Highway & Network Management

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 7, in conjunction with Parsons, is implementing an advanced Arterial Management System (AMS) at 91 signalised intersections on California’s Pacific Coast Highway and Parallel Arterials from I-105 to I-110. The Pacific Coast Highway AMS Project is a critical element of the Caltrans Dynamic Corridor Congestion Management programme. Several US cities are implementing a DCCM programme which looks at major transport arteries, including rail and pub

Mott MacDonald will set up an asset management system as part of Highways England’s new technology operations centre. Under the T-TOC contract - Tools for the Technology Operations Centre – Mott MacDonald will work with Fujitsu which will develop a suite of software systems to monitor and manage electronic assets across Highways England’s network. Highways England has nearly 100,000 intelligent infrastructure devices across England’s strategic road network – trunk roads and motorways. T-TOC will enable a

Drivers in Finland now have access to a downloadable reindeer-on-road warning app for their iOS and Android smartphones. The Porokello app – Reindeer Bell - alerts users of reindeer possibly on the road by sound and colour in real time using geographic data, according to Finland’s Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment of Lapland. Tests have been carried out since June 2016 when the centre started recruiting commercial drivers to try the app. When they come across reindeer either on

Siemens has unveiled a range of passively safe traffic signal poles that are performance-rated against BS EN 12767 They come in a wide variety of forms, finish and lengths from 2-6m, said Keith Manston, head of product management for Siemens. The poles are CE marked with a specification label confirming key features as required by BS EN 12899 including construction material, corrosion resistance and strength characteristics.

Nigeria’s Lagos state government has outsourced around a third of its street lighting under a deal with UK manufacturer Low Energy Designs. A total of 10,000 LED Street lights are set to be installed in Lagos, Nigeria by a United Kingdom firm, Low Energy Designs. The Lagos State Government recently entered into a partnership with the UK Company. The partnership deal will see LED replace up to 10,000 lights over 300km of state roads within the next year at a cost of US$7 million, Nigeria’s media reported.

Brazil’s roads are in increasing need of repairs, but with no money available to spend on infrastructure upgrade, the Brazilian Government is having to take a different approach. The responsibility for key road sections will be handed over to private firms that will then be tasked with maintenance and repair work. Typical duties will include filling potholes and updating signalling systems. However this system will not provide additional funds for upgrading dual lane roads to dual carriageway status or for

More collaboration is needed to reduce the impact of highways on the environment, particularly air quality. The technology already exists, argue Bram Miller* and Martin Broderick* The European Environment Agency produced a report showing that a slow improvement in air quality has been observed across Europe. However, 9% of urban Europeans were exposed to nitrogen dioxide emissions in excess of the EU’s annual maximum limit in 2015. Meanwhile, associations between highways and the environment tend to be n