News

Redflex Traffic Systems has acquired SBL Investments, and Americore Enterprises, leading providers of automated school bus arm photo enforcement in the United States.

EV Xchange Technologies has announced the issuance of US Patent No. 8,146,694 which relates to a modular battery packs arrangement system for electric vehicles.

AMG-Panogenics, the British manufacturer of 5 Megapixel cameras, has entered a strategic technology partnership with UK based iCode Systems

Installation of automatic braking systems in buses is being considered by Japan’s Transport Ministry.

The Mineta Transportation Institute has released its newest peer-reviewed research report, A Framework for Developing and Integrating Effective Routing Strategies within the Emergency Management Decision-Support System.

Iteris has been awarded a US$1.4 million ITS integration services contract from the city of Oxnard, in California,

New consumer research conducted by Johnson Controls claims that 97 per cent of Americans are ready for new start-stop technology

FedEx Express says it has made significant progress towards its goal to make its vehicle fleet 20 per cent more fuel efficient by 2020,

Wabco Holdings has entered into a long term agreement with Iveco to supply anti-lock braking technology for light- and medium-duty trucks produced in Brazil from 2013 onward.

Bernhard Simon, chief executive of Dachser, a Germany-headquartered European logistic provider, says he believes that one in five truck journeys would not be necessary if superfluous packaging was avoided.

Machine vision specialist Vitronic has announced it is supporting energy efficient and resource-saving production and automation processes

Bucharest underground operator Metrorex has nearly finished plans to develop its new US$1.35billion M6 underground mainline to link the city centre with Henri Coanda International Airport.

Road tunnels are a particularly dangerous environment. Not only do fires burn more violently in enclosed environments, as happened in the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel disaster,

A joint initiative of Ertico – ITS Europe, the European Commission and Eurocities, a Forum on ITS for Urban Mobility was held in Brussels yesterday

Bentley Systems, the specialist in software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, has acquired InspectTech Systems

The Victoria Park Tunnel, a significant infrastructure improvement to connect the Auckland harbour bridge to the Central Motorway in Auckland, New Zealand, has deployed a SwiftGate automated lane closure system.

StarTraq, a UK-headquartered specialist in offence management, is today announcing its launch into the Asian market at Intertraffic China 2012

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has highlighted the dilemma facing many governments – motoring tax income set to fall even as traffic rises

Hertz On Demand, the global car sharing club, and IBM are together piloting a programme in Germany to advance electric vehicle (EV) mobility and user adoption through intelligent recharging solutions.

The Mobility Collaborative that predicts $4 per gallon is not enough to significantly reduce the number of people choosing to drive alone as single occupant vehicle travellers (SOV).

A team of IBM experts assigned to Nairobi have provided a framework and roadmap to the city to improve the flow of road traffic and increase revenues from the transportation sector.

Poland’s traffic police have started to use portable long range cameras to spot if drivers are not wearing seat belts, are using cell phones,etc.

A major programme to upgrade traffic lights at 78 junctions and 100 pedestrian crossings across Norfolk, in the UK, with new energy-saving LED signals from Siemens is nearing completion.

The board of directors of Delcan has announced several appointments to principal, senior principal and vice president

TKH Security Solutions has announced the release of its new Siqura XSNet Ethernet switch line.

UK company Traffic Technology Limited has announced significant speed reductions at the Lochhead Landfill site, in Scotland, following the deployment of four SIDs (Speed Indicator Devices)

In view of Germany's ambitious electromobility target the automobile industry plans to offer more than 15 new electric vehicle models in the coming two years,

At a recent meeting in Copenhagen, hosted by the city and ITS Denmark, the Network of National ITS Associations re-elected the sitting chairman, vice chair, and one of the coordinating committee officers.

The Mineta Transportation Institute in the US has released its newest research report, Decision Support Framework for Using Value Capture to Fund Public Transit: Lessons from Project-Specific Analysis.

Altran, a global specialist in high-tech engineering consulting, has inaugurated at its head office in Barcelona the Altran Excellence Centre for new automotive technologies

The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) has launched a free mobile phone app it created for download on the iPhone and Android that it claims is the first of its kind in the US

A new report examines how aggressive government belt-tightening and financial market deleveraging restrained worldwide infrastructure investments for 2012 and probably for the next five years.

The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) has released findings from the first phase of a three-part research effort aimed at mitigating costly large truck rollovers.

HopStop, a popular pedestrian navigation and transit routing service covering cities in the US, Canada, Europe and Russia, has been selected by TeleCommunication Systems,

Norphonic emergency roadside telephones (ERT) have been selected for the Hardanger Bridge, one of the world’s longest suspension bridges, crossing the picturesque Hardangerfjord in southwestern Norway.

NXP has claimed the top spot in the contactless ticketing market in ABI Research’s new market analysis.

Belgian automotive association Touring has criticised the new transport plan for Brussels, calling it a crusade against driving and arguing that it will lead to gridlocks and push companies to move elsewhere.

Singapore’s MRT system is being upgraded to become more reliable, said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew during the ground-breaking for the East-West MRT line's Tuas West Extension.

A study by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) shows cycling, rather than travelling by car or bus, as the fastest way of travelling in Buenos Aires city.

While global sales of German autos are buoyant, significant efforts are underway to expand the emobility infrastructure in Germany.

TomTom in Europe has released a speed camera app for the iPhone, powered by European driving community with 1.6 million drivers in 15 countries,

The Ecuadorian Ministry for Transport and Public Works says it will invest around US$5 billion up to 2014 to turn 1,286km of roads into super-highways

For the second year running, Govecs, Germany's leading supplier of electric scooters, has won the "European e-Scooter of the Year" Award.

“Seamless transport is a powerful and ambitious strategic vision for the future of transport systems,” Transport Ministers from 53 member countries stated in a common declaration agreed at the annual Summit of the International Transport Forum

Municipalities in the Czech Republic are increasingly deploying smart traffic lights with radar that detects the speed of approaching vehicles and turns the signal red to slow them down to the required speed limit.

The regional government of Madrid in Spain is to install toll booths on its motorways, including the M-45 ring road and the M-501 motorway.

Poor quality of cycle lanes are the most likely cause of bicycle accidents in Sweden, a report by insurance company Folksam claims.

Arcontia Technology, a Swedish producer of contactless smart card readers and terminals, today announced that it has won an e-ticketing tender for pick-up devices to be used by Norwegian public transport authority Ruter AS in their e-ticketing system.

In announcing its first quarter results yesterday, Image Sensing Systems (ISS) also revealed that it had won significant new sales or distribution agreements.

Hyundai in the US has announced that it is fitting brake pedal electronic throttle override capability on all models well before government mandates come into effect.

The Brazilian Government has announced a US$17.01billion package for new mobility and public transport infrastructure.

A loan of US$415million from the US government’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act programme will help meet the cost of building toll lanes and rebuilding existing lanes at the Interstate 35 highway (I-35W) near Fort Worth, Texas.

Novatel Wireless and NexTraq have signed a supply agreement for mobile tracking devices through which Novatel will supply its MT 3000 device for NexTraq's GPS fleet tracking solution.

Transport Ministers from the 53 member countries of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD gather in Leipzig, Germany, today for a three-day summit on the future of global mobility.

McCain has announced its latest partnership with Phoenix Pacific to supply the Honolulu with island-wide local firmware updates.

OEM connected car system shipments are expected to grow from 8.22 million in 2012 to 39.5 million in 2016.

Bosch has revealed that its driver drowsiness detection system, first introduced as a standard feature in 2010, in the new Volkswagen Passat is being fitted to the new Passat Alltrack

The 79 GHz consortium, which is holding its first Plenary Meeting in Borås, Sweden, next week on 10 May, 2012, has issued an invitation to the event.

Two reckless speedsters were caught having a road a race in Western Australia by a Vitronic PoliScanspeed camera, the company reports.

An invitation has been issued for registrations for the iMobility Forum plenary meeting (www.icarsupport.eu/esafety-forum/), which is being held in Brussels on 23-24 of this month.

Small buses owned by Tokyo's Minato Ward, in Japan, will be retrofitted by with new motors and lithium-ion cells developed by electronics major Toshiba.

A report from the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) states that road traffic in Sweden must be reduced by 20 per cent if climate objectives are to be achieved by 2030,

Hella, a leading supplier of automotive lighting and electronics, will manufacture electronic products in Brazil in partnership with Sao Paulo-based Emicol

Political decision-makers, industry leaders, transport experts, and top thinkers from around the world, will debate how to create more seamless transport solutions for passengers and freight at the 2012 Summit of the International Transport Forum.

Chile's Ministry of Transport has reported that the number of cars using bus lanes reserved for Transantiago buses has fallen by 46 per cent as a result of the cameras that have been installed along the public transport system.

Nissan in Norway has announced that it has sold 1,000 of its electric Leaf cars in just six months, taking almost two per cent of the total car market in February this year

PayByPhone, an international provider of systems for parking and urban mobility payments, has announced Ottawa as the latest major North American city to implement its popular cell phone payment method for parking.

TransCore has been selected by Cobb County Department of Transportation, Atlanta, to expand its Scats (Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System) adaptive traffic signal control technology with an additional 75 intersections,

Q-Free has announced revenues of US$21.11 million during the first quarter 2012 compared to US$29.66 million in the corresponding quarter in 2011,

Liberty Electric Cars has been selected to become one of the major partners of the project thanks to its extensive experience in electric commercial vehicle engineering and design.

Scania has announced it will deliver 231 city buses to the Chilean capital Santiago

Telvent GIT has announced the completion of the company’s SmartMobility Road Suite, on King Abdullah Road in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

McCain has announced the successful use of its QuicNet advanced traffic management system (ATMS) central control technology by the city of Carlsbad, in California, to identify the illicit use of red light preemptive technology.

Autonet Mobile, an application and connectivity platform for vehicles, has announced a strategic partnership with Bosch's Car Multimedia Division to manufacture its IP-based telematics control unit (TCU).

According to a 495 Express Lanes survey of law enforcement officers serving in Northern Virginia, texting while driving is the most dangerous behavior in construction zones, ahead of speeding, aggressive driving and not obeying changing traffic patterns.

On 16th May 2012, Savoy will be joining with TRL, Autodesk and Design Pro Software to give a live demonstration of the revolutionary BIM workflow for roundabout design that allows simultaneous design and analysis in 3D.

Kapsch TrafficCom North America has issued a press statement applauding Help Incorporated's selection of 5.9 GHz DSRC.

Truck operators have been invited to apply for a slice of US$15.34 million provided for industry trials of carbon-cutting trucks by the UK Department for Transport and the Technology Strategy Board.

Sweden’s National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) is publishing a new report showing ways to improve road safety.

The Swinburne Intelligent Transport Systems Laboratory has been launched in a joint collaboration between VicRoads, the road agency of the Australian state of Victoria, and Swinburne University of Technology.

Parkeon is partnering with Ranger Services, a specialist in the development and application of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology, for the latest version of its ANPR-based off-street parking solution.

Some 96 traffic signal intersections in Phoenix, Arizona, have deployed closed circuit surveillance cameras to supervise traffic, of which 88 intersections use Vivotek cameras.

Switzerland-headquartered U-blox has announced the acquisition of UK-headquartered 4M Wireless

The government of Western Australia has released a comprehensive plan to address traffic congestion in and around the central business district (CBD) of Perth

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and Masabi US, a transit mobile ticketing specialist, have jointly announced that they will be bringing mobile ticketing to MBTA commuter rail riders later this year.

VidSys has announced its North American-based partnership with Activu Corporation which will see them combining their complementary technologies to provide a highly visual and comprehensive situational awareness and management solution

Telvent GIT has been selected to expand Alberta Transportation’s current road weather information and traffic monitoring systems.

Hi-Tech Solutions (HTS), a developer and provider of optical character recognition (OCR) computer and vision systems, has announced the establishment of HTS Brazil along with its partner Ergos Tecnologia.

Test World Oy is building a year-round winter test centre in Finland which will fulfil the needs and demands of vehicle and tyre manufacturers.

IBM has announced that two industry leaders, Asahi Kasei and Central Glass, will join its Battery 500 Project team.

A state-of-the-art joint project spearheaded by the Tomsk Polytechnic Research University and Icelandic professor, Horsteinn I. Sigfusson, who was awarded the Global Energy International prize in 2007, will be showcased

Fifty-seven per cent of drivers believe they will switch to a telematics or ‘black box’ insurance policy in the next five years, according to a new study from Gocompare.com, an insurance comparison website.

A technology collaboration between Innov ITS Advance and TRL has led to the creation of an advanced form of pedestrian detection target

GO Transit, which carries 61 million passengers a year and is a division of Metrolinx, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has chosen INIT to deploy a new fleet management system

Navman Wireless has released a significantly expanded mobile app for its OnlineAVL2 fleet tracking system,

IBM has teamed with American Honda Motor Company and Pacific Gas and Electric Company on a new pilot project that will allow communication between electric vehicles (EVs) and the power grid

During this week’s 12th Asia Pacific Forum and Exhibition being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a meeting of the ITS Asia-Pacific board of directors has overwhelmingly endorsed Melbourne, Australia, as the venue for the 2016 ITS World Congress.

AAA Michigan says it is extremely disappointed that legislation which allows some motorcyclists to ride without a helmet on the state's roadways has been signed into law by Governor Rick Snyder.

The market for RFID transponders, readers, software, and services will generate US$70.5 billion from 2012 to the end of 2017.

According to a survey conducted for the Climate and Pollution Agency (the former SFT), a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, 4,512 healthy years of life are lost each year in Norway due to traffic noise.

The US National Safety Council has released its State of the Nation 2012 report in conjunction with Distracted Driving Awareness Month,

Golden River Traffic (GRT), part of the Clearview Traffic Group, has successfully renewed a long-term contract to maintain the road traffic monitoring system on the UK’s A1 Darrington to Dishforth DBFO project

The 12th Asia-Pacific Forum, which opened today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has attracted more than 700 participants from more than 20 countries with eminent speakers and panelists from Europe, North America, as well as the Asia Pacific region.

Within the next four or five years, more than US$19.44 million will be invested by Efkon India in its urban transportation and highway tolling businesses in the country.

Swarco in Norway has announced that Avinor, which operates 46 airports in Norway, has extended the framework agreement with Swarco for the supply and upgrade of turnkey parking solutions.

Honda has unveiled further initiatives in the testing and evaluation of its alternative energy development programmes for vehicles,

Elite pay and display parking machines manufactured by Metric Group in the UK have been shipped for the first time to New Zealand.

IBM has teamed with Zapadoslovenska energetika, (ZSE), the largest distributor and supplier of electricity in Slovakia, on a smart energy feasibility study that will help prepare the capital city Bratislava for electric vehicles (EVs).

The UK government plans to announce new laws next month that will mean people who drive a vehicle while impaired by prescription drugs can be prosecuted.

Ingenico, a French company specialising in payment solutions, has announced that its EFT930G wireless payment terminal has been selected by the Angolan Ministry of Home Affairs for the payment of traffic fines.

Sweden-headquartered Sensys Traffic says it has received an order worth US$3.54 for red-light enforcement in an un-named Middle East country.

China BAK Battery, a manufacturer of lithium-based battery cells, has announced that the company has received a US$1.9 million subsidy for its battery module project

As the cost of global congestion inches towards the $1 trillion mark, key economies including Europe, North America, Japan and China amongst others prepare for a green-commute blueprint.

Garmin International will provide a fully integrated, factory-installed infotainment system for most American 2013 model year Suzuki vehicles.

Coulomb Technologies has announced the completion of more than 2,400 shipments of its public and commercial charging stations for electric vehicles through its ChargePoint America programme.

Linde North America, a specialist in the design, construction and operation of hydrogen vehicle fuelling systems, has commissioned an installation at AC Transit, the bus operator for 13 cities in the East Bay Area,

For the ninth time, the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) is looking for the world's best ideas for applications in the field of satellite navigation.

The organisers of the inaugural UrbanTec China Conference event, have announced that Siemens Infrastructure & Cities sector is participating as a full event sponsor.

Carlos Ghosn, Nissan Motor Company's chief executive officer, has unveiled initiatives in automotive communications technology intended to move Nissan and Infiniti into a leadership position in the connected car content and services market.

Iteris has announced it has shipped its first orders of Vantage Vector, the new flagship sensor of the Vantage vehicle detection family.

FEMA, the Federation of European Motorcycle Associations, has produced a special newsletter devoted to powered two-wheelers and ITS,

Siemens Industry and Streetline have announced an advanced parking solution combining smart parking meters, sensors and applications to provide cities with flexible parking options

According to Dutch automotive association and tourism group ANWB, there was an estimated 30 per cent year-on-year decrease in the number of traffic jams in the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2012.

Figures published by the European Commission have revealed that there has been a significant slow-down in the reduction of road traffic fatalities throughout the European Union (EU) during the past year of 2011.

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has announced that it intends to look into how to encourage commuters to use public transport more frequently, lessen car travel and change their journeys to off-peak periods.

By the end of 2012, new measures will be introduced in Belgium to improve road safety in an effort to reduce the number of road fatalities from 875 in 2011 to 420 in 2020.

According to a new research report by Berg Insight, global sales of handsets featuring near field communication (NFC) increased ten-fold in 2011 to 30 million units.

Skolkovo foundation has held a tender for the development of a smart city concept which has been won by a consortium

Dutch company PAL-V Europe has concluded test flights of its flying car, the PAL-V (Personal Air and Land Vehicle).

California’s Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has launched the first phase of its 290km conversion of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to Express Lanes,

The International Transport Forum at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation for the transport sector that comprises 53 countries, has announced the projects shortlisted for its 2012 Transport Achievement Award

Three global organisations have teamed up to launch what they claim is the most comprehensive, public database of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems around the world.

New research released this week by the US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration confirms the clear safety benefits of using technology to electronically govern and limit the top speed of commercial truck

Xerox has won a contract to replace Geneva Airport’s entire parking management system for its 20 parking lots featuring more than 7,000 spaces

The Maryland Transportation Authority (Maryland TA) in the US will need US$19.5 million to buy new transponders for drivers who use the state's E-ZPass electronic toll collection system

According to data by the Italian transport and logistics commission, social costs of road accidents in the country amount to US$39.98 billion

Origin Energy, Australia’s largest energy retailer, and Nissan Motor Company Australia have announced an agreement which will further the development of the electric vehicles market in Australia

Image Sensing Systems has announced that Mark S. Phillips has been appointed as the company's business development manager of CitySync automatic licence plate recognition (ALPR) products for North and South America

The new public transport plan for Abu Dhabi in the UAE will consist of bus rapid transit (BRT) and two light-rail tram lines, while the planned 130-km railway network has been shortened to 70-km, according to the department of transport (DoT).

According to independent research conducted by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), products powered by TomTom’s HD Traffic reduce average drive times by 13 per cent and up to 30 per cent in congested areas

The first newly developed inspection devices for e-Tickets, developed by Hoeft & Wessel, have just been delivered to the Danish State Railway (DSB)

Kapsch TrafficCom has been awarded the Intertraffic Innovation Award in the Safety category for its new tunnel safety product Automatic Camera Calibration (ACC) at Intertraffic Amsterdam. The new tunnel safety product, ACC, beat numerous other entries

StarTraq, a UK-headquartered offence management software specialist has extended the automated adjudication software services it currently provides to Suffolk Constabulary in the UK

GreenRoad, a specialist in driver performance and safety management, has released details about UK fleet driving behaviour revealing that the most common risky manoeuvre is harsh braking

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the University of Oulu and Aalto University in Finland have analysed the financial statements for 2002-2009 of companies

International Road Dynamics. (IRD) has been awarded a US$1.345 million contract to provide a high speed weigh-in-motion (WIM) and verification system for a new commercial vehicle enforcement facility

Yesterday, the industry-led initiative formerly known as SmartWay Europe was launched under the new name Green Freight Europe.

Activu Corporation, a leading provider of IP-based visualisation and collaboration solutions for mission-critical command and control centre environments

A public referendum held in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, supported a plan to make the city's public transport system free of charge

The US state of California has announced a statewide US$120 million battery electric vehicle (BEV) charging station network to supply 10,000

A decree published, published last week, aimed at reducing accidents on motorways, will make it mandatory to use rumble strips on new motorways from 1 July 2012.

Police in Catalonia, Spain, after a year-long investigation, have arrested ten people involved in a network to forge transport tickets, just as they were preparing to print a million tickets to be used in Barcelona's public transport system

City planners in China are conducting feasibility studies and initial planning to develop skytrain, an elevated transportation system, in order to ease deteriorating traffic congestion in the urban areas of major cities.

Spanish construction firm ACS has been awarded a US$1.52 billion contract to construct a new 27km eight-lane motorway in Edmonton, Canada. The contract also includes a concession to operate the road for a period of 30 years.

North American company Pana-Pacific and Mobileye, headquartered in the Netherlands, have reached an agreement for Pana-Pacific to distribute Mobileye's ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems)

The city of Brussels has introduced a pilot scheme for motorbike taxis to operate in the chronically congested Belgian capital. Users of the motorbike taxis will be given helmets and leg protectors. The drivers have to be over 23 rather than over 21

The New South Wales (NSW) government in Australia has acquired Metro Transport Sydney (MTS), owner of the light rail and monorail, for US$20.6 million. The acquisition will make it easier for the state

The city council of Sao Paulo in Brazil is to launch a US$1.1 billion tender process to improve its bus capacity. The project will include four new bus lanes, refurbishment works on two existing lanes and the construction

The Polish city of Krakow has issued a tender to design and build an underground car park under the Biskupi Square. The investment, to be conducted in a public-private partnership (PPP) model, is valued at over US$10.75 million. The winner will have

Envia Systems, based in California, has announced test results that verify the company’s next-generation rechargeable battery has achieved the highest recorded energy density of 400 Watt-hours/kilogram (Wh/kg)

The EU's Council of transport ministers met in Brussels yesterday and approved a proposal for a new regulation of Trans European Transport – Network (TEN-T) guidelines

A new whitepaper, written by SBD for the GSMA, forecasts the growth and opportunities for connected cars until 2025,

Continental has announced its new, lighter and more compact, head-up display has made the leap from luxury to mid-range vehicles and is now being fitted in the new BMW 3 Series.

Writing in the newsletter of TISPOL, Danijel Kumberger, National Traffic Police Unit, Slovenia, has revealed how smart the force has had to become to catch law-breaking truckers.<

Bus schedules in the Canadian city of Calgary will be more accurate and predictable as Xerox installs a new intelligent transportation system

French road operator APRR (Autoroute-Paris-Rhin-Rhône) has opted to replace obsolete sodium lamps with LED lighting in the 3.3km Chamoise Tunnel.

German software provider PTV AG is opening a new subsidiary, PTV América Latina, with headquarters in Mexico City,

TKH Security Solutions has announced the appointment of Bob McCarthy as managing director of the TKH Security Solutions USA Office,

Volvo Car Corporation warns that EU targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions are being jeopardised by the absence of harmonised incentives to consumers.

TÜV Rheinland’s ITS group, together with Booz Allen Hamilton, will support the US DoT Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office’s (ITS JPO) work to harmonise international ITS standards for connected vehicle technology.

Fifty cities in seventeen countries have signed up to join the EU-funded Quest (Quality management tool for Urban Energy efficient Sustainable Transport) project that will improve the quality of urban sustainable transport.

In the first two months following the launch of a congestion charge in Milan city centre, Italy, car transit in the area has decreased by 36 per cent to 87,095 vehicles per day.

The recent recovery, in Athens, of a US$175,000 Audi R8 Supercar stolen in Paris underlines the increasing prevalence of organised cross border trafficking of high value vehicles.<

German company PTV AG is launching a new product line for traffic- adaptive network control and predictive traffic stats.

A visionary regional urban traffic management and control (UTMC) system for Tyne and Wear local transport plan partners, in the north east of England, is now fully operational

The growth in information and communication technologies (ICT) has led to an information overload which significantly increases driver distraction.

David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, has today announced a feasibility study to work out ways in which private companies could become involved in running, managing and operating the country’s motorways and main trunk roads.

CDoT has released a request for statements of interest (RFSOI) for qualified firms interested in submitting a co-development proposal to assist CDoT in providing a long-term solution to the congestion and mobility issues on the I-70 Mountain Corridor

The car sharing market in Austria has been growing and is now offering several car sharing services providers, which has increased competition and lowered prices.

Cellocator, a Pointer Telocation Division, has announced a compact navigation solution, catering to service providers in the automotive Russian market.

Telvent GIT has been awarded a project to develop the smart mobility management system in the city of Quito, in Ecuador.

Leeds City Council in the UK has placed a contract with Siemens to provide a new city-wide IP-Communications network

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, has confirmed that a contract has been awarded to Virgin Media to provide public access wi-fi at up to 120 underground station platforms at zero cost to the fare or taxpayer.

Navtech Radar will be showcasing the safety and economic benefits of using longer-range radar systems for Automated Incident Detection (AID) and enforcement at Intertraffic 2012.

Vice-President Siim Kallas, European Commissioner for mobility and transport, has announced the winners of the first Smart Mobility Challenge on European multi-modal journey planners,

The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, TNO, is in the process of developing a low cost cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC) technology.

Denso Corporation, in collaboration with Tongji University, Shanghai, will begin testing vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) technology on public roads in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China on 22 March , 2012.

Indra has been awarded a contract with the Public Transportation Municipal Company in Wroclaw to install its intelligent public transportation management technology for US$22.23 million and a one year execution period.

Visteon Corporation has announced that it has agreed to sell its automotive lighting business to Varroc Group, a global provider of automotive parts headquartered in India, for US$92 million in cash.

Utility companies who take too long to complete their road works in the UK will face higher charges, transport minister Norman Baker has announced.

Plans for the implementation of a new electronic toll collection (ETC) system in Slovenia have been placed on hold, as the government has suspended the international tender for the project.

Managing transportation emissions and reducing energy insecurity due to a volatile oil industry are on the top of the agenda of many countries across the world.

Major UK insurance company Aviva is said to be experimenting with an iPhone app that will offer discounts on car insurance based on customer's driving speed and style, according to reports in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.<

For the fifth year running, Fiat Automobiles has recorded the lowest level of CO2 emissions by vehicles sold in Europe in 2011, with an average measurement of 118.2 g/km (4.9 g/km less than the 2010 average).

The Association of Global Automakers has testified about the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) proposed voluntary driver distraction guidelines.

The authorities in India have given the go-ahead for a series of highway projects in the states of Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Rajasthan.

Trafikverket has informed Q-Free that the company will be awarded the contract for delivery of the congestion charging infrastructure in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

Moscow's Directorate for Investment Project Support and Participatory Construction Oversight (Moskomstroyinvest) has introduced a huge programme for developing parking space in the Russian capital.

New Zealand road signal company Traffic Systems has won a contract to supply Transport for London (TfL) with pedestrian crossing equipment.

The EU Human Rights Court has ruled in favour of two drivers who received traffic tickets, but were not provided the means to contest them.

The Times has reported that the UK government is drawing up plans to prevent drivers of untaxed or uninsured vehicles from filling up with fuel at petrol stations.

Two full-colour, high-resolution Daktronics Vanguard dynamic message sign (DMS) products have officially been approved by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDoT) to manage traffic congestion and provide safety on highways throughout the state.

‘Chancenrepublik Deutschland’ has introduced the Cloud 4 Society Award to honour innovative start-ups and businesses.

Clearview Traffic Group has secured a contract for the installation and maintenance of automatic traffic monitoring equipment on behalf of Transport for London (TfL).

Dutch surveying company Geomaat is capturing millimetre accurate measurements in record times to support a range of highway design, construction and maintenance projects.

A draft National ITS Industry Strategy developed through extensive industry and government stakeholder consultation has been released for public comment by ITS Australia.

China Yuchai International has announced that its main operating subsidiary, Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Company Limited (GYMCL) has inaugurated a new project to develop and produce a full portfolio of natural gas powered engines

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) has selected the RoadRunner on-board video surveillance system and vehicle information management (VIM) software from Apollo Video Technology for its fleet

Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) has been selected to design and supervise deployment of technology infrastructure for a US Department of Transportation (US DoT) pilot programme to study the potential of operating connected vehicles

The European Commission has warned Portugal to change national rules on the introduction of tolling that are contrary to Community law,

Q-Free has been awarded a contract, valued at US$2.65 million, in Australia with Brisbane Airport Corporation for the design and construction of the electronic access fee collection system for taxis and ground transportation operators.

An invitation has been issued for a stakeholder workshop, organised by the Satie project which will be held on 26 April, after this year’s Transport Research Arena in Athens (www.traconference.eu).

TomTom, via its joint venture partner AutoNavi Holdings, has announce a seven year agreement with Qoros Auto, an international automotive corporation.

The UQM Technologies’ PowerPhase Select 145 electric propulsion system has been selected by EV Engineering to power its proof-of-concept fleet of Australian-built EV Commodore electric vehicles (EV).

Telvent GIT has been selected by the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA) to integrate an electronic toll collection (ETC) system in northeast Texas

EC Harris, the global built asset consultancy, has been appointed by the Ecomouv consortium to monitor construction progress, expenditure and testing on the new French Ecotaxe truck tolling system

As part of its strategy to offer platform-based solutions tailored to key industries, Verizon has launched a new practice focused on developing telematics solutions.

Kapsch TrafficCom has concluded an agreement with leading French toll service provider Axxès for the supply of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology on-board units (OBUs) and central solutions for the French Ecotaxe project.

Using smartphones for social networking while driving is more dangerous than drink driving or being high on cannabis behind the wheel according to research published by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) in the UK.

Smart Signal Technologies has launched what it claims is a remarkable new product that will save taxpayers millions of dollars annually as it improves traffic signal performance along congested signalised arterial corridors.

PTV has unveiled what it claims is a major new innovation: map& guide internet, the first cloud-based transport route planner.

Preliminary data from Destatis, Germany's Federal Statistics Office, shows a worrying increase in road related fatalities during 2011.<

Developments in air-conditioning technology could help boost the range of electric vehicles.

The Kenyan Government is planning to invest US$4.82 billion in a major multi-modal infrastructure project to reduce Nairobi’s traffic congestion.<

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has announced that 32 firms submitted responses to the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDoT) Request for Information regarding the operation and integration of the state's transportation operations centres (TOCs).

ITS America and Southwest Research Institute are once again sponsoring the Annual Student Essay Competition for the 2012 ITS America Annual Meeting & Exposition, which is being held in Washington D.C. on 21-23 May, 2012.

The Canadian cities of Quebec and Montreal are to take part in a pilot study involving speed control devices.

Intel Capital has announced a US$100 million investment fund to help accelerate innovation and the adoption of new technology and services in the automotive industry

Kapsch TrafficCom has won an order, valued at just over US$355.5 million, for the implementation and operation of a nationwide electronic toll collection system in Belarus.<

Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (Metro) working with prime contractor TransCore has commissioned the first of five reversible high occupancy toll (HOT) lane corridors.

Q-Free yesterday announced that the company has won a frame agreement for deliveries of tolling tags (OBUs) from the Spanish operator, Abertis.

The Brussels capital region of Belgium has laid out a series of proposals to develop its transport networks over the next 15 years.

The 400km stretch of A9 autobahn connecting the German cities of Munich and Leipzig looks likely to be one of the first major highway links in Europe with charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Vitronic Machine Vision Middle East and its Qatar partner Itqan Holding have announced an order for 26 PoliScan systems.

Autoliv has announced it has developed a completely new concept for inflating airbags that is more environmentally friendly and more cost efficient than traditional inflator technologies.

Boomerang Systems has announced the formation of a strategic partnership with Stokes Industries, a veteran parking industry provider with over 25 years experience in mechanical parking solutions throughout the world.

Protean Electric, a specialist in advanced in-wheel motors for the automotive industry, has been awarded 17 patents for the unique technology and design of its Protean Drive system.

Trimble is partnering with Equity Red Star, a major UK insurer, to provide in-vehicle telematics technology and GeoManager driver safety solution.

Navfree has announced it has reached its goal of building a 5.5 million global strong GPS navigation user base, to rival Nokia’s GPS navigation.

Telvent GIT has announced that the company is rolling out its advanced mobility management technology, SmartMobility Traffic, in the Chinese cities of Beijing, Panjin, Fushun, Nanning, Urumqi, Erdos, Yiqi, Changchung and Zhunki.

Alfom, a German IT company, has announced the TripGuard app (www.tripguard.de) for Android (which will shortly also be available for the iPhone) that provides an eCall service in case of emergency.

France-headquartered ASK, a specialist in mass transit contactless smart cards, has been selected by its client system integrator Sonda to deliver the contactless cards for Panama’s brand new Metrobús network.

Highway surveying company Yotta DCL has signed a four-year contract worth around US$3.61 million with the UK Highways Agency to survey and monitor some 140,000km of motorway and other major roads across England.<

IBM and the City of Zhenjiang, China, have announced that IBM is helping to transform the city's public transportation system.

Q-Free ASA has been awarded AutoPass contracts by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA) at a value of over US$5 million.

Visionstream Australia has been selected as preferred provider for an AU$62.5 million (US$67 million) contract by VicRoads to deliver the ITS communications infrastructure and intelligence services to the M80 Ring Road in Melbourne, Australia.

Panasonic Corporation has announced that it will supply lithium-ion battery cells for Ford Motor Company's hybrid and plug-in hybrid electricvehicles (PHEVs).

TomTom has expanded coverage of its portfolio of real time traffic products for licensing customers to include the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, bringing the total count to 23 countries.

Symology, a leading UK supplier of street works systems and highway asset management systems, has announced that the UK Government Procurement Service has made the only award on the G Cloud Framework for a street works co-ordination solution to Symology.

Contractors across the globe are being invited to bid for the contract to build the new main road between Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

GPS personal tracking devices and applications are forecast to grow with a CAGR of 40 per cent, with both markets breaking $1 billion in 2017, new research by ABI Research claims.

Through an innovative research project across several industries, Ericsson claims it will bring mobile connectivity to electric cars and put choice and control over the charging schedule into the hands of drivers.

The San Francisco Bay Area’s 511 traveller information system is now offering its first smartphone app for transit users.

Great Wall Motor has become the first Chinese carmaker to open an assembly plant in Europe as it aims to lift sales in the region

Redflex Traffic Systems in the US has announced its latest innovation, Student Guardian, designed to curb dangerous driving behaviours and enforce traffic laws on school bus routes.

The Mineta Transportation Institute (transweb.sjsu.edu) has published a report that leverages literature review and case studies in the San Francisco Bay area and Portland OR to recommend ways to improve safety for bicycle commuters.

TRW Automotive Holdings is developing its second generation scalable airbag control unit (ACU) designed for the growing low-cost vehicle and emerging markets.

TomTom has announced the availability of its MultiNet suite of map products in Esri’s file geodatabase format.

3M and Chesapeake Energy Corporation have announced an agreement to collaborate in designing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of compressed natural gas (CNG) tanks

Swedish company Edeva, which was hived off from Prodelox, has successfully tested a new traffic calming method in Linköping Sweden.

Dr Michael Milford from Queensland University in Australia has revealed details of research that dispenses with GPS satellite and uses cameras instead to make road navigation a far cheaper and simpler task.

OmniVision Technologies has announced that its flagship automotive image sensors, the OV10630 and the OV10635, have both received AEC-Q100 Grade 2 qualifications,

Surrey County Council in the UK is continuing to upgrade urban traffic control (UTC) with modern digital communications equipment.

Following a successful trial at eight locations across London in June 2010, pedestrian countdown technology will be rolled out at pedestrian crossings throughout the UK capital

Ford has upgraded its state-of-the-art Virtual Test Track Experiment simulator with improved image rendering technologies and capabilities to study driver performance

UK-headquartered Clearview Traffic Group has announced the proposed merger of its Count On Us traffic survey and market research arm with Sky High

Sumitomo Corporation of America, in conjunction with its car builder partner Nippon Sharyo, has received a contract award from Virginia Railway Express (VRE) for 50 Gallery-type Bi-level passenger cars.

Peter Aylward has been appointed by the Hoeft & Wessel Group as managing director of the Metric subsidiary, headquartered in Swindon, in the UK.

Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation, a specialist in all-electric commercial vehicles, has signed a letter of intent with Wanxiang Group, an automotive parts manufacturing and supplier.

In South Korea's Seoul city, the city government has developed a smartphone application, called Seoul's Fast Ways, to show road conditions to users in real time.

The US Department of Transportation's ITS Joint Program Office has announced the latest update to Turbo Architecture 7.0, a software application that supports development of regional and project ITS architectures

Boomerang Systems, a designer and manufacturer of automated robotic parking and self storage systems, has been contracted to supply 249 parking spaces utilising its innovative RoboticValet parking system

German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer has announced that the government is currently preparing to invite tenders from companies and consortia throughout Europe for the collection of Germany’s truck toll scheme, with effect from 2015.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) has approved the selection of HDR to perform the I-710 Corridor Project North Utility study.

Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors has aided in a pilot study using an electric vehicle to power traffic lights.

Bombardier Transportation has won the iF Product Design Award as well as the Good Design Award for its ground-breaking very high speed (VHS) train currently being developed for leading railway markets in Europe, Asia and North America.

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood yesterday announced the first-ever federally proposed guidelines to encourage automobile manufacturers to limit the distraction risk for in-vehicle electronic devices.

TE Connectivity has announced that its FlexWave Prism distributed antenna system (DAS) has been deployed to provide clear and consistent mobile service for multiple mobile operators throughout the Copenhagen Metro subway system.

Acacia Research Corporation has announced that a subsidiary has acquired over 300 patents from Automotive Technologies International (ATI) relating to numerous automotive safety, navigation and diagnostics technologies.<

CI-Motords, a scooter and motorcycle users pressure group in Switzerland, has called for the right of freely choosing modes of transport to become part of the constitution.

The Danish National Police force is planning to invest in a new IT-project which involves the roll out of 200 speed cameras along roads throughout Denmark.

Telvent GIT has been awarded a contract by the Transcity JV, with Brisbane City Council as the end customer, to implement the ITS for Legacy Way (formerly Northern Link) in Australia.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday by representatives of the organisations for technical specifications of Germany, UK, France, and Calypso Network Association.

Top Vision has announced it has implemented and installed a variable message sign (VMS) in the central Avenue of Athens.

US-based Ennis Traffic Safety Solutions, parent company of UK-based road safety products manufacturer Ennis Prismo, is merging with Flint Trading to create Ennis Flint.

Plans are moving forward in France for the beltway project around the city of Strasbourg.

Barbara W. Reese, former deputy secretary of ransportation for Virginia and CFO of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDoT), has been named a principal consultant in the strategic consulting group of Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The German Federal Government and the Toll Collect consortium have largely agreed on a contract to extend the HGV motorway toll to about 1,000 km of four-lane federal roads with effect from 1 August 2012.

A new report from Juniper Research has found that 13 per cent of North American and Western European mobile users will use their NFC-enabled mobile phone as a metro rail or bus ticket by 2016,

Siim Kallas and Lui Tuck Yew have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the EC and Singapore on co-operation in the field of ITS.

University of South Florida researchers have published a report claiming that red light cameras do nothing to improve road safety, directly contradicting a national study by the Institute for Highway Safety

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted a US$237 million loan to the Renault Group to contribute to R&D for a new generation of batteries and motors for electric vehicles.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has awarded a contract to ChargePoint Services (CPS) to supply and install GE DuraStation Electric Vehicle chargers and provide on-going after sales service support.

Australia’s largest bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, is adding multiple mobile phone-based payment options to its range of mobile banking services.

The Thai government has announced it will deploy RFID technology to identify speeding buses and vans in Bangkok starting 1 April 2012.

According to new research by ABI Research, insurance telematics users will grow at a CAGR of 90 per cent from 1.85 million in 2010 to 89 million in 2017.

Q-Free has received an order for tolling tags (OBUs) from Portugal’s only tag issuer, Via Verde, part of the Brisa Group which is one of Portugal’s leading tolling concessionaires.

Austrian building group Strabag has won a US$178 million contract to renovate and expand three major thoroughfares in the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of active remote container tracking units deployed on intermodal shipping containers was 77,000 in Q4-2011.

With near field communication (NFC)-enabled handsets poised to exceed 100 million in 2012, the Smart Card Alliance Transportation Council has announced a new white paper examining how the transit industry can best make use of this popular new technology.

Vitronic and its Estonian partner Alarmtec have won a tender for ten stationary speed enforcement systems from the Estonian Road Administration, and has been honoured by the Dubai Police as the best enforcement supplier of 2011.

The Hertz Corporation and Hertz Global EV are implementing what is claimed as the first wireless charging system for electric vehicles (EVs) in the car rental industry.

Econolite and Image Sensing Systems have unveiled Autoscope Duo, a first in a new generation of hybrid sensor technologies.

Netsize has announced that CityzenCar, a peer-to-peer car sharing social network with 12,000 members in France, has deployed its SMS-based communication solution to secure and simplify car rental for consumers.

Eddie Stobart and A. W. Jenkinson Forest Products have signed a joint-procurement agreement with Scania in the UK for the supply of 1,000 trucks in a deal that mirrors the order placed by the two operators in 2010

The International Road Federation has a new spearhead for its global road safety programme.

Jenoptik Robot has won an order from Malaysia, valued at over US$53 million, to install up to 550 stationary and mobile systems for monitoring red-light and speed violations

Iteris has been awarded a US$1.5 million, five-year contract to operate and maintain the Inland Empire's 511 traveller information system

Navteq has been selected by Scania to provide map data featuring the accurate, reliable and detailed road attributes essential to its innovative new active prediction system.<

Six German companies - BMW, Bosch, Daimler, EnBW, RWE and Siemens - have come together to form a joint venture to harmonise billing and authentication systems and charging processes for electric vehicles.

Hi-Tech Solutions (HTS), a specialist the optical character recognition and computer vision systems market, has sold 120 licence plate recognition (LPR) systems for integration into an automatic parking system in Hong Kong.

Aberdeen City Council in Scotland has approved plans that will introduce a dozen hydrogen-powered buses to the city's services.

Thales has won a US$156 million contract from Singapore’s largest rail operator, SMRT Corporation, to supply its SelTrac communications-based train control (CBTC) re-signalling solution

Intelligent Energy, a specialist in clean power systems, and the Suzuki Motor Corporation have announced the creation of a joint venture company called Smile FC System Corporation

Zipcar, the leading car sharing network, has announced a new partnership with the city of Boston to launch a new fleet sharing programme called FleetHub.

Atkins has won design contracts to increase safety, functionality and comfort for travellers on the Oslo Metro, Norway’s rapid transit system.

New technology could improve safety at intersections by up to 80%.

Slalom Consulting's NYC Station Finder has won the special Large Organisation Award in the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's App Quest Challenge,

Up to a third of fuel consumption in cars is is spent in overcoming friction. However, both fuel consumption and emissions can be reduced by the use of new technology.

Strong potential for electric vehicles is expected in India. Existing problems of pollution and massive population growth in cities and urban areas is expected to help fuel demand for electric vehicles in the country.

Australia's ITS industry is lodging a bid with the Federal Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and Research to secure funding for a Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).

The European Commission on Friday issued a contract worth some US$330 million for eight more satellites for its Galileo satellite-navigation network, bringing the total number in production by a German-UK consortium to 22

The authorities in Australia are releasing data showing an improvement in road safety in the country, with road deaths continuing to fall.<

A US$2.07 billion rapid transit system extension has been earmarked for the Taiwanese city of Taichung.

The US Department of Transportation (USDoT) has announced the availability of version 7.0 of the National Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Architecture

According to data based on Singapore’s annual road traffic situation report, in 2011 there was an 8.1 per cent year-on-year drop in the number of fatal and injury accidents in Singapore

The Irish railway operator "Iarnród Éireann - Irish Rail" (IÉ) has awarded the implementation of a digital train radio system for the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) region to Kapsch CarrierCom.

Streetline has announced that New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDoT) is this week installing the company’s sensor-enabled smart parking system along Arthur Avenue in the Bronx,

Thales has signed a new US$26.3 million signalling contract with Turkish State Railways (TCDD) to install the ETCS Level 2 system, including automatic train protection and GSM-R communications,

Vaisala, a global leader in environmental management, is launching Condition Patrol with the promise that, for the first time, road maintenance departments now have the ability to access weather data from their entire networks of roads

Hyundai has announced details of its Lifetime Hybrid Battery Replacement Guarantee, announced at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit earlier this month.

At this year’s "Financier of the Year" gala event in Warsaw, Poland, Kapsch was given an award for the efficiency of its fully electronic toll system viaTOLL

US-headquartered Navistar has announced a global commercial bus partnership with Brazilian commercial bus body manufacturer San Marino Onibus e Implementos (Neobus).

Westminster City Council, in the heart of London, has invested around US$800,000 in new GPS-guided gritting trucks for winter road maintenance.

Banedanmark, the Danish infrastructure owner, has awarded the Thales - Balfour Beatty Rail consortium, a €400 million contract

Brazilian group Bertin is forming a partnership with Italian company Atlantia to merge the management of road concessions they both own in Brazil.

International automotive supplier Continental has joined the OPEN Alliance SIG (One Pair Ether-Net Alliance Special Interest Group) which is dedicated to spreading the use of Ethernet networks as the standard solution for in-vehicle applications.

The EU-funded 'Golden Ice' project has demonstrated a new EGNOS-guided system for safer, more economical and more ecologically responsible salt distribution on winter roads.

Mexico's federal tolling authority, Sirit, and Axiompass have announced they have successfully installed the first toll-free system for residents in the country using Sirit RFID readers.<

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is continuing to support the modernisation of Serbia’s transport infrastructure

The city of Houston, Texas has agreed to pay American Traffic Solutions (ATS) US$4.8 million in compensation for cancelling the city’s red light camera contract

The Czech capital Prague has been chosen to host the headquarters of Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation programme

Point Grey, a leader in advanced digital imaging products, will be hosting the AIA Winter 2012 Vision standards meeting in Vancouver, Canada from 13 – 17 February.

New powers to help UK councils cut the disruption caused by road works, estimated to cost US$6.3 billion a year, have been announced by Transport Minister Norman Baker.

Mentor Engineering has been awarded a US$2 million contract from the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority to implement a complete end-to-end transit ITS system for Oklahoma City’s Metro Transit.

Golden River Traffic has renewed a five year contract with Sheppey Route Limited to maintain the road traffic monitoring system on the A249 Stockbury to Sheerness, in the UK.

Registration for the SV Innovation Award by participants at the BedrijfsautoRAI 2012 exhibition (formerly TERTS) is now open

The US city of San Francisco, and Medellin, Colombia have been declared the winners of the 8th annual Sustainable Transport Award by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Mobisoft Oy and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, have developed a communication system for drivers to inform them about weather and road conditions and prevent serious or fatal accidents.<

BAE Systems and Caterpillar have signed a long-term supply agreement to collaborate on an energy efficient parallel hybrid propulsion system for heavy-duty trucks.

Garmin has announced that it will transition its map provider for the majority of its Nuvi range of personal navigation devices (PNDs) to Navteq from February 2012.

Plans for a lorry road user charging scheme to create a fairer deal for UK hauliers were announced yesterday by roads minister Mike Penning.

The International Road Federation (IRF) has awarded Delcan two Global Road Achievement Awards (GRAA) at their annual banquet in Washington, DC.

Spain’s capital city, Madrid, has awarded Telvent GIT a contract to manage, operate and maintain two of the three most important zones of the capital's traffic light network, involving over 1,600 traffic-light intersections.

The first ever contract to be awarded through the UK Government Procurement Service framework is for a SPECS3 average speed enforcement system, to be installed in Nottinghamshire.

RouteMatch Software has been selected by Nebraska Department of Roads (NDoR) to become the state's primary ITS partner, for 13 Nebraska rural public and tribal transit agencies

Bosch Automotive Aftermarket division is in the process of undertaking its largest ever acquisition with plans to acquire the service solutions business of US-headquartered SPX Corporation

The Sartre (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) project, funded by the European Union, has announced that it has successfully completed the first test demonstrations of a multiple vehicle platoon.

TomTom has announced a partnership with Delcan Corporation in which historical traffic data will be used for the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2),

Idle Free Systems, a leading provider of year-round idle elimination solutions for trucks and school buses, has announced a new business partnership with AmeriQuest Transportation Services.

Around 9 February, 2012, Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODoT) Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding will be issuing a Request for Information (RFI) in connection with a Road Usage Charge Pilot Program (RUCPP)

Peek, the Imtech Traffic & Infra mobility specialist, has won a contract to provide a new generation of technology for 365 road junctions in Copenhagen.

German company myTaxi, which has revolutionised the European taxi market in less than a year, has extended its group of current investors.

Thales has been awarded a contract by IHI Corporation to re-signal the automated people mover (APM) located within Hong Kong international airport, with a state-of-the-art solution.

Johnson Controls has developed an innovative instrument cluster concept that combines multiple layers of information to generate a three-dimensional (3D) interface.

Parsons Brinckerhoff has appointed transport planning specialist Richard Crossley to its expanding Middle East Transportation Team.

CS Communication & Systèmes has announced the inauguration of the first Fast ETC lanes which the company developed on the A5 Expressway that links Puerto Montt in South Chile with Santiago Del Chile.

Pöyry`s Urban Business Group has been awarded a contract to provide services for the design, tender documentation and site supervision phases for Line 2 of the Ho Chi Minh City Metro, Vietnam.

Rising volumes of truck traffic counteracts the eco benefits of alternative fuels and energy efficient engines, a report by the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) has found.

East Midlands Trains in the UK, part of the transport operator Stagecoach Group which operates trains and buses throughout the UK, is expanding its smartcard scheme.

The array of initiatives such as the ‘Plugged-in Place’ project and eco incentive programmes in diverse locations of the United Kingdom, have made the ownership and the use of electric vehicles a reasonable option.

The cost of the Swiss road tax vignette will more than double to US$106.50 per year from just over $40 at present.

MIT has been selected to lead the US Department of Transportation Research & Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) University Transportation Center (UTC) for the New England Region.

Nissan North America, leading power and technology group ABB, along with 4R Energy and Sumitomo Corporation of America, have formed a partnership to evaluate the reuse of lithium-ion battery packs that power the Nissan Leaf.

Siemens has launched a new low-cost coating for traffic controllers and signals which provides lasting protection against dirt and acts as an anti-graffiti barrier, making it difficult to attach posters or write on the protected surface.

A ground-breaking project to ensure the UK is well positioned for the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles was announced yesterday.

Of more than 1.7 million traffic violations registered by the 323 speed enforcement systems in Dubai last year, the 27 PoliScanspeed systems from Vitronic captured 565,148 violators, a third of all violations.

To deal with the issue of driver distraction, the automotive industry is turning to a multi-modal human machine interface (HMI) approach

Clearview Traffic Group has announced the 150th installation of the Golden River M100 wireless vehicle detection system within the UK.

All the major truck brands have signed up for BedrijfsautoRAI 2012 (formerly known as The European Road Transport Show, TERTS),

According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, global shipments of personal navigation devices (PNDs) declined to about 33 million units in 2011.

INIT Innovations in Transportation, a leading provider of ITS located in Chesapeake, Virginia, has partnered with Simtech, a supplier of customised electronic products, to launch a new business venture in the city of Chesapeake

According to ABI Research’s new study, Cellular M2M Connectivity Services, the M2M market has become a fully mainstream segment of the cellular industry.

PTV has beaten 70 competitors to win the prize for the best solution in the category Mobility and Logistics, in the Bitkom (the German Association of Towns and Municipalities) Urban Solutions Pitch.

German software provider PTV has taken a minority stake in Gevas software, a leading traffic engineering firm, further strengthening the companies' close ties.

Official statistics from Taiwan's Ministry of Interior show that in the first 11 months of 2011, there was a 3.28% increase in the number of road accidents that resulted in injuries or deaths, compared with the same period in the previous year.

A major European project aimed at delivering green traffic management systems in European cities and towns will be officially launched at the National Space Centre in Leicester, England, tomorrow.

Autodesk and Pitney Bowes Software have entered into a strategic alliance agreement that will serve as a framework for both companies to provide resources, services and solutions to help infrastructure owners

The Bosch Automotive Aftermarket division has completed the takeover of the Unipoint Group, based in Taipei, Taiwan.

Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide has been awarded an engineering development contract from the leading Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra to develop hydrogen systems for a mini-bus platform

Bombardier Transportation has received an order, worth US$648 million, for 90 electric multiple units of the 430 series commuter trains from Deutsche Bahn Regio.

Azure Dynamics Corporation has delivered its 1000th Balance hybrid electric truck to Purolator, Canada's leading integrated freight and parcel solutions provider.

Automotive safety systems specialist Autoliv has been selected as a partner to participate in the second phase of the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) research programme

Verizon Wireless and In Motion Technology have announced what they claim is the first wireless mobile router system available for securely extending the enterprise network to the vehicle over the world’s largest 4G LTE network.

​​​Support for Stockholm's congestion charge has risen to a record high, a poll by the Centre for Transport Studies (CTS) has shown.

Some US$1.6 billion in funding is being provided from US federal funds to states and territories across the nation to cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges damaged by natural disasters.

German company Vitronic has been selected by Thales group to supply key components for all fixed enforcement gantries for the nationwide truck charging system to be implemented on 15,000 km of French roads.

Daimler and Google have announced a deepening of their strategic partnership to provide Daimler with access to the suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) known as Google Maps API for Business

Providing sophisticated advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to compact cars such as the Ford Focus or Citroen C4 has helped to bring down driver assistance systems from high-end cars to mass-volume compact cars.

Iteris has received an order for US$706,000 from Comet Electric to provide video detection systems and related communication equipment for the Omnitrans sbX Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

Activu Corporation is now an approved video display control system listed on Florida Department of Transportation’s Approved Product List (APL)

Swiss headuartered power and automation technology group, ABB, has won a tender to build a network of 200 electric vehicle (EV) fast-charging stations throughout Estonia.

Cofiroute USA, which introduced toll road on the 91 Express Lanes in Orange County, California, has installed a fully integrated back office system for the 91 Express Lanes that manages every operating, reporting and customer service detail.

TSS-Transport Simulation Systems, the developer of Aimsun and Aimsun Online traffic simulation software, is to open a new office in Sydney, Australia.

AT&T, within the Peachtree "Connected" City, GA collaboration framework, plans to begin developing a connected, voice-enabled virtual assistant for use by automotive manufacturers

SK Innovation and Continental Corporation have announced their intention to team up for powering electric vehicles worldwide.

US company Progressive Insurance has received a fourth patent for system technologies used with its optional pay-as-you-drive insurance programme

The TRA 2012 transport event, being held in April in Athens, will provide a unique interactive opportunity for attendees to learn about Horizon 2020, the European Commission proposal for a new Research & Innovation Framework Programme

In the latest step forward in the collaboration of the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler, Nissan's Decherd, Tennessee plant will build Mercedes-Benz 4-cylinder engines for Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz

A new coalition of executives from blue chip companies in the US transportation and utility industries has come together to design a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) demonstration project

UK company TAAP has announced that its signature capture applications will now be available on Windows Phone and iPhone devices as well as other devices with capacitive screens.

With China slated to be the world’s biggest market for auto sales and exports by 2025,

ALK Technologies has entered into a partnership with International Telematics Corporation to resell ALK’s CoPilot truck professional navigation software in North America, fully integrated with its ibright vehicle and trailer telematics system.

UK local transport minister, Norman Baker has announced he will host the governments first ‘satnav summit’ early in March to thrash out solutions to end the misery caused when lorry and car drivers follow out of date directions from their satnavs

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released estimates showing that in 2010, transportation deaths in the US was 34,925, a decrease from 35,994 recorded in 2009.

Central Parking System has announced an enhancement to its new proprietary parking app that will allow customers in its New York market to download coupons directly to their iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch device.

Sweden-headquartered Sensys Traffic has received an order for red-light enforcement systems from the United States valued at over US$200,000. The systems, which will be delivered from existing inventories

T3 Motion, a producer of clean/green technology, has received a 200-piece order from A&M Garments in Kuwait for the company’s Motiontrak 300P digital in-car video data recording system. Each Motiontrak 300P will be deployed with patrol fleets

Urban mobility is high on the infrastructure agenda in Mexico. While highways continue to be a priority, capital Mexico City and other large cities across the country are looking to implement mass transport systems such as bus rapid transit (BRT) lines.

Following its December Forum on ITS for Urban Mobility, Ertico ITS Europe has published a 20-page report of the presentations from the high level speakers and participants from public authorities and industry given during the in-depth examination

A panel of scientists and academics is being established by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) to advise on the possible implementation of rules covering drug-driving, along the lines of existing drink-driving laws.

Navteq has been chosen by Garmin as map data supplier for Romania.

DriveCam has announced that NJ Transit has signed a two-year contract to expand the company’s managed services programme across its entire fleet of vehicles.

Carillion has been awarded a US$16 million contract to transform another section of the UK’s M6 in Birmingham, between Junctions 5 and 8, into a managed motorway.

Video detection specialist Traficon has been awarded a contract to provide video image processors for traffic monitoring inside the Södra Länken and Norra Länken tunnels in Stockholm, Sweden.

Thales and its consortium partner, the Hungarian company Dunántúli Kft., has signed a contract worth over US$91 million with the Hungarian infrastructure company NIF

Worldwide new vehicle sales in 2012 are expected to rise 6.7 per cent over 2011 volumes to 77.7 million vehicles, according to Polk, a leading global automotive market intelligence firm.

Smarter steps to reduce carbon emissions are being proposed by a new study from The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK (CILT).

Effective yestereday, a new US Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rule prohibits an estimated four million commercial truck and bus drivers from using handheld cell phones while driving.

Kapsch is to close its Chinese factory and produce its railway radio modules in its Vienna plant, which will be expanded.

The 2012 Transport Achievement Award Call for Applications has now been launched in Paris. This forms part of the run-up to the International Transport Forum’s 2012 Summit on “Seamless Transport: Making Connections”.

Handal Indah Sdn Bhd (Causeway Link), one of the largest bus company providers, based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, has integrated onboard light bus validators from Arcontia Technology into its new ticketing system.

UK company Traffic Technology has supplied Surrey County Council with its SDR (speed detection radar) above ground vehicle classifier as part of the Drive Smart campaign,

SIMCom Wireless Solutions, a worldwide specialist in machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, has announced that it has successfully concluded tests of a GSM module for eCall / ERA Glonass readiness on Russia's real network.

The Handheld Group of Sweden, a manufacturer of rugged PDAs and mobile devices, has acquired TimbaTec, a supplier of rugged mobile computers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland from Latschbacher,

Swiss authorities intend to introduce tough regulations that will boost safety on the nation’s roads.

Over the past year, more than 171,000 drivers were fined US$92.50 each and given three points on their licence for driving whilst using mobiles.

The Tamil Nadu government in India intends to replace buses that have reached more than 700,000 kilometres in mileage or those that are more than six years old.

In New Zealand, yearly death toll of road accidents posted at 280 as of 29 December 2011, which is a record-low figure since 1952.

Navteq has announced that North America and Europe coverage is now available on Esri ArcGIS Online and Data Appliance.

The US ITS JPO has announced it will host a free public meeting and webinar to obtain stakeholder input on concepts, opportunities and needs for the Integrated Dynamic Transit Operations (IDTO) operational concept.

According to figures from Dutch automotive association and tourism group ANWB traffic congestion decreased 27 per cent in the Netherlands in 2011

The Austrian Industrial Association (IV) has called for a road pricing system under which drivers would pay less for owning a car but more for using it.

UK government roads minister Mike Penning yesterday announced the roll-out of 3D laser scanning technology to shorten road closure times after crashes.

Bombardier Transportation yesterday announced that it has secured an additional order, valued at US$296 million, for 130 Electrostar cars for Southern rail in the UK.

According to a study by Pike Research of the market opportunity for telematics in plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), the annual revenue from sales of EV telematics will reach US$1.4 billion by 2017.

Dynalectric Los Angeles, a subsidiary of Emcor Group, has been awarded a contract for the Coliseum/Florence region for the automated traffic surveillance and control (ATSAC) project for the city of Los Angeles.

Nissan Motor Company and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport will begin an eight-month large-scale demonstration test in the city’s Wangjing district to verify the effects of traffic dispersion by dynamic route guidance with IT devices.

Eltek has signed an agreement with Volvo Car Corporation for supply complete water-cooled on-board chargers with volume production starting in 2012 for a hybrid electrical vehicle programme.

Concerns over the safety of some electric vehicles are being expressed in the US, although sales are increasing in certain areas of the country both for EVs and hybrid types.

The Moroccan city of Rabat is studying the creation of an integrated transport network, which would initially involve tram and bus systems.

Innocorp’s new iPhone app Intoxicheck leads users through a simple set of before and after reaction, judgment and memory challenges so drivers clearly see how impaired they are in an effort to stop drinking and driving.

New research in Spain that explored solutions to reducing traffic noise suggests that the best option is to combine global measures, such as speed restrictions, and local measures, such as noise screens.

The government of Nepal has invited an expression of interest...

The US Department of Transportation (US DoT) has selected the Battelle Memorial Institute to develop a new Transit Safety Retrofit Package (TRP) that will be used as part of the Safety Pilot model deployment.

Ford has joined forces with Cambridge University in the UK to gain a better understanding of visual impairment issues that come with an ageing society and to use digital tools to better design vehicles for those with vision problems.

The San Francisco Bay Area's Clipper transit fare-collection programme has hit the magic one million active cards in circulation milestone.

An innovative future fuel source could be provided by bacteria, according to researchers working with the US Department of Energy (DOE).

INVG, a transport company based in Ingolstadt, Germany, has opted for an integrated ITS and ticketing system from INIT.

Kathmandu metropolitan city is planning to operate 24-hrs metro bus system using double-decker buses that will carry more passengers and also provide night services, reports Ram Krishna Wagle from Nepal.

Image Sensing Systems (ISS) has amended its agreement with its long-time partner, Econolite Control Products, to expand the exclusive North American manufacturing and distribution agreement.

Collection of motorway tolls in the Czech Republic will increase by 25 per cent to US$420 million in 2011.

Danish traffic experts are urging politicians in Copenhagen to opt for road pricing instead of the planned ring road.

The European Investment Bank, the European Union’s long-term lending institution, has agreed to provide US$157 over 19 years to enable Nottingham City Council to expand the city’s light rail system with two new tram lines to the south and south west.

A majority of Americans believe new transportation projects should be paid for with user-fees instead of tax increases, according to a new national Reason-Rupe poll of 1,200 adults on cell phones and land lines.

UK consultants, Roughton International, working on behalf of the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), teamed up with Sky High and Traffic Technology to deploy traffic flow data collection equipment suitable for the Ugandan road network.

TomTom will provide the city of Purmerend with real time traffic information to optimise traffic flow. Journey time information will be displayed on the highway message screen advising drivers of the quickest way out of the city onto the A7 highway.

Beat the Traffic, a leading provider of real-time traffic information for broadcast media and mobile devices, and TrafficLand, the largest authorised aggregator of live traffic video in the US.

OLEV Technologies has announced that its On-line Electric Vehicle (OLEV) bus project for the city of McAllen, Texas has been selected for funding through the US Federal Transportation Administration TIGGER.

North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDoT) has announced it is seeking projects to to receive its Mobility Fund grant which has an allocation of about US$45 million

TÜV Rheinland’s ITS group is now part of the quality control team for the US Department of Transportation’s (US DoT) Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot project

The National Roads Authority (NRA) in Ireland has announced it will expand its journey time system by expanding deployment of ANPR cameras

Magellan, a leading GPS brand, has been named an International CES Innovations 2012 Design and Engineering Award Honouree for its Wireless Back-up Camera.

Federal Signal Technologies (FSTech) has been awarded a three-year back office system and operations contract by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDoT).

Nottingham City Council in the UK has placed an order for 200 Aura Elite pay and display parking meters manufactured by the Metric Group to replace their existing on and off street equipment.

Communication Networks (ComNet) has been selected by the Talk-A-Phone Company to supply fibre optic media converters and EoVDSL modems (Ethernet over Very High Digital Subscriber Link) for use with their line of VOIP-500 Series of Voice-over-IP phones.

The Traffic Tech Group has received the Golden Award for Excellence & Quality in the Arab World from the Arab Administrative Development Organisation (ARADO)

Redflex Traffic Systems has announced the signing of a contract for the supply of camera systems, back office software and related services for the automated enforcement system (AES) project in Malaysia.

The US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) yesterday launched a solicitation under its Technology Partnerships programme that aims to help highway industry innovations make the leap from promising prototypes to market-ready products.

Thales has been selected by Andrade Gutierrez (AG) and CR Almeida to deliver its SelTrac communications-based train control (CBTC) signalling solution for Line 17 of the São Paulo metro.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has announced a US$1 million grant award to help develop electric vehicle infrastructure on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

An ITS toolkit, developed within the 2Decide project funded by the European Commission DG Move (Mobility and Transport) in the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development, is now available to the public for free

Road safety continues to improve in France, according to the latest official statistics.

Traffic Technology Limited has announced that they have partnered with Bluetrace of The Netherlands, enabling them to introduce an innovative and effective journey

Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have released a technical report that could help improve the performance of electric vehicles (EVs) and the efficiency of the electric utility grids that power them.

The Portuguese road operator Ascendi has awarded Q-Free a five-year service and maintenance contract,

Thales has opened the last phase of Mecca’s new 18.5 km metro line on schedule and in time for the Hajj pilgrimage, the world’s largest religious gathering.

China is helping provide funding for Nepal's road expansion. The Chinese Government has agreed a deal with the Nepalese Government to expand the Kathmandu Valley ring road.

Qumak-Sekom, the Polish IT integrator, has made the lowest bid (US$39.57 million) in a tender to build

AMG systems has revealed that it supplied its AMG 5000 transmission solution for the new Indian Formula One circuit which hosted the inaugural Indian Formula One Grand Prix on 30 October, 2011.

In a new project that began last month, Europe is taking a significant step to scientifically underpin the estimation of CO2 emissions.

Machine vision specialist Vitronic is offering Arabic speaking customers a new additional service.

According to a report from Pike Research, hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) combined will represent 3.1 per cent of worldwide auto sales by 2017.

Iteris, which vews the Middle East region as a vital part of its global business development strategy, has announced today, on the opening day of Gulf Traffic in Dubai, UAE,

ITS Europe and Topos Aquitaine have signed the contract for the ITS World Congress 2015. Alain Rousset, president of Bordeaux Region, and founding member of Topos Aquitaine,

The latest official forecasts for Taiwan predict that the country’s electric vehicle market will begin to grow quickly in five to six years. This will come as a result of improvements in technology, increased manufacturing and government action.

TomTom has announced it is targeting substantial cost savings in 2012 through a reorganisation and reducing some 10 per cent of the workforce. A company statement said that its research and development activities will be regrouped in ten product units

The Caterpillar Foundation today announced a five-year, $12.5 million grant to the World Resources Institute (WRI) to advance the progress of environmentally sustainable and livable cities in China, India, and Brazil.

Peek, Imtech’s provider of intelligent mobility solutions, yesterday unveiled what is being claimed as the first commercially available cooperative ITS platform that offers road administrators, emergency services and logistics