Urban Traffic Control

European Parliament and council negotiators have reached agreement on upgrading existing eCall receiving infrastructure to be able to respond to calls from eCall devices in cars. According to the text agreed by EP and council negotiators, EU member states have to install the necessary eCall answering infrastructure for receipt and handling of all eCalls no later than 1 October 2017 and at least six months before the date of application of rules on fitting eCall devices in cars, the other item in the eCal

The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) have published the capital's first Motorcycle Safety Action Plan designed to directly reduce the number of collisions involving motorcyclists and scooter riders. One of TfL’s top priorities is to reduce by 40 per cent the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSI) on London’s roads by 2020. Recently, the Mayor and TfL published six commitments which, working with a range of partners, are guiding a range of work to deliver this. In particular, ac

Following media coverage which contained allegations of unethical business behaviour, Imtech began an internal investigation into the former management of Fritz & Macziol Schweiz. This behaviour allegedly included excessive gifts and entertainment offered to Seco civil servants. The internal investigation initiated by Imtech was conducted by a substantial external team of lawyers, accountants and forensic experts. The office of the public prosecutor in Switzerland has also initiated criminal investigati

The UK Highways Agency is holding a series of public exhibitions to inform road users, local residents and businesses about proposals to transform the M4 into one of the longest stretches of ‘smart motorway’ in England by 2021. The improvement, on a 32-mile stretch between junction 3 at Hayes in London, and junction 12 at Theale in Berkshire, would increase capacity, improve journey reliability and maintain safety. The proposals are part of the Government’s investment into England’s motorways and majo

Designed to boost driver awareness of pedestrians, McCain says its latest technology for pedestrian safety, the rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB), is widely recognised as a means to reduce accidents between vehicles and pedestrians at intersections and mid-block crosswalks without traffic signals. An ideal solution for a range of applications, the RRFB has highly visible high-intensity LEDs which remain dark until activated by a pedestrian, when the lights flash in a wig-wag pattern, alerting appr

Three Japanese companies, Toshiba Corporation, Hitachi and Itochu Corporation are to supply the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) with an intelligent transportation systems (ITS) package to be installed on the 55-kilometre Ho Chi Minh and Dau Giay section of Vietnam’s North-South Expressway. The order, worth around US$39 million, includes electronic toll collection (ETC), traffic control and equipment monitoring systems, and is the first for an integrated ITS package that Japanese companies have recei

In the wake of the European Parliament’s approval of the mandatory installation of automatic emergency phones in all cars and vans by 2015, the Irish Times says Ireland’s National Roads Authority (NRA) is to deploy a range of intelligent transport systems to improve travel times, warn drivers of weather, dangers and delays ahead and automatically notify emergency services in the event of crashes or even the potential for crashes. The NRA has developed a motorway traffic control centre, based at the Dubli

The Blaxtair construction machine-mounted vision-based alert system distinguishes pedestrians from other objects, providing a visual/audible alarm to both driver and pedestrian when a person is in a position of danger. The intelligent camera system, from French company Arcure, is an obstacle detection device and pedestrian recognition equipment. It is capable of detecting all types of obstacles, locating them precisely with respect to the machine and determining whether an obstacle is a pedestrian or not.

Research and Markets’ latest report, Global Intelligent Transportation Systems Market - Forecasts to 2016 finds that one of the main trends witnessed in the global intelligent transportation systems market is the increasing Government initiatives. For instance, the US Department of Transportation is planning to conduct a real-world test of smart vehicles. This test will include vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. In addition, under the Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initia