News

Equipped with an on board u-blox GPS satellite receiver module, a microdrone from German light-weight vertical take off and landing vehicles (VTOLs) manufacturer, microdrones, has successfully completed a high-precision aerial journey over the Alps from Switzerland towards Italy. Precise GPS coordinates and elevation were crucial for navigating obstacles and completing the flight in punishing weather conditions. Carrying a high-resolution video camera, the autonomous microdrone completed 18 pre-programmed

To ensure that ITS stakeholders and end users maintain an awareness of the European and international ITS standardisation that plays a key role developing specifications and norms for future services and products, Ertico-ITS Europe has launched its ITS standardisation newsletter which provides news, background information and discussions about ITS standardisation topics. Published every 3 months, it includes stakeholder interviews to provide first-hand information and an event listing.

Inattentive motorists in California’s Butte County will soon be reminded that they are going too fast now that the Sheriff's department has taken delivery of its first self-contained radar speed sign, purchased with a grant from the South Dakota Department of Public Safety. The signs have been proved to be effective in reminding people that they are speeding when they are not paying attention to their rate of travel. Butte County Deputy Brunner explained that the idea of the speed board is to remind drivers

US live video supplier TrafficLand has installed its TLX video aggregation technology at the Santa Clara County Roads Department (SCCRD) traffic management centre in Silicon Valley. The technology allows the TrafficLand to host SCCRD’s website for commuters and expand access to real-time video from its road-side camera network to multiple stakeholders in the region, including broadcasters and public safety agencies. It also enables SCCRD to distribute streaming video to media and provide commuters and othe

Intelligent traffic management information solutions Iteris has launched South Carolina’s next generation 511 traveller information system, under a US$2.5 million three year contract to upgrade, operate, and maintain the State’s system awarded to Iteris in earlier this year. The next generation system includes direct integration with the Georgia 511 system, together with a range of communication channels for information dissemination, including: state-of-the-art website; mobile apps for both iOS and Androi

The United Nations Development Programme in Kuwait (UNDP) has issued a tender for the development of web-based traffic demand management, road safety and enforcement project for the State of Kuwait. Tender documents and more information are available here. UNDP will arrange site visits to the State of Kuwait traffic control centre, Planning and Research Directorates, training centre, and police patrol operations centre to enable potential suppliers to obtain more information on existing traffic management

Following the 2012 memorandum of understanding, a Smart Ticketing Alliance Charter has now been agreed by representatives of VDV KA (Germany), ITSO (UK), AFIMB (France), the Calypso Network Association and UITP (International Association of Public Transport). This is a step forward in making transport ticketing across parts of Europe simpler and easier for passengers, by creating a platform for cooperation throughout Europe and globally. It represents a coordinated approach for establishing smart ticketing

Researchers at the Volvo Group are looking into a future where trucks and buses are continuously supplied with electric power without carrying large batteries. Instead, power lines are built into the surface of the road. This could be a future solution for long-distance trucks and buses running on electricity. “In city traffic, there are currently various solutions and we are researching many others. We have field tests in progress where our plug-in buses are equipped with a battery that can be charged quic

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board has approved a US$44 million contract with Chicago-based technology services company Accenture to build a new customer service and toll violation processing system. Scheduled to be in place by 2015, the system will improve how transactions from the tollway's 1.4 million daily drivers are processed and help eliminate violation errors, said Shana Whitehead, the tollway's chief of business systems. The tollway's customer service and violation processing system ha

International Road Dynamics (IRD) is to supply the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) with its continuous traffic monitoring (CTM) data collection systems in a contract worth around US$5.4 million. CTM systems collect traffic volume, speed, vehicle classification, and weight data to support HDOT’s continuous traffic monitoring program on the state’s highways. The contract covers the supply, operation and maintenance of the CTM systems, together with data services that include the provision for real-

Sam Schwartz Engineering (SSE)’s Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan for the Barclays Center, a multi-purpose indoor arena in Brooklyn, New York was recently pronounced a success in headlines across the city. The arena hosts the National Basketball Association’s Brooklyn Nets, as well over 200 other annual events including concerts, conventions and other sports. It is within walking distance of eleven New York City Transit (NYCT) subway lines, directly across the street from a Long Island Rail Road

The Polis Traffic Efficiency & Mobility Working Group has been working on the topic of open transport data for more than eighteen months, with the aim of sharing information among Polis members on local experiences of publishing transport data, lessons learned and future plans. Polis has now issued its position paper, detailing the knowledge shared and the insight gained into the fast evolving area of open data, which has enabled it to produce informed recommendations to the European Commission in relation

A new app that integrates real-time arrival information for Ireland’s national travel services all in one place, the Real Time Ireland app, is now available for free, for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. The Real Time Ireland app shows combined transport updates from Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Luas, DART and Irish Rail and allows users to set alerts to inform them when their bus is ten minutes, twenty minutes or thirty minutes away from a certain bus stop. For GPS-enabled devices, it can also inform users w

The International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) congratulated Anthony Foxx after the US Senate voted to confirm him as the next Secretary of the US Department of Transportation. Patrick D Jones, executive director and CEO of the worldwide association representing toll facility owners and operators and the businesses that serve them, said: “IBTTA congratulates Secretary Foxx on his confirmation today as the next US Secretary of Transportation. Secretary Foxx’s leadership comes at a time whe

Cubic Transportation Systems, MasterCard and Money Network are to partner in a program to launch what is said to be the largest open transit fare payment system (OSFS) in the US. The Ventra card is about to make its debut with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and suburban bus operator Pace, giving customers two new options to pay for train and bus rides. The Ventra card features two accounts - a closed-loop account for transit payments and an optional reloadable prepaid card that can be used for everyday