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Winter driving advice is being provided by the Finnish Vaisala transport research group. According to Vaisala, the driver plays a particularly important role in safety with regard to winter conditions. Driving safely in the winter is not only about road maintenance services and the condition of the road. Driver behaviour, speed, and driving style as well as the condition of the vehicle and its tyres play an important role in ensuring a safe journey. For example, awareness of significantly longer stopping di

A new TrafficSens traffic management system will be introduced in parts of Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur from early 2014. TrafficSens traffic lights will be installed at 62 spots across the city including 12 on Jalan Ipoh, seven in Wangsa Maju, and eleven at standalone junctions. By April 2014, the new system will be integrated with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL)'s existing automated management system. Using artificial intelligence, traffic will be controlled by TrafficSens based on the traffic c

A novel system in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito requiring public transport operators to share a payment fund has been joined by 80% of operators. The new system aims to reduce competition on the roads, as, prior to adoption of the payment fund approach earlier this year, different operators sought to transport as many passengers as possible, due to their income being based on the money earned from passengers on their routes each day. Under the payment fund operation, money earned enters a joint fund w

Austria's road transport industry is threatening to challenge in the European Court of Justice state-owned motorway operator Asfinag's plan to increase modern HGVs road toll by 8% in 2014. The Austrian transport ministry has ordered that toll prices should be increased by 2.5% from the beginning of January 2014, in order to adapt to inflation. But the price increase for modern HGVs, such as Euro 6 vehicles, is set to be significantly higher in order to keep the volume of toll income stable, as there are now

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers will sell more than 1,600 industrial equipment items and trucks at an unreserved public auction in Chicago, Illinois tomorrow (December 13 2013). More than 50 crawler tractors, over 15 articulated dump trucks, a selection of pipelayers, including six Caterpillar D8N and five Caterpillar D8K models, and a selection of cranes, including a 2001 Grove GMK5120 120ton 10x8x2 all terrain crane, are among the machine models up for grabs.

Chinese construction equipment manufacturing giant Sany and leading innovative lifting solution manufacturer Palfinger have finalised and signed contracts for the expansion of their mutual shareholdings. The move comes after an agreement in principle to extend their strategic partnership was reached by the two construction groups at the end of September 2013. Herbert Ortner, CEO of Palfinger, headquartered in Salzburg, Austria said, “During the past few weeks we have discussed the details of the capital i

Chinese firm Shandong High Speed Group is to carry out a portion of the construction activity for Serbia’s Corridor 11 highway. The company will commence work on the section between Obrenovac to Ub and from Lajkovac to Ljig shortly. The agreement was signed between the Shandong High Speed Group and the Serbian Government. Work on the project is due to for completion within 37 months. Exactly which portions of the construction work on these sections has not been revealed however. At present several sections

Extra funding will help improve the road link connecting Malawi and Zambia. The African Development Fund (ADF) is providing a loan worth US$73.6 million for the fourth phase of the Multinational Nacala Road Corridor Development project. This route connects Malawi and Zambia and is of major economic importance to both nations, but particularly for Malawi as its transport connections with its neighbours are not well developed. The ADF is providing loans of $7.7 million to Zambia and a loan of $65 million to M

Cambridge Systematics and ICRA Management Consulting Services (IMaCS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). This will see the two specialists collaborating for consulting services to the transportation sector in India, across Asia, and in Africa. IMaCS and Cambridge Systematics will offer a broad mix of consulting services to public and private sector clients in the transportation sector. Cambridge Systematics specialises in providing analytical services to support policy development; strategic

Participants at the 2013 Polis Conference in Brussels, Belgium have called for greater coordination of European policies that affect urban and regional transport. Around 350 mobility professionals from across Europe came to debate the continent’s urban and regional transport mobility during the annual event held under the title ‘Innovation in Transport for Sustainable Cities and Regions’. "We need coordination between European environment, climate, research, energy and transport policies as these have a d

Key highway developments are improving connectivity for Ethiopia. The African Development Bank (AfDB) will finance part of the Mojo-Hawassa express highway project. The 209km highway will be constructed in two phases over a five year period, with extra funding coming from South Korea Exim Bank and the government of Ethiopia. Under the first phase, 93km of road will be constructed and the AfDB approved a $126 million package of funding for this Mojo-Meki section. Some $2.44 million is being provided by the

The UK’s Minerals Products Association – Cement has published its first full sustainable development report. Marking a significant change from traditionally reporting on principally its environmental performance, the new sustainable development report sees the industry setting out its broader sustainable development aspirations, not only in the manufacturing process, but also in how cement can help contribute to a more sustainable environment, economy and society.

A major Brazilian highway concession package has been awarded to Triunfo Participações e Investimentos (TPI). The US$3.02 billion tender is for a multiple federal highway concession package for the BR-060, BR-153 and BR-262, according to a report from Business News Americas. This deal covers some 1,177km of highway stretches, including the installation of 11 tollbooths and widening 648km of roads within a five year period. The sections of highway involved in the deal are in Brazil’s Federal District as well