UTC

New animations have been released by the UK Highways Agency showing how the new safety system will operate at the Dartford Crossing. The videos show how the system that is due to be introduced on the northbound carriageway in May will identify and stop oversized vehicles or those carrying dangerous goods from entering the tunnels. They also provide clear advice to drivers of these vehicles about getting in the correct lane in plenty of time which will help minimise the number of times vehicles need to be st

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has launched a public consultation setting out its proposed approach to a new monitoring regime to track Highways England’s performance in delivering its major roads investment programme. The consultation also sets out ORR’s strategic objective on securing improved performance and value for money from the strategic road network, and explains how ORR will hold Highways England to account. ORR is seeking comments from all interested parties by 19 June 2015. Last year th

A major investment in technology to help tackle congestion and give better information to drivers across parts of the UK’s north west will be completed by the Highways Agency by the end of the month. Improvements worth more than US$8.5 million, with extended CCTV coverage of the region’s motorways and new electronic variable message signs (VMS), are being delivered by the Highways Agency as part of the Government’ US$470 million pinch point programme. Work on installing new electronic signs and CCTV c

Highways England, the government-owned company which will deliver the largest investment in England’s major roads in a generation, officially launches next week. The company, which replaces the Highways Agency from 1 April, will invest US$16 billion in delivering a raft of improvements on England’s motorways and major A roads making roads even safer, improving traffic flow and reducing congestion. The improvements over the first five years of operation include: 112 major improvements, including 15 sma

The Ho Chi Minh City-trung Luong highway connecting the city and the Mekong Delta province of Long An has become the first in Vietnam to be controlled by an intelligent transport system (ITS), says the Vietnam News Agency. The was implemented between April 2013 and December 2014 and was officially launched on 20 March, with a total investment of US$38.5 million, funded by preferential loans of the Republic of Korean Government and the Vietnamese Government budget. The system includes a smart control

Trafficware’s latest version of its advanced traffic management system, ATMS.now 2.2, will support both of the widely popular Google Maps and Microsoft Bing Maps web-based mapping systems, says the company. As Trafficware’s product development is driven by customer feedback, ATMS.now 2.2 provides more flexibility and convenience selecting mapping capabilities from an array of resources versus being limited to a single source. The latest release also includes enhanced analysis tools, the expanded measu

Councils across England will receive a share of US$410 million for major local roads maintenance, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced. The Challenge Fund will be used for one-off major infrastructure schemes by local authorities to improve life for local residents and businesses. The 31 schemes being awarded funding across the 28 local authorities include safety repairs, bridge renewal, carriageway and drainage improvements, as well as upgrading street lighting in a number of areas to bring

An imaginative and systematic approach to monitoring and evaluation has won Bremen, Germany the European Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) Award, while Östersund in Sweden has been presented with the European Mobility Week Award for its work on sustainable travel options. Bremen’s interactive web platform was used to obtain feedback from residents and a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity and threat) analysis was carried out using this and other data. Five different scenarios were then examined showi

Bristol City Council in the UK has unlocked funding from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund to support the installation of CycleEye cyclist sensor alert systems on a number of buses operated by the European Green Capital’s main operator First West of England. Designed by Bristol-based Fusion Processing, CycleEye has been developed to reduce the growing number of cyclist collisions and casualties. Fitted to the side of a bus, CycleEye operates night and day in all weathers, using radar and camera sensors t