operates trans-bay service to San Francisco. The Emeryville hydrogen fuelling station, which is now fuelling 12 fuel cell buses and up to 20 passenger cars a day, is one of two Linde is supplying to AC Transit. The second, located at the Oaklan

Coulomb Technologies has announced the completion of more than 2,400 shipments of its public and commercial charging stations for electric vehicles through its ChargePoint America programme. The company claims it has seen exceptional demand in all 10 regions of the programme and is finalising the installation of charging stations within these regions.

Garmin International will provide a fully integrated, factory-installed infotainment system for most American 2013 model year Suzuki vehicles. The company’s system combines a 6.1-inch high-resolution touchscreen display with a full-featured infotainment platform, including AM/FM/CD radio, multi-media playback, backup camera support, Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, Pandora internet radio and Garmin’s navigation. The intuitive user interface with advanced voice control makes it easy to operate the system a

As the cost of global congestion inches towards the $1 trillion mark, key economies including Europe, North America, Japan and China amongst others prepare for a green-commute blueprint. Some 16 of the key automotive OEMs are working on more than 110 short distance vehicles, with approximately 50 models being already production ready. The remaining 60 are in concept stage, but expected to become production ready by 2020. The emergence of such micro-mobility vehicles is expected to fight congestion, ease par

China BAK Battery, a manufacturer of lithium-based battery cells, has announced that the company has received a US$1.9 million subsidy for its battery module project from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Comprised of cylindrical cells that can be used in electric vehicles (EVs), electric motors, electric bicycles (e-bikes) and power storage, the government funds will be used to further develop the battery module's efficiency an

For the ninth time, the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) is looking for the world's best ideas for applications in the field of satellite navigation. HPI Fleet, a European independent fleet management company, is supporting the ESNC 2012 as the new title sponsor and is looking for innovative ideas that facilitate the mobility of people. This is also the first year in which the European Commission is funding the competition's prize pool and Nokia Location & Commerce will be providing further