News

Moscow’s government is looking into the possibility of exempting developers from taxes on the funds they invest in building and repairing roads in the Russian capital. The current regulations require developers, which fund road construction, to make donations to the local road fund. The donations may not be included in construction costs and are subject to income tax of 20%. If the regulations are amended, the Moscow budget's one-time shortfall in income will be €60.65 million (RUB 2.87 billion) to €121.3

United Arab Emirates’ National Transport Authority is planning to impose road tax on trucks and buses crossing the borders of the UAE. The authority is considering charging US$26.65 per bus and about $1.33 per seat. For lorries, it is planning to charge $136.34 per trip for those carrying chemicals, food stuff, livestock and refrigerated goods, and an additional charge of $2.74 per tonne carried. Other trucks will be charged $26.60 per trip. The proposed tax has attracted strong protests from the governm

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) will invest €1.8 billion (NOK 15 billion) on roads in Northern Norway between 2014 and 2017. The figure is more than double the investment in the previous four-year period when the Administration allocated €792.25 million for the same purpose. Torbjørn Naimak, regional manager at Statens vegvesen, said that the increase in funds will allow for maintenance of tunnels and state roads in need of work. Overall, €17.645 billion will be invested on the

In China Jiangsu Province has set an impressive infrastructure budget. Some US$11.38 billion has been earmarked for transportation infrastructure projects during 2014. Of the total, $4.53 billion will be invested into road construction projects, while some $454.8 million will be targeted at the construction of civil airports.

Official police data from Dubai paints a poor picture with regard to road safety. This small country saw one person killed every two days on average during 2013, with the death toll reaching 160 for the year. Over 2,800 people were injured in road crashes in Dubai during 2013 from 2,944 separate incidents and with 5,387 vehicles being damaged. Of those injured, 197 were serious. The traffic police described excessive speed, reckless driving, poor concentration and changing lanes without first looking for ot

Plans are in hand in Algeria for work to commence on the first sections of the Hauts-Plateaux highways, with tenders now being prepared. The Ministry for Public Works has revealed that construction work for the first stretches of the highway will be likely to get underway in June 2014. The technical specifications for the project are still in the process of being determined. Expectations are for strong bidding for the 30km sections of the highway being put out to tender.

According to the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), fixing the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) without generating any new revenue will be highly challenging. ARTBA president Pete Ruane told a Senate panel that such a move would require the equivalent of the US Congress passing and the president signing a 2013-level Murray-Ryan budget deal every year. And this would be sufficient just to maintain current highway and transit programme investment levels. According to a new Congressional Bud

A new bridge in Vietnam will be built by Japanese firm Sumitomo Mitsui Construction in a joint venture partnership with two local contractors. The 5.4km bridge will be the longest in Vietnam and the project is costing some US$347 million, with the Japanese company holding a 67% stake in the deal. The new bridge will connect Hanoi to the country’s new international port of Lach Huyen and the work also includes building a number of connecting roads. The bridge is due for completion in February 2017. The struc

A new partnership between the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and Messe München has seen the bauma Africa event renamed: BAUMA CONEXPO AFRICA. The event has new dates and will now be held from September 15th to 18th 2015, but will remain in the South African city Johannesburg. The first event was held under the name of bauma Africa, and it celebrated a successful premiere with 754 exhibitors from 38 countries and 14,700 visitors from over 100 countries. As part of their cooperation on internati

Over the next two years, the Canadian government has proposed spending US$470 million on land purchases and other work associated with the New International Trade Crossing bridge project linking Detroit in the US and Windsor in Canada. In 2014, Canada, in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Transportation, anticipates to begin purchasing land on the Detroit portion of the river, potentially as soon as spring 2014. Under the $2 billion plus project, a six-lane bridge would be constructed from D

The Holtekamp bridge; the Medan-Kualanamu Flyover; the Raja Ampat Ring Road; and the Oksibil-Waropko Road are among 19 proposed new infrastructure projects submitted to the Indonesian Ministry of Finance. The ambitious projects were submitted by the National Development Planning Agency, with finance sought from State Syariah Securities under the 2015 budget. The 19 projects are worth a combined US$ 540.18 million. The Holtekamp bridge has been valued at $51.643 million; the Medan-Kualanamu Flyover at $50.2

The Indian government has signed a pact with Asian Development Bank (ADB) for loans worth US$ 275 million, as part of its nationwide Rural Connectivity Investment Programme. The loan is the second tranche of the $800 million financing facility set aside for the project, and will be used to finance works of constructing 3,693km of rural roads in five Indian states such as West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Assam. Further funds of $81.56 million will be financed by the government, taking t

Official figures for French road safety reveal a small drop in fatalities for January 2014 compared with January 2013. However these results have been queried over possible inaccuracies and inconsistencies. According to the official body Sécurité Routière, 238 people were killed in traffic accidents in January 2014, down 0.5% compared to January 2013. However, the number of crashes rose 7.5% during the period, leading to an increase in injuries of 10.6% to 5,694 in January 2014. The increased crash figures