News

A new report commissioned by insurance firm RSA reveals that a high percentage of drivers get behind the wheel despite having defective vision that is not corrected. The study shows that thousands of accidents can be attributed to poor driver vision. Estimates suggest that up 2,900 casualties could be attributed to crashes caused by drivers with uncorrected vision and that this could cost in the region of €41.2 million (£33 million)/year in terms of lost economic activity and emergency crew callouts. Resear

Doosan Infracore attracted nearly 500 existing and prospective customers to this year’s Demo Days events held at Kozli Quarry near Pisek, in the Czech Republic. Attendees from 18 countries right across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region had an opportunity to try out a wide selection of Doosan heavy machines and attachments in real working conditions. They included Stage IIIB compliant crawler and wheeled excavators, wheeled loaders, articulated dump trucks (ADTs) and heavy duty telescopic han

New proposals put forward in Paris could place pollution at peak periods as a priority. The planned pollution programme would include measures such as a toll on the main routes entering Paris. Users would pay rates reflecting various criteria such as the distance travelled, whether it is a peak travel period or the environmental impact of the vehicle being used. Vehicles seen as excessively polluting would be banned, with one proposal forbidding the use of large SUV/4x4 cars that are more than 17 years old

The US state of Indiana’s toll road lease supplied money for vital transport projects and Ohio is wise for studying its own turnpike lease agreement, Indiana’s Department of Transportation commissioner Michael Cline told hundreds of key Ohio transport industry figures. Cline was the keynote speaker for this year’s Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference in Columbus on Tuesday 30 October, 2012. During his address, he touted the benefits of the US$3.8 billion lease of the Indiana Toll Road in 2006.

Experts in health, city planning, environment and transport from Europe and the United States, including several local authorities, stressed how active travel can drive urban economic growth and save public health funds during a recent prestigious workshop event in Brussels, Belgium. Integrating health aspects in transportation planning was the focus of The Polis Environment & Health working group meeting at the European Economic and Social committee on 30th October. The event gathered experts from organisa

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) says the 495 Express Lanes -the 14-mile corridor of new high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes on the Virginia side of the Capital Beltway - will open as early as November 17, 2012. Drivers are being advised by VDOT that they will need an E-ZPass to use the 495 Express Lanes and an understanding of how they work before they can take advantage of them. “The 495 Express Lanes are on track to open earlier than expected in November which means drivers must take steps

The upcoming 2013 World of Asphalt and AGG1 shows will be largest ever according to the event organiser. The expositions have both already achieved record size. The co-located events are being organised by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and will be held March 19th-21st, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas at the Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center. The events are already on track to be sold out by opening day. The shows will highlight the newest products and technologies for the aggregates, asphalt,

Innovations in technology are set to improve the efficiency of the next generation of electric and hybrid cars currently in development. Improvements in motors and drivetrains, along with new materials for batteries, will make major efficiency gains for future electric and hybrid cars. UK-based low carbon engine technology specialist, Controlled Power Technologies (CPT), says that one advance will come through a new 48V standard that has been put forward by major vehicle manufacturers. According to CPT this

Philippines-based conglomerate Ayala Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, is interested in at least US $ 1.85 billion worth of private-public partnership projects that are to be bid out by the government. The projects are to include the Daang Hari toll road worth US $ 50million which Ayala has already gotten the contract for, said Ayala's managing director and head of corporate strategy John Eric Francia. Ayala is reportedly interested in making bids for projects such as the LRT2, the US $ 700millio

Vice Governor of St.Petersburg Sergey Kozyrev has reported that an agreement with the Vozrozhdenie group of companies on construction of the northern section of the Western High-Speed Diameter (WHSD) can be annulled after a failure to complete the works on time. Another subcontractor is reported to be likely to complete construction of the multi-million dollar toll highway project in St Petersburg. Vozrozhdenie says delays were caused by non-payment for works already implemented. According to Vozrozhdenie,

Trimble has formed a strategic alliance with Bentley Systems (Bentley). The alliance between Trimble, a leading provider of connected construction solutions for building, heavy, and civil contractors, and Bentley, a major company in the provision of complete software solutions for sustaining infrastructure, aims to create a new benchmark for construction and operations quality, efficiency and safety. According to Bentley, its strategic alliance with Trimble will create a “seamless exchange of information” b

ARRB has signed an important agreement with Radar Portal Systems (RPS), a privately owned company involved in the development of equipment for the measurement of road condition. RPS has a specific focus on ground penetrating radar (GPR) and pavement imaging. The deal will see ARRB and RPS co-operating in research and development, service provision and in the transfer of skills and technology. The primary areas of cooperation will be in the integration of GPR into ARRB’s Hawkeye survey platform to determine

A new study into the impact of extreme weather conditions on Europe’s transport network has been carried out by Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre. This broad-based study covered all 27 EU states and highlighted that some countries face significantly higher risks of transport disruption than others. This is the first study worldwide to evaluate risks to transport from weather phenomena on a country-specific and mode-specific basis. The study revealed that Poland faces particular problems, while other h