Urban Traffic Control

Mott MacDonald has launched its next generation Urban Traffic Management and Control (UTMC) common database system called Osprey. The company says its extensive experience in UTMC has shaped the Osprey product to meet the challenging demands placed on transport operators in terms of network management. The software is designed to be an end-to-end offering to help local authorities deliver their transport plan objectives. The three main Osprey modules support control room staff in network management, promo

As the road-building season gets under way in the US, the Federal Highway Administration has just published a White Paper which deals with the use of ITS technology in work zones. On 30 April 2009, the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published a White Paper which was prepared by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) to inform public agencies about the use of ITS to manage construction work zones. This is a particularly relevant topic given the large number of construction projects that are ex

Iteris has been awarded a new contract to lead a team working to update and support the United States’ National ITS Architecture. Pete Goldin reports on this latest initiative to help all US agencies’ development and application of ITS systems The United States Department of Transportation has a set of standards safeguarded for ITS for the US, with a vision for the future of transportation technology called the National ITS Architecture. This may sound like a secret plan kept in a vault somewhere, but the

Coming soon to a screen near you: Brady O. Bruce and John Stark of Jupiter Systems discuss trends in control room technologies. Perhaps the single most important trend in the control room environment over the last 12-18 months has been the accelerated move towards the adoption of flat-screen Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology. Having made their presence felt in the home environment, where they continue to replace outdated cathode ray tube-based technology, LCDs have reached the point where their perfor

The continued expansion of IP camera networks increases the availability of useful information. At the same time, the opportunity exists to increase inter-agency collaboration. This makes information management all the more necessary in the control room environment. But the transportation sector could do a lot to help itself by gaining a better idea up front of what and how it wants to do things, says Electrosonic's Karl Johnson.

It is now 20 years since publication of the Strategic Plan for Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems. A select group of luminary figures of the ITS industry give their assessment of progress to date This year the IVHS Strategic Plan turns 20, signaling the graduation of the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems from its tumultuous teens to young adulthood. After two decades tethered by the cords of youth and protected by the strict control of adult institutions, ITS has reached a turning point. Its y

It is now 20 years since publication of the Strategic Plan for Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems. A select group of luminary figures of the ITS industry give their assessment of progress to date This year the IVHS Strategic Plan turns 20, signaling the graduation of the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems from its tumultuous teens to young adulthood. After two decades tethered by the cords of youth and protected by the strict control of adult institutions, ITS has reached a turning point. Its y

It is now 20 years since publication of the Strategic Plan for Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems. A select group of luminary figures of the ITS industry give their assessment of progress to date This year the IVHS Strategic Plan turns 20, signaling the graduation of the field of Intelligent Transportation Systems from its tumultuous teens to young adulthood. After two decades tethered by the cords of youth and protected by the strict control of adult institutions, ITS has reached a turning point. Its y

Kallistratos Dionelis, General Secretary of ASECAP, makes the case for a lightly regulated, staged progression towards a pan-European cooperative infrastructure environment, the achievement of which should look to engender cooperation between the public and private sectors. Such an approach, he says, is the only real path to success.

Traffic management centres (TMC) have traditionally served to provide surveillance and responses to traffic incidents and recurring and non-recurring changes in road networks. Typically, a TMC collected field data from the roadway and transit infrastructure and provided the integration necessary for operators to see what was happening and then coordinate a response. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) guided operators on how to respond to a given situation. It eventually became impractical for TMC operat