News

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

The South Korean government is supporting 167 infrastructure projects, including the construction of new expressways, nationwide with an investment of US$108.61 billion (KRW 124tn), according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. Under the plan, the government will invest $35.2 billion (KRW 40tn) on 71 projects that have already been launched. It will spend another $73.41 billion (KRW 84tn) on 96 new projects. The government will seek as much investment from the private sector as possible to ease the bur

The UK government is planning to make improvements to the M5 and M6 as part of its US$150.41 billion (£100bn) infrastructure spending programme. Changes will include motorists being allowed to drive on the hard shoulder, with computerised signs being installed to inform them when it is safe to do so. The Government has also confirmed that it will provide funding for a new link road between the M6 Toll and the M54, while $8.94 billion (£6bn) will be put towards repairing roads and $5.96 billion (£4bn) will b

The Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) today said that the previously scheduled Labor Day (2 Sep) opening of the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been postponed. News of the delayed opening was announced at the same time as TBPOC released its investigative report into the 32 bolts that broke on the Bay Bridge in March 2013, and its review of other bolts on the bridge. The contractor now forecasts that the steel saddle retrofit of the failed bolts on the east pier will b

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

Liebherr reports healthy business performance for 2012, despite tough trading conditions in some markets. Group turnover for 2012 rose 9.1% (€756.2 million) from the previous year and reached a record €9.09 billion, the highest in Liebherr’s history since the firm began operations in 1949. Meanwhile the company continued to invest in its operations with group investments totalling €854 million, an increase of 27.6% (€853.8 million) over the previous year. Meanwhile the workforce grew by 2,468 to some 37,80

A US$557.15 million (CNY 3.45bn) project to build Shenzhen, China’s longest tunnel will start before the end of this year. Due for completion in 2015, the 7.5km tunnel will connect Yantian District and the Pingshan New Area. The Pingyan Passage connecting the two areas will have two flyovers and three bridges, including the tunnel. An 80km/h speed limit will be imposed on the six-lane route. The $629.82 million (CNY 3.9bn) 11.3km long Pingyan Passage will shorten driving time to 10 minutes. The passage will

Progress is being made in Indonesia with regard to the Sunda Strait Bridge project. Construction work is expected to start shortly and the cost of the project has been estimated at some US$10.6 billion.

A programme of road maintenance and general upgrades will improve road links in Mozambique’s Tete Province. The scheme will see work worth around US$187 million carried out on some 700km of roads by Estradas do Zambeze. The company has a 30 year concession deal for the roads in Tete Province.

Chile’s congested capital Santiago is set to benefit from the construction of a key route that will help reduce journey times and improve traffic flow, particularly at peak periods. The tender process will open shortly for the Americo Vespucio Oriente (AVO) highway in Santiago, a 9.3km highway connection that will include the construction of a tunnel under the San Cristobal area.

The State Highway Agency of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) has prepared concession tenders for the construction of seven new roads – including three major projects worth a combined US$5.083 billion. The biggest individual road builds are the first and the second stages of the Big Kiev Bypass from Kiev - Chernigov - Novye Yarilovichi highway to Kiev - Kovel - Yagodin (151.6km long) worth $3.02 billion (UAH 24.9bn); the 258km long highway Krakovets - Lvov - Brody - Rovno valued at $1.59 billion (UAH 13bn), and the 209k

A new method to route and organise truck transport that could enhance the life quality of truck drivers, save millions of dollars and increase the efficiency of freight transport is being studied by Oregon State University (OSU) researchers in Canada. Two systems - relay and point-to-point - are combined in the new method for full-truckload transport. A new mathematical method has also been developed by the cited researchers to minimise effects on drivers and optimise the dispatching system's design for goo

Cause for concern comes from the US where the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency (NHTSA) has revealed an increase in road fatalities during 2012. The NHTSA’s statistical projection of traffic fatalities suggests that 34,080 people died in vehicle traffic crashes in 2012, an increase of about 5.3% over the 32,367 killed in 2011.

Car manufacturers General Motors and Honda are now working jointly on developing fuel cell powered vehicles. The two companies have established a long term partnership that will encompass bot the fuel cell system as well as storage solutions for the hydrogen fuel and also refuelling infrastructure.

Research carried out in Finland reveals that an innovative new gasification method can turn forestry waste into biofuel with less than €1/litre. The VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland says that lignocellulosic biomass can be processed using new technology developed in Finland to transfer of more than half the energy of wood raw waste into fuel.