UTC

A report released by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD highlights the role of national governments in improving pedestrian mobility and proposes twelve measures to create safer walking environments. The study, entitled Pedestrian Safety, Urban Space and Health, was prepared by a working group of transport experts and urban planners from nineteen countries and the World Health Organisation under the leadership of the ITF. The report comes to a number of conclusions, including the fact that

Expansion of ITS systems has accelerated in Qatar this year, with rapid deployment of a traffic control system in Doha. Less than 10 years from now an extensive system of ITS technology will be operating in Qatar, informing and directing users of the country’s roads. That can be stated with confidence for a number of reasons: the world’s richest country per capita will host the World Cup in 2022 and is understood to be planning to develop sophisticated systems of ITS for road safety and traffic managemen

In an effort to reduce pedestrian accidents in the city, the Board of Road and Greenery of Gdansk in northern Poland has installed number of intelligent pedestrian crossings in the Zaspa and Przymorze districts. Talking devices have been installed at tram crossings and use induction loops installed in the tracks to detect trams and warn pedestrians, via a voice message, of their approach.

As part of a larger effort exploring the effects of roadway signage on driver behaviour, researchers from the University of Minnesota College of Design have conducted a study on the effectiveness of intelligent lane control signals (ILCS). During the study, was funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the research team used a driving simulator to test ILCS that displayed merge, speed control, and lane-closure warnings over freeway lanes. The researchers were specifically interested in d

In the US, NaviGAtor 511, Georgia’s traveller information system, has partnered with Waze to provide enhanced traffic information. Waze, a crowd-sourced social GPS and real-time traffic application for smartphones and Android phones, will provide enhanced traffic data to the current 511 system, and create a special 511 user group, specifically for Georgia travelers, within the existing Waze mobile app. The arrangement was provided for under an existing marketing contract with Iteris, the firm that has opera

US-headquartered ITS specialist TransCore is to design, implement, and maintain a state-of-the-art, radio frequency identification (RFID)-based parking and car/bus terminal access control system for authorised staff personnel of the New Doha International Airport Authority. The company was selected by Amana-Walbridge Joint Venture to install the system that will be operational during the second quarter 2013.

The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) at the George Washington Bridge (GWB), first installed in 1997, is to be replaced by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as part of a road improvements being planned throughout the region. The ITS provides information on traffic conditions, estimated travel times, and lane restrictions to motorists via electronic signs on roads leading to the GWB. An estimated 101 million vehicles crossed the world’s busiest crossing in both directions in 2011. Work on t

Drivers in Malta can soon expect to see improvements in traffic management, with the launch of an intelligent traffic management project to control traffic systems on arterial roads. Austin Gatt, Malta's transport and communications minister, has revealed the launch of the new intelligent traffic control project on the island's major urban routes within the coming months. The system will work to control traffic flow via new variable message signs, CCTV cameras and traffic light optimisation.

IBM researchers are piloting a system with the City of Lyon, France which will be used to help traffic operators in its transportation management centre to evaluate an incident and make more informed assessments about which actions would restore traffic flow. Using real-time traffic data, the new analytics and optimisation technology can help officials predict outcomes and analyse ways to resolve problems. The researchers say that, although traffic management centres have sophisticated video walls and colou

Motorists using the M90 in Scotland will face the country’s first variable speed limits in three weeks time when a new traffic control system is launched on the road north of the Forth Road Bridge. The intelligent transport system, which goes live on 4 December on the M90 northbound, has been installed as part of construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing, which is due to open in four years time. Speeds will be automatically lowered by traffic sensors under the road surface when they detect congestion,