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The announcement that, in 2012/13, work to extend Managed Motorways to Junctions 5-8 of the M6 near Birmingham in the West Midlands is scheduled to start marks the next step for the UK's hard shoulder running concept, first introduced on the M42 in 2006. The M6 scheme is in fact one of several announced; over the next few years work will start on applying Managed Motorways to various sections of the M1, M25 London Orbital, M60 and M62. According to Paul Unwin, senior project manager with the Highways Agency

Janet Banner, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and Christopher Hill, Mixon Hill, Inc., outline efforts to explore the use of IntelliDrive technologies in HOT lane applications. On 21 October last year more than 100 transportation professionals came together for a workshop, either in person or via a webinar, to discuss the potential role of IntelliDriveSM technologies in enhancing the operations of High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. The discussions focused on a White Paper, commissioned by the Metropoli

David Crawford picks up a new direction trend in traffic monitoring The surprise winner in the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) category of the recently-announced 2011 OSMOSE (Open Source for MObile and SustainablE city) Awards for European innovations in urban transport, is the Danish city of Aalborg - which doesn't have a TMC. Alternatively, one might consider its 'virtual' TMC as a signpost for the future in medium-sized cities.

McCain has won the NEMA traffic controller cabinet project award for the Sahara Bus Rapid Transit Project, which details the addition of dedicated bus-only lanes.

Shelley Row, Director of the ITS Joint Program Office, US Department of Transportation, details the new five-year ITS Strategic Research Plan. Imagine a world where vehicles of all types can talk to each other in order to reduce or eliminate crashes, where vehicles can talk to traffic signals to eliminate unnecessary stops, where travellers can get accurate travel time information about all modes and route options, and where transportation managers have data which allows them to accurately assess multimodal

TRL Software and Savoy Computing Services have released the Arcady 7 and AutoTrack Junctions Link, an innovative solution that links two market-leading products. By dynamically linking and combining the two operations, the time taken to produce efficient and robust roundabout designs is significantly reduced. The link is initiated automatically and the two programmes communicate seamlessly with each other. Arcady 7 provides results such as RFC, level of service and values of queues and delays which are all

Siqura, a member of TKH Group, has released Siqura Diva, an IP-based video management solution that offers a full-featured live viewing and playback user interface, with built-in intelligence for a number of applications. For instance, when combined with the company's IP cameras and codecs in traffic applications, Diva offers an ideal solution for a wide range of situations, including traffic data collection and vehicle tracking. The company claims that because the solution successfully manages the network

Though still controversial, ramp metering, which has been around for nearly 50 years, continues to deliver substantial benefits, and generally for relatively small cost. Kansas City is a case in point. In March 2010, Kansas City Scout, a partnership between the Missouri and Kansas Departments of Transportation to provide ITS for the greater Kansas City Area, activated the first ramp metering system in the region. The project is located on an 8.85km (5.5 mile) section of Interstate 435 from Metcalf Avenue to

Inrix, the international provider of real-time traffic information and connected driving services, has made an offer to acquire ITIS Holdings for US$59 million.

Alicia Parkway corridor, located in Orange County, California, was part of Phase 1 of an inter-jurisdictional Traffic Light Synchronisation Programme (TLSP) in Orange County designed to increase mobility and overall drive quality while reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. By increasing average speeds and reducing travel times via the reduction in stops, the programme sought to reduce vehicle acceleration and deceleration events along the corridor; these have been identified as the leadin