Highway & Network Management

The Brazilian government is considering setting up a national electronic toll payment system. The favoured system will be based on the state of Sao Paulo's solution, which uses an electronic tagging system installed in each vehicle to charge for payments. The proposed national toll payment aims to cover the nation's roads and to track cargo in railways, airports and ports. Brazilian planning and logistics company EPL will be responsible for setting up this tagging system, which is already used by 55% of veh

The government plans to turn the Highways Agency into a Network Rail-style public company as part of its efforts to boost national transport infrastructure. While the government has revealed plans for a long-term investment totalling €32.37 billion (£28 billion) in road-building, few projects are ‘shovel-ready’, with much of the investment backloaded until 2020. Funding levels will increase to more than €3.46 billion (£3 billion) a year by the end of the decade for major A-roads and motorways. The legislati

The authorities in Queensland, Australia have agreed a 50-year deal over the tolling rights for the Go Between bridge and the Legacy Way motorway in Brisbane. The agreement was settled by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). Under the terms of the deal, Brisbane City Council will be paid by QIC-owned Queensland Motorways Limited (QML) from A$1.08 billion to A$1.58 billion over a seven year period. Brisbane City Council will retain ownership of the tunnel and bridge and the plan is to use the revenue

The French government is considering lowering the national speed limit from 130km/h to 120km/h on motorways and from 90km/h to 80km/h on roads. The move, being led by Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls, comes after the recent announcement of a drop in the number of deaths on roads in France during the first half of 2013.

The city of Brussels is considering the introduction of a €3 (US$3.93)congestion zone charge – which could generate up to US$587.86 million (€450mn) a year.

Turkey generated US$200.79 million (TRY 390mn) from motorway and bridge tolls in the first half of 2013. In H1 2013, bridges were used by 76.5 million vehicles raising $57.24 million (TRY 111.5mn) revenue. Over the same period, motorways were used by 110 million vehicles raising $143.55 million (TRY 280mn).

A toll plaza may be established by the French government to fund a US$1.53 billion (€1.2 billion) expansion to three-lanes of the A31 motorway from Nancy, France, to Luxembourg. The tolling operation is likely to be somewhere on the busy A31 stretch between Thionville, France, and Luxembourg. Some 100,000 cars travel between Thionville and Luxembourg each day, and it has become an alternative route for travelling between Germany and the Mediterranean.

China's car rental market is set to record a 17% increase in revenue during 2015 to US$6.33 billion (CNY 39bn) compared to 2010, according to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. The country's top rental firm, China Auto Rental, is expected to be offering more than 100,000 cars by 2018. The firm recently launched a strategic plan to 2018. In June 2013, China Auto Rental hired world famous football player David Beckham as the company's ambassador. The car rental services provider currently offers 55,000 cars

TRL and GCA have entered a partnership agreement to undertake consultancy and research projects sharing resources, technology and staff. A consulting engineering firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, GCA is a leading specialist in traffic engineering and intelligent transportation systems, focussing on providing transport strategies for optimising the movement of people, goods and services. UK-based TRL’s Traffic and Software Business Unit provides consultancy and develops world leading traffic control systems su