UTC

US state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) are gearing up to meet the challenge of maintaining a high level of service during the winter without the benefit of additional financial resources. High-tech solutions like GPS guidance systems and low-tech products like potato juice are helping states to cut costs, improve efficiency, and minimise environmental impacts. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities uses a variety of advanced technologies to combat extreme winter weather and

The European Commission has adopted Shift2Rail, a new public-private partnership to invest around US$1.3 billion in research and innovation to get more passengers and freight onto Europe's railways. Rail is amongst the most efficient and climate-friendly forms of transport, but currently it only carries about only 10 per cent of European cargo and 6 per cent of passengers each year. Shift2Rail is an ambitious public-private partnership which will manage a seven-year work programme of targeted research an

New low-level traffic lights designed for cyclists have been authorised for use following safety trials, the first time the lights have been used in the UK, transport minister Stephen Hammond has announced. More than 80 per cent of cyclists favoured the use of low-level signals during the track-based trials of the system, which works by repeating the signal displayed on main traffic lights at the eye level of cyclists.

The European Commission (EU) funded Cooperative Mobility Systems and Services for Energy Efficiency (eCoMove) project claims that traffic accounts for 23 per cent of CO2 emissions around the world. eCoMove aims to optimise driving behaviour and transport flow by ecologically optimised traffic management. The goal is to reduce the CO2 emissions by 20 per cent. The results were presented at the final event at the end of November.

The European Commission has granted funding of US$1.9 million of the total budget of US$2.5 million for the FOT-Net Data project, which aims to make traffic data collected in field operational tests (FOTs) more widely available to researchers. The three-year project will start in January 2014. The EU has supported a number of projects since 2008, enabling testing of the latest vehicle information technology in large-scale field trials. Drivers have been able to test the most promising prototypes or produ

Specialist vehicle activated sign (VAS) and overhead vehicle detector (OVD) manufacturer Coeval Group has been acquired by QAS Asset Finance. Coeval’s owners, Nick Sharp and Gordon Bell have also announced their retirement after 26 years with the business. Coeval’s new managing director Gary Higgins was previously managing director of the TSEU Group that included Traffic Signals UK and Microsense Systems before they were acquired by Telent in 2008. He believes there are significant market opportunit

The Qatar Mobility Innovations Centre (QMIC) at the Qatar Science and Technology Park scooped two prestigious awards including the Innovation in Traffic Management award, and the Road Transport Technology award at this year’s Gulf Traffic exhibition and conference for its Masarak iTraffic system. Masarak is an intelligent platform and integrated suite of services developed by QMIC in partnership with the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning in Qatar. Masarak’s iTraffic system is a comprehensive so

Responding to the yesterday’s announcement that there is still no definitive answer to the location of the new Thames Crossing, the message from the Freight Transport Association (FTA) was “don’t delay and let the building begin to help improve capacity and ease congestion at Dartford as soon as possible”. The Government has stated that Option B connecting the A2 Swanscombe Peninsula with the A1089 has been ruled out of the process, but has failed to confirm as to where the new Lower Thames crossing wil