News

Manufacturers in Brazil are discouraged from investing in electric vehicles due to unfavourable environmental and market conditions, a study claims. Research by Maksen, through a partnership with Insper and Lisbon MBA, states that even though production costs keep decreasing, it is estimated that until 2020 electric engines will cost two times more than traditional fuel combustion engines. According to Deloitte, 65% of Brazilian consumers will only consider investing in electric vehicles if their price is s

Tolling rights for the next 50 years for the third road tunnel in Brisbane, Australia are being sought by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). QIC's Queensland Motorways are reported to have entered into exclusive talks with the Brisbane City Council about tolling rights for the Legacy Way toll road tunnel in the western suburbs of Brisbane. Under the deal, tolling rights for the Go-Between inner-city traffic toll bridge will also be taken over by Queensland Motorways. The US$1.58 billion (AUD 1.50b

The Indian government has announced plans to build a six-lane expressway between Ludhiana in Punjab and New Delhi. Road Transport and Highways Minister CP Joshi said the states of Delhi, Haryana and Punjab gave an in-principle approval for the construction of the 357km long expressway. The Delhi to Ludhiana stretch will be 266km, while a spur of 91km will be built to Chandigarh. Joshi further stated his Ministry will seek an approval from the Cabinet after the completion of a detailed project report. PwD Se

A US$250 million loan has been agreed for a huge motorway upgrade scheme in southern Brazil. The loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) means a total of $319.47 million (BRL 650mn) is now available for the Pacto por Santa Catarina programme. The 25-year deal includes a 66 month loan grace period. The first phase of the Pacto programme will include an investment of $163.19 million in ten projects covering 222kms. The projects include the construction of new roads as well as asphalting and recov

A new grant from the European Union will help boost the profile for hydrogen as a fuel option for drivers on the TEN-T road network. The European Union is providing some €3.5 million from the TEN-T Programme. The project, taking place in The Netherlands and Denmark with the support of French and Swedish stakeholders, will analyse the current availability of hydrogen at refuelling stations. The work will also propose new strategies to expand the availability of hydrogen as a fuel.

Plans are in hand to upgrade the highway linking Costa Rica’s capital San Jose with Limon, with a project that will be carried out in several phases. The work involves widening and improving Route 32 so that it can carry higher traffic volumes and reduce congestion as well as cutting journey times for drivers. Rebuilding the link is expected to cost in the order of US$435 million and the project is also expected to improve safety standards for users of the highway. The work is being partly financed through

In China’s Hebei Province a total of US$14.93 billion will be invested in transport infrastructure during 2013. This will include 22 highways to allow the province to have highways totaling 5,587km by end-2013. As for ordinary trunk roads, maintenance is to be carried out on 247km of roads and works will commence on projects totaling 1,300km, with 300km to be ready for use by end-2013.

Mayors of north-west Bohemia have urged the Czech Prime Minister to provide funds for the completion of the R7 dual carriageway. The project was launched in 1964 but has made slow progress. There are several completed sections while preparation of others was cancelled in 2012. At present, a 15.8km section between Chomutov and Velemysleves is being built with completion scheduled for September 2013. There are no other plans at present after the construction of this section worth US$ 234.48 million (CZK 4.50b

Motorists in the Hungarian capital Budapest may have to pay a congestion charge from 2016, according to the city’s transport authority BKK. Public transport system improvements, prior to the possible introduction of the congestion charge, are due to be completed by 2015. Park-and-ride (P+R) facilities are expected to be set up by 2016.

The electronic toll system viaTOLL has been expanded in Poland. On 12 January 12 2013, an extra 140km of A1 motorway and S1 and S8 dual carriageways came under the viaTOLL network, according to the directive of the Polish Council of Ministers. A further 160km expansion of viaTOLL is scheduled for 30 March 2013.

A new study is calling for a more standardised approach for estimating the benefits of road safety initiatives. The aim of this is to save lives through the use of better road safety indicators. There is a clear need too. Almost 1.3 million people die in road crashes every year, and between 20 and 50 million are injured. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people between 15 and 29 years of age. Road crashes cost countries around 1-3% of their GDP. In the face of these facts, the

The authorities in Chile and Argentina have signed a key agreement over the Agua Negra Tunnel project. This new tunnel will provide a new link between the two countries. The link is expected to feature a twin tube design and will connect the Argentinian province of San Juan and the Chilean IV Region of Coquimbo. The tunnel will form a crucial component in the Mercosur route. The new tunnel will be in the vicinity of the current Paso de Agua Negra border crossing. When it is complete, the planned Mercosur ro

A joint international road safety award has been presented to the Spanish Road Association and the Inter-American Development Bank. The IRF International Award on Road Safety was given for the Road Safety Strategy in Latin America and Caribbean (Diagnosis, Toolkit and Pilot Tests) project, which developed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with the technical support of the Spanish Road Association (SRA). This forms part of the IRF Global Road Achievement Award (GRAA) 2012 and is one of the most im

Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) is consolidating its production of backhoe loaders in the Americas with additional investment. Volvo CE will relocate its backhoe loader manufacture from Tultitlán, Mexico, to the company’s production facility in Pederneiras, Brazil. This is part of a plan to streamline production and gain efficiencies of scale, strengthening of its industrial footprint in the Americas. Regional production of backhoe loaders will be moved from the facility at Tultitlán in Mexico, to a