UTC

Gareth Horton explains how the European Commission’s Transport Research and Innovation Portal can help expedite research and turn theory into practice. Over the next few years Europe’s transport systems face a number of challenges, such as improving urban mobility while at the same time protecting population health and accommodating the accessibility needs of an ageing but active population.

FM Conway, the main contractor for the traffic management improvement scheme at the Port of Dover, has awarded Swarco the contract to install 15 variable message signs as part of a US$123 million (£85 million) capital investment programme to better manage and control vehicles through a new freight holding facility to remove more than 4km of queuing traffic from Kent’s highways. Two signs are used to direct heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) into Customs or the holding facility, depending on the quantity of tra

The City of Seattle, Washington, is to implement Siemens’ Concert, an integrated traffic management platform that connects both Siemens and third-party systems across the city including traffic control centres, intersection controllers and parking guidance systems. The Concert platform will integrate Siemens’ TACTICS traffic control system as well as the city’s existing dynamic message sign management system the local travel time system and the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) freeway sys

Project CROCODILE, which was launched in 2013 to establish a trans-national data exchange infrastructure to end breakdown of cross-border traffic has won the 2016 Transport Achievement Award in the freight category. The prize is awarded by the International Transport Forum (ITF), a Paris-based intergovernmental organisation and policy think tank with 57 member countries. The project is co-financed by the European Union’s TEN-T programme and aimed to establish a framework to collect and exchange data for

Moves to make life easier and safer for vulnerable and impaired road users are gaining strength on both sides of the Atlantic. A recent webcast by the US Roadway Safety Institute, based at the University of Minnesota, showcased work in progress on a positioning and mapping methodology using Bluetooth and smartphone technologies to support situation awareness and wayfinding for the visually impaired.

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) will partner with ITS America to host a free Accelerating Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Deployment Day on 12 June during the 2016 ITS Annual Meeting in San Jose, California. The workshop is open to the public and will focus on accelerating deployment of advanced ITS such as connected vehicles and smart cities. It will highlight the USDOT's ITS program, discuss the nuts and bolts of connected vehicles, provide an overview of ITS funding and discuss th

Global Traffic Technologies (GTT) will focus on the benefits of intelligent traffic signal solutions for emergency vehicles at emergency medical services congress EMS2016, to be held in Copenhagen from 30 May to 1 June. The company will discuss using pre-emption priority control systems, technology to give emergency vehicles priority at signal-controlled intersections, allowing first responders to respond to incidents faster and more safely. In addition, on 31 May, GTT's market and development direct

Drivers who use cellphones while driving will soon face tougher penalties in British Columbia, Canada, after the government announced significantly higher fines, more penalty points and earlier interventions for repeat offenders, including driving prohibitions, as part of its push to eliminate distracted driving, a leading factor in deaths on BC roads. Effective from 1 June, the current penalty of $167 for distracted driving will increase to $543 for a first offence ($368 base fine, plus $175 in penalty

Road transport organisation the IRU, the International Union of Railways (UIC) and Operation Lifesaver Estonia (OLE) have joined forces to raise awareness about level crossing safety amongst transport professionals. Their recently-published Level Crossing Safety aims to raise awareness of professional drivers of how to avoid risks potentially leading to a collision and reduce related accidents at this key interface between road and rail infrastructure. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Swedish city Linköping has introduced an innovative solution to enable drivers to locate available parking bays for motorists with disabilities. The designated parking bays, spread over 23 parking areas across the city, are equipped with Nedap’s wireless in-ground Sensit sensors which detect the occupancy status of each individual parking bay in the street and the parking duration. The sensors, which Swarco Sweden integrated with the city’s LinPark parking app, process occupancy data in real-time and dis