Highway & Network Management

Collection of motorway tolls in the Czech Republic will increase by 25 per cent to US$420 million in 2011, according to the Roads and Motorways Directorate (RSD). The average monthly collection is about $35.75 million.

Brazilian Construction company Odebrecht says it aims to use revenues generated from its new US road construction contract and further potential Stateside work to boost its global turnover. The company’s new US$45.8million contract involves the renovation of the Sam Houston Tollway between Route 59 and Route 288 in the southern area of Harris County, Texas. The US market currently accounts for 1% of Odebrecht's turnover in the construction sector but the firm is also keen to win other Texas contracts, a

Danish traffic experts are urging politicians in Copenhagen to opt for road pricing instead of the planned ring road. They point out that GPS-based road pricing is more cost efficient than a ring road, and can be introduced in just three to five years.

South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has received US$750.71million from the government for its Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). The cash injection will reduce toll fees for motorists after their introduction on highways on 30 April, 2012. The fees will be ZAR 550 per month for light vehicles and motorcycles. Light vehicles with fitted e-tags will pay ZAR 0.30 per km, while non-articulated trucks must pay ZAR 0.75 per km, motorcycles ZAR 0.20 per km and articulated trucks ZAR 1.51 per km.

A draft National ITS Industry Strategy developed through extensive industry and government stakeholder consultation has been released for public comment by ITS Australia. It encompasses road, rail, sea and air transport from 2012 to 2017. Its purpose is to improve the safety, economic and environmental performance of Australia's transport networks by capitalising on state of the art ITS technologies and integrating those technologies across the networks. ITS Australia CEO Susan Harris said the strategy f

Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) has been selected to design and supervise deployment of technology infrastructure for a US Department of Transportation (US DoT) pilot programme to study the potential of operating connected vehicles on the streets and highways of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Called the Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot Model Deployment project, the $15 million research effort is being undertaken by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) and its partners on behalf of the US DoT.

Dynalectric Los Angeles, a subsidiary of Emcor Group, has been awarded a contract for the Coliseum/Florence region for the automated traffic surveillance and control (ATSAC) project for the city of Los Angeles.

The Danish government has shelved the plans for a road toll scheme for Copenhagen. The decision has been welcomed by opposition parties, and the government is now set increase funding for public transport so that ticket prices can be reduced. However, full details of the increased financing of public transport are yet to be disclosed. A government appointed expert committee will also study how to reduce congestion.