UTC

Europe’s POSSE (Promoting Open Specifications and Standards in Europe) is developing best practice guidelines for open urban transport systems, including case study examples, which will be open to all and which will set out the process for implementing open specifications and standards. POSSE believes open specifications and standards offer many benefits especially the ease with which different Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can share and exchange information.

California’s regional transportation officials are taking a comprehensive approach to relieving clogged arteries that affect the health of commuters and cities along a 22-mile stretch of the Interstate 80 corridor from the Carquinez Bridge to the MacArthur Maze.

The United States and the European Union (EU) are working together to foster international connected vehicle research and international harmonisation of the technology and standards necessary for broad deployment of connected vehicle systems.

Spanish technology provider, Indra, has been awarded contracts valued at US$13.1 million to supply traffic and toll management technology for Indian motorways. Indian infrastructure company GMR has awarded the company three contracts to implement its toll technology on the motorways of the Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajastan and Gujarat states.

Inrix used the 19th ITS World Congress to announce that it has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by Network Information Services (NIS) in the UK to provide real-time traffic speed and travel time information for the Highways Agency’s National Traffic Information Service (NTIS).

In the US, Xerox researchers have taken to the streets in a bid to reduce traffic congestion. They’re using expertise in data analytics, control systems, sensing, imaging and video to create new transportation applications that help reduce congestion, increase safety on the road and take the pain out of finding a parking spot.

What price can be put on the value of a life? How much should be spent on preventing untimely deaths? Difficult questions such as these help to put the comparatively small costs of ITS systems into context. While monetary analysis may seem cold and inhumane in consideration of road casualties, death and costly clear-up are often the stark reality transportation authorities are dealing with. This issue of ITS International contains numerous examples of large benefits to be gained from relatively modest inves

UK company AECOM has been appointed by Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) to design and manage the Travel Smart project, a large mobility management pilot valued at almost US$1.6 million. Travel Smart aims to reduce travel demand during peak periods on Singapore’s road and public transport networks, and to encourage the use of more sustainable transport modes. Elaine Brick, AECOM’s associate director, transportation, Europe, explains, “Singapore is well known for innovative transport policies such a

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has released Transforming Transportation through Connectivity: ITS Strategic Research Plan, 2010–2014 (Progress Update, 2012). This report is an update to the 2010 ITS Strategic Research Plan, which established a research agenda to prepare the next generation of intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies for widespread deployment throughout the nation. Research and development efforts have advanced notably over the last two and a half years in areas s

Developed by researchers led by civil engineering associate professor Henry Liu at the University of Minnesota, the SMART Signal (Systematic Monitoring of Arterial Road Traffic Signals) system is said to be reducing congestion on roads controlled by traffic lights. The system automatically collects and processes data from traffic signal controllers at multiple intersections. It then creates performance measures, including information on the times and locations congestion occurs on a given road. Traffic eng