UAE
UAE Roads and Transport Authority announces Zero Emissions Plan
Intelligent Transport, 01.06.2021
The UAE Highways and Transport Authority (RTA) has approved a long-term plan to ensure zero emissions of public transport in Dubai by 2050. Thus, the UAE becomes the first country to develop such a comprehensive plan for public transport and related infrastructure.
The plan also supports the UAE's commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change to reduce emissions in the UAE by 23.5% by 2030.
The main points of the plan include the expansion of the use of electric and hydrogen vehicles, and buses in the public transport fleet, school buses, taxis and limousines with the aim of achieving the target of 100 percent by 2050. The country will strive to expand the use of clean energy, such as solar energy, rehabilitate existing buildings and introduce the construction of buildings with virtually no emissions in all new projects.
In the last The UAE Highway and Transport Authority has been taking steps to improve its transport network for weeks, signing a memorandum of cooperation on the promotion of autonomous vehicles, as well as concluding an agreement with Visa financial firm on improving the ticket sales system in the city and making it easier for passengers to pay for travel.
https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-news/125289/dubai-rta-zero-emissions/
Sweden
Construction of smart roads
World Highways, 04.06.2021
A new report by the Swedish National Institute of Road and Transport Research (VTI) highlights the key features of the country's future smart roads. Digitization and electrification will become important components of the country's new highways. In addition, the construction of roads will need to take into account the factors of climate change, as well as the growth of urbanization and the use of various energy systems for vehicles to increase sustainability.
So that roads can withstand high traffic loads for more than for long periods of time, as well as the effects of climate change, the report suggests using concrete, steel mesh or fiber-reinforced asphalt.
Additional drainage systems as well as heating may be required due to climate change factors. Engineering communications can be installed in culverts made of precast reinforced concrete structures and placed underground during the construction of the road, providing access for maintenance. Infrastructure for recharging can be built into roads. Meanwhile, the width or lanes may be narrowed as more vehicles will operate autonomously, and in particular autonomous trucks will be able to operate without the need for wide lanes. Security will remain a priority. Sensor technologies can also be embedded in roads to detect wear problems and efficient maintenance, or to track temperature changes.
https://www.worldhighways.com/wh10/news/sweden-plans-future-smart-roads
Holland
PlasticRoad Company announced the sale of road elements consisting of plastic waste
World Highways, 24.05.2021
The Dutch company PlasticRoad has put CCL products on sale. CCL are industrially produced road elements made from plastic waste. The secondary raw materials used in their production consist entirely of recycled municipal plastic waste. The company claims that their products — CCL200 and CCL300 — are the lightest road paving structures in the world, ranging from 48 kg/m2 to 40 kg/m2.
The CCL300 product offers a filtration system that completely eliminates the need for a special storm drain. The built-in sensors open up new possibilities for scaling the modular infrastructure in terms of functionality and connecting it to existing traffic management systems.
PlasticRoad has come a long way since the first product tests in 2018. The world's very first plastic road was laid in September 2018 in the Dutch city of Zwolle.
Last summer, the company announced that the world's first bicycle paths with a plastic coating, laid in In the Netherlands in 2018, the millionth transition was recorded. Each of the two 30-meter bike lanes contains about 1,000 kg of recycled plastic, which is equivalent to 218,000 plastic cups. Thanks to the PlasticRoad pilot project, it was possible to reduce carbon emissions from 50% to 70% compared to conventional bicycle paths made of asphalt or concrete slabs.
https://www.worldhighways.com/wh5/news/plasticroad-goes-commercial
Germany
Installing sensors to protect vulnerable road users
Intelligent Transport, 17.05.2021
In Hamburg, sensor technology has been introduced to test whether traffic lights can be optimized to reduce waiting times for all road users, as well as to protect the most vulnerable on the streets of the city.
Sensor technology has been deployed in Hamburg with the aim of improving traffic management and protecting vulnerable road users (CRU).
Vitronic Technology Company has installed new sensors on the Test Track for automated and connected driving (TAVF) in Hamburg. It states that this test facility is aimed at optimizing traffic flow and improving road safety for particularly vulnerable road users (VRUs). These include, in particular, pedestrians and cyclists who are at increased risk of injury in the event of accidents due to the lack of a protective environment and poor visibility.
At TAVF, vehicle manufacturers, technology companies and research institutes can test ITS applications, safety and assistance systems, as well as automated and connected driving functions in real traffic conditions on public roads. For this purpose, installations for the use of communication between vehicles and infrastructure (V2X) are provided on the test track.
The focus of the tests currently being conducted is on a particularly dangerous section of the road — the intersection, which is a heavily loaded traffic interchange (K94) in the Hamburg area.
A video camera was installed on the existing street lamp to record the traffic flow going to the direction of the intersection. The second camera was attached to a pole located right at the K94 intersection.
Both cameras record the incoming transport. The data collected in real time is available for further processing by traffic lights at the K94 intersection. The goal is to optimize traffic light management to reduce waiting time and travel time for all road users. For example, green phases can be extended during rush hours so that more cyclists and pedestrians can cross the road safely.
Vitronic says that in order to improve the safety of vulnerable road users in the area of the K94 intersection, it has also installed two additional sensors, including a 3D radar. In the future, it will be possible to send so-called CPM messages (collective perception messages) to vehicles passing through the intersection. Among other things, its content is intended to attract the attention of drivers of automated vehicles to situations detected by the sensor system that are potentially dangerous for particularly vulnerable road users movements.
https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-news/124602/hamburg-sensor-technology/
Sweden
Development of electric roads
World Highways, 20.05.2021
Elonroad has developed a solution for electric roads, in which cars are charged using a rail mounted on top of the sidewalk or embedded in it. The company will be responsible for the production, installation, operation and maintenance of its systems.
The company also announced that two pilot projects in cooperation will be launched in Sweden and Norway. This includes solutions for stationary charging of electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, Elonroad has announced that the port of Helsingborg will be a test site for its system. Initially, two electric vehicle ports will be rebuilt to test the rails for charging. According to Kristina Argelius, technical manager of the port, this technology has been tested on public roads, but its use in the port, where it will provide continuous traffic, will be the first.
The port's technologies will be demonstrated at the City Expo conference in Helsingborg in the summer of 2022, where solutions for charging electric vehicles and electrification of the transport sector as a whole will be presented.
Helsingborg, with a population of about 140,000 people, is located about 555 km south of the Swedish capital Stockholm. The City Expo conference will focus on long-term innovations to make the urban environment more sustainable by improving transport, buildings and outdoor living spaces.
Recently, Elonroad announced that, as a member of the Swedish public-private group Evolution Road, it will begin the second phase of laying electric roads in the city of Lund. In March, the consortium announced that it was developing and would begin installing a flatter version of its electric rail laid in the middle of a strip of road. The first test car, an electric bus from Solaris, has been running since June last year.
The current system consists of a conductive rail attached to the road surface. The new system will be sunk into the asphalt to create a seamless road surface, which will make the system especially suitable for roads with higher traffic speeds.
The conductive sensor under the car is connected to the electric rail through sliding contacts. The rail is electrified when it is covered by a car, making it safe to use in urban environments.
https://www.worldhighways.com/wh12/news/almi-invest-greentech-invests-elonroad
Sweden
Testing of bitumen replacement material
World Highways, 21.05.2021
The Swiss Federal Center for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) is testing alternative layers of filler laid by a robotic arm
Alternating layers of filler and carbon string laid by a robotic arm were used to create an experimental road construction system.
The idea came about as a result of another project carried out at the Gramazio Kohler Research laboratory in Zurich. Here, instead of cement, a carbon string was used to connect the filler in the pillars. The researchers found that the pillars are 330 mm in diameter and 0.8 m high they can withstand a pressure of 20 tons.
Empa scientists Martin Arraigada and Said Abbasion, who work in the laboratory of the Institute of Concrete and Asphalt, wanted to find out if it was possible to implement this idea on the roads.
To test the combination of filler and carbon string, the researchers laid five layers of filler on a rubber mat, placing the string with a robotic arm between each layer according to a pre-programmed scheme. Then the structure was loaded with a rotating plate and could withstand 5 kN, or half a ton, before the stones began to move significantly. For comparison, the filler layers without the string shifted much earlier.
Such a system may have several advantages. Firstly, there are fewer pollutants due to the production and heating of bitumen; secondly, a permeable road surface that allows water to pass through; and, thirdly, the possibility of easier processing of the material.
In parallel with laboratory tests, researchers are also conducting computer modeling of a new pavement structure using the discrete element method. This should reveal displacement of individual pieces of filler and tensile forces in the column. This will also allow you to explore the impact of different patterns and cell widths. The next stage of laboratory testing will be dynamic load testing of the system.
https://www.worldhighways.com/wh3/news/empa-tests-string-bitumen-replacement