United Kingdom
ServCity's newest research project in the field of autonomous transport services has begun the testing phase on the streets of London.
Traffic Technology Today, 18.02.2022
Within three years, six partners, namely Nissan, Connected Places Catapult, TRL, Hitachi Europe, the University of Nottingham and SBD Automotive will jointly develop a plan to remove obstacles to the deployment of autonomous vehicles in UK cities.
After several months of development, simulation and testing on test sites, the ServCity project has reached the stage where connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) can be tested on the streets of London under the supervision of the Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) located in Greenwich.
ServCity CAV cars built on the basis of the electric Nissan LEAF, from October 21, 2022, will be tested in the center of the capital in a complex urban environment. They will use SMLL sensors installed on the side of the road and their own computing power to create a collaborative information environment that will increase the situational awareness of CAV.
Through a combination of test modeling, end-user experience research, and on-site testing, the ServCity project will demonstrate how cities can harness the potential of future mobile solutions and accelerate their deployment. Focusing on three key areas: technology, people, and scalability, ServCity strives to provide the most intuitive, inclusive, and engaging user experience possible.
This project, supported by the UK government, will not only help make autonomous vehicles more user-friendly, but will also give users confidence that they can respond quickly and safely to all kinds of road situations that CAVS face in the process of autonomous driving.
Birmingham holds a tender for a long-term road maintenance contractor in a deal worth up to $1.57 billion
World Highways, 21.02.2022
The British city of Birmingham is holding a tender for a long-term contractor for the maintenance of highways in a deal worth up to 1.57 billion US dollars until 2035.
The contract, awarded as part of a private finance initiative, is one of the largest ever offered by any local UK government. Tenders must be announced by March 22, and the winner will be announced by the end of this year.
The English city announced the tender after the termination of the previous 25-year PFI contract with Amey in the amount of about $ 3.68 billion. This contract was signed in 2010, but legal problems arose, and the deal was terminated in March 2020. Amey paid $293 million to terminate the agreement, and highway maintenance contractor Kier took over on a temporary basis.
The new contractor will replace Kier in April 2023 and will be engaged in servicing more than 2,500 km of highways and 5,000 km of pedestrian paths. In addition to roads, maintenance will cover curbs, curbs and bike paths, some street lighting, replacement of traffic lights and various road structures.
Winter maintenance, which includes, among other things, the issuance of permits and licenses for public works, as well as traffic management in the city, is part of the contract.
https://www.worldhighways.com/wh9/news/birmingham-tenders-157-billion-contract
Netherlands
Exhibition Intertraffic Amsterdam 2022
Traffic Technology Today, 15.02.2022
The Intertraffic Amsterdam Trade Fair will be held from March 29 to April 1, 2022 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center. The exhibition with more than 800 exhibitors and the summit program are free for transport professionals. Almost 120 sessions and demonstrations are planned within the framework of the exhibition.
The Intertraffic Amsterdam 2022 exhibition will focus on the ever-growing digitalization and the importance of real-time data exchange. Whether it's connecting all stakeholders in the mobility ecosystem, connecting roadside equipment to vehicles to improve road safety and traffic management, monitoring traffic or ensuring seamless travel, real-time data flows will underpin any mobile service. At Intertraffic Amsterdam, many exhibitors will talk about the potential of providing data.
Representatives of administrations of major cities of the world and road operators will take part to learn about the latest developments in the industry and learn best practices. The presented mobility solutions and policy guidelines fully meet the challenges in this sector, such as further digitalization and automation, the growth of data collection, as well as the pressing challenges of climate change.
The main topics of the summit are safe and reliable data exchange, secure mobility with the support of artificial intelligence, the use of data to combat traffic jams, the creation of new analytical data on traffic, intelligent asset management and traffic optimization using cloud technologies and road analytics.
Some of the conclusions of the summit will be devoted to the study of new parking services, the impact of climate change on transport infrastructure, the deployment of urban ITS (C-ITS) and the implementation of smart roads and digital infrastructure in practice. Participation is free for transport industry professionals who can apply for an entrance ticket through the Intertraffic website.
USA
Commsignia announced the development of a V2X solution for bicycles
Traffic Technology Today, 15.02.2022
Commsignia, a company specializing in "car to everything" (V2X) services, has announced a collaboration with Speak experts on the safety of vulnerable road users (VRU) to provide V2X software solutions at the cellular level for cyclists, motorcyclists and electric scooter drivers.
As the number of users of bicycles, electric scooters and other means of individual mobility increases, so do the problems of road safety. According to the National Highway Administration of the United States (NHTSA), 891 cyclists died in road accidents in the United States in 2020, which is 5% more than in 2019. Innovative cities and fleet operators are not just looking for better ways to systematize new types of mobility, they are also focused on how to improve the safety of vulnerable road users.
Commsignia uses V2X for this: its extensive portfolio includes V2X hardware for all types of vehicles, integration of roadside sensors to provide unconnected users with access to the benefits of the V2X ecosystem, up to the management of mobility devices through V2X and the collection of anonymous data. Using V2X data, cities and fleet operators can gain valuable information to improve road safety and efficiency.
The highly optimized V2X software stack and safety application suite developed by Commsignia is ideal for passenger cars and provides secure direct communication between road users and infrastructure. By integrating the Commsignia V2X stack and a suite of security applications into a new hardware solution, Speak plans to offer contextual information and V2X warning messages to cyclists and other vulnerable users. For V2X safety applications to work, a direct connection with a low delay between road users is necessary.
Serbia
Construction of the highway Shabac – Loznica
TASS, 02/14/2022
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the start of construction of the highway Shabac - Loznica, which will connect the capital Belgrade with the westernmost city of the republic.
"The Ruma-Shabac road will be ready by the end of September 2024, which means that it will be possible to get from Belgrade to Shabac in a maximum of 45 minutes (in the present. the time is more than an hour - approx. TASS), and from Belgrade to Loznica in an hour and 10 minutes (in the present. the time is about 2.5 hours - approx. TASS)," the president told reporters on Monday at the construction start ceremony.
The 55 km long Shabac - Loznica section should be completed by September 2024. Upon completion of the work, the journey between the two cities will take about half an hour.
https://tass.ru/ekonomika/13704475