USA
MDOT enters into the first contract in the USA for the construction of a road section with ERS
Traffic Technology Today, 01.02.2022
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has signed a contract with Electreon to create the first public contactless (induction) charging system on the roads in the United States, which allows charging electric vehicles (EV) while driving and parking.
Electric Road System (ERS) to be built in Detroit
as part of the pilot program of induction charging of vehicles.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced for the first time
about the pilot project on contactless charging of vehicles in September 2021 at the Motor Bella exhibition. Later that month, MDOT announced a competition stating that the system should be secure, scalable, compatible with industry technologies and vehicles, as well as financially and environmentally sustainable.
Electrone will lead the design, evaluation, testing
and the implementation of the pilot program, which should begin in 2023,
in collaboration with NextEnergy and Jacobs Engineering Group. Currently, within the framework of the project, it is planned to build a section of road with a length of up to one mile in Detroit, equipped with ERS
for contactless charging of electric vehicles on the move and in the parking lot. The project will be supported by partners such as Ford Motor Co., DTE Energy
and the city of Detroit.
MDOT will provide $1.9 million to finance the pilot project, and Electreon will contribute the remainder. Electrified roads can accelerate the introduction of electric vehicles
both consumers and fleets, ensuring the continuous operation of vehicles and turning public streets into safe
and sustainable energy platforms.
FHWA has published guidance on additional financing of road safety projects
Traffic Technology Today, 02.02.2022
The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has released new guidance on making changes to its road safety funding program, which received significant funding under President Biden's bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
The guide ensures that new tools are used strategically to make trips safer, including protecting people outside of vehicles such as pedestrians, cyclists
or using means of micro-mobility, thereby reducing the number of deaths on national highways. These efforts complement the U.S. Department of Transportation's new National Road Safety Strategy.
In the published manual, the FHWA outlined several changes to its Road Safety Improvement Program (HSIP).
HSIP is one of the most important federal programs
for transportation agencies to protect all road users, and the bipartisan Infrastructure Act supports it by injecting additional funds. HSIP funding level from 2016 to 2020
in accordance with the Land Transportation Act of America (FAST) amounted to 11.5 billion US dollars. In accordance with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, HSIP funding will increase significantly from 2022 to 2026 - up to $15.6 billion.
In accordance with the National Road Safety Strategy, the FHWA recommends using HSIP tools to implement a data-based, holistic and equitable system approach.
to ensure road safety, which works due to redundancy, that is, in case of failure of one element of the transport system, safety is ensured by other elements.
HSIP pays special attention to improving infrastructure security, and in accordance with the bipartisan Law
About infrastructure states now have more options to use up to 10% of their HSIP funds for "defined safety projects," which include non-infrastructure projects such as public awareness campaigns, research, automated traffic management systems, emergency services, and child protection efforts, such as events"Safe routes to school."
Portugal
ITS tests in a road tunnel created conditions for the deployment of systems C – ITS
Traffic Technology Today, 03.02.2022
Tunnel incident warning system tests
in Portugal, they were successfully completed. The results showed that the ETSI ITS G5 short-range communication technology has reached a level of maturity sufficient for widespread adoption.
The overall goal of the project is to reduce the number of deaths on the roads
in Portugal, which currently exceed the European average. The country's authorities are committed to the EU concept of zero road deaths by 2050.
It is generally accepted that accidents in road tunnels are more dangerous,
than outdoors. In case of an accident in tunnels, smoke can impair visibility, which can lead to a rapid decrease in oxygen content, and the removal of hazardous substances will be difficult.
The test, which was conducted with the support of Cohda Wireless V2X technology, was part of the C-Roads Portugal (PT) initiative aimed at accelerating the deployment of C-ITS services on a national scale.
Cohda Wireless supported the developer of C-ITS technology
and the Allbesmart system integrator in a pilot project in the 1620 m long Garduña tunnel on the A23 highway between the cities of Castelo Branco and Fundo, testing the performance of V2X communication to provide an accident warning service in the tunnel in real conditions.
Other project partners included the road operator Globalvia, the transport infrastructure operator that manages the Gardunja tunnel and the A23 motorway.
The decentralized message service was used in the implementation
with an Environmental Notification (DENM) to alert vehicles of hazards and delays associated with access to the tunnel. Gardunya Tunnel is equipped with 20 surveillance cameras, air quality sensors,
as well as fire sensors and the presence of carbon monoxide, and they are all connected
to the Traffic Control Center in the village of Lardosa.
Cohda V2X technology, consisting of six roadside devices (RSU) and ten on-board devices (OBU), simplified data exchange between infrastructure and vehicles based on the ITS G5 protocol (IEEE 802.11p) of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) at a frequency of 5.9 GHz.
Allbesmart CEO Jorge Ribeiro said that the test convincingly proved that the connection between the RSU and OBU was successfully secured and that the promising results of the pilot project can significantly reduce the risks associated with a large tunnel infrastructure
on Portuguese roads and motorways.
"Tests have proven our ability to deliver accurate
and timely warning messages to drivers approaching the tunnel, even allowing them to move out if necessary
off the road at the next intersection," Ribeiro explained.
Cohda CEO Dr. Paul Gray said Cohda will continue to participate in the next phase of testing by providing its patented V2X-Locate technology. "When connection to GNSS is limited, for example, in underground parking lots or in tunnels, accurate positioning of vehicles is almost impossible, as was demonstrated in the Gardunya tunnel, where location errors were up to three meters," explained Dr. Gray. "Only V2X-Locate can achieve an accuracy of less than a meter. "
The next steps for Allbesmart include the transition of the pilot version
from C-ITS to the 3GPP V2X communication standard by deploying a pilot version
with a 3GPP 5G V2X car connection using the MK6 evaluation kit from Cohda Wireless (C-ROADS is based on ITS-G5 MK5). The interface for V2V communication will also be tested. The next steps will be taken in the context of the P2020 5G-AUTO project.
Canada
Cubic and McMaster University open a new competence center for artificial intelligence and intellectual mobility
Traffic Technology Today, 04.02.2022
The business unit of the corporation Cubic - Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and McMaster University in Ontario announced a partnership
in order to create a Competence Center in the field of artificial intelligence
and intellectual mobility.
This long-term program will project the future of inclusive mobility through innovation and technological collaboration between the Government of Canada, academia, public and private sectors. The program will also train the next generation of engineers, scientists and leaders through hands-on research and product development with government and private mobility service providers.
Experts from the McMaster Automotive Research Center (MARC), one of the largest transportation research institutes in North America, and CTS, a leading provider of transportation and traffic management solutions, will work together to solve complex problems facing transport systems through interdisciplinary research and product development.
In addition to training the future workforce, including undergraduates and postgraduates, doctoral students, teachers and researchers, the program aims to bring diversity to product development and innovation in designing the future of mobility.
On this platform, students will have the opportunity to participate
in projects from research to implementation in such areas,
how to use artificial intelligence and machine learning methods to integrate and manage smart devices, infrastructure, traffic and environmental conditions
to optimize mobility in general. As part of other studies, scenario modeling will be developed that will help create, test and verify innovations before their implementation in real conditions.
China
Chinese financing for Russian infrastructure projects
World Highways Magazine, 07.02.2022
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will participate in financing a number of major infrastructure projects in Russia. They include two key transport routes. The program is supervised by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.
A $10 billion financing package will help pay for the construction of a Russian section of a vital road link between China and Europe. The Russian government is interested in China helping to finance the construction of the highway route, as it will bring huge economic benefits to China, as well as Russia and Europe.
Also, AIIB is requesting funding in the amount of $ 1.4 billion for the construction of the Vladivostok Ring Road, as well as
50 million dollars for the construction of a logistics center next to the newly built Amur River crossing connecting the east of Russia
with China. Other projects for which AIIB funding is requested under the infrastructure program are related to the construction of wind farms.
https://www.worldhighways.com/wh8/news/chinese-funding-russian-infrastructure-projects