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Around 72,500 foreign drivers have already registered for the electronic toll payment system set up at motorways which connect to the Spanish border, according to Portuguese road agency (Estradas de Portugal-EP). Implemented on 1 July, 2012, the ‘Easy Toll’ system is a pre requirement to drive on SCUT motorways. Within the overall registration total, 30,961 have registered for the ‘Easy Toll’ on the A25 motorway, connecting Aveiro and Vila Formoso.

New Zealand Green Party spokesperson, Julie Ann Genter, has called on the government to reduce the US $ 9.73bn (NZD 12bn) earmarked for a national road upgrade project. According to Genter only 400,000 vehicles, 4% of the nation’s 11 million vehicles, are expected to use proposed new roads linking Tauranga, Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton.

GE Capital Fleet Services has announced the launch of a new eco-focused website that provides access to the company’s depth of knowledge regarding alternative fuels and related sustainable products. The website can be accessed via: www.gefleet.com/eco.“Our new, enhanced eco website presents users with an interactive and educational experience that shows how our green solutions can help optimise customers’ fleets,” said Deb Frodl

St Petersburg’s road building and repair projects could be valued at US $443.15 million (RUB 14.10bn) by the end of 2012, according to Russian daily newspaper Kommersant. The main contractors said to be bidding for projects are Mostostroy 6; Mostootrayd 19; Vozrozhdenie; Dorozhnik-92; VAD; Buer; ABZ Dorstroy; Pylon; Lendorstroy-2; and Akros.

Cemex, the largest cement maker in the Americas, has won more than 90% acceptance of an offer to extend maturities on US$ 7.25 billion of loans by three years. Support for the proposal, whose acceptance deadline was extended to 7th September, is said to have bolstered Cemex’s efforts to prevent a financing crunch in 2014 by pushing maturities to 2017.

The joint organisers of the Road Engineering Association of Asia & Australasia (REAAA) Conference, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 26 to 28 March 2013, have announced that registration is now open on the event website - www.14reaaaconf2013.com. The theme of the event is The Road Factor in Economic Transformation, the focus of which will be on the development and maintenance of an efficient road infrastructure to meet the demands for sustainable economic growth in developing countries.

A series of controls to enforce drink driving and drug driving regulations across Europe saw police conduct more than 900,000 breath tests in a seven-day period, of which nearly 18,000 were positive. Motorists were also checked for drugs in the operation, organised by the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL), between 4 and 10 June. In total, 928,863 drivers were controlled. There were 17,970 alcohol offences and 2,773 drug offences detected.

Nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and buses equipped with connected Wi-Fi technology to enable vehicles and infrastructure to ‘talk’ to each other in real time to help avoid crashes and improve traffic flow, began traversing Ann Arbor's streets yesterday as part of a year-long safety pilot project by the US Department of Transportation. Ray LaHood, US Transportation Secretary, joined elected officials and industry and community leaders on the University of Michigan campus to launch the second phase of the Safety Pi

German light and compact equipment manufacturer, Wacker Neuson, saw its second-quarter 2012 profit fall 38% to €13.8 million, down from €22.5 million in Q2 2011. The Munich-based firm’s quarterly earnings per share dropped 37.5% to 0.20 euros from last year's 0.32 euros. On a more positive note the company’s revenue in Q2 2012 quarter rose 6.5% percent to €284.2 million, from €266.9 million euros in the prior-year quarter.

A leading US regional business association figure has called for “innovative thinking” on transport infrastructure funding and the “aggressive exploration” of new funding sources to help achieve a more prosperous America. Writing in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ellen van der Horst, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, said: “Just as innovation leads to improvements in the way we do business, innovative thinking can also lead to improvements in the way we fund infrastructure. And the need fo

The tremendous growth in the amount of available weather and road condition information—including devices that gather weather information, models and forecasting tools for predicting weather conditions, and electronic devices used by travellers — has led the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to develop effective and specific guidelines for communicating road weather information in a way that is consistent with what travellers need, want, and will use when making travel decisions.

The Sanef Group has made a healthy offer to CS for the acquisition of its intelligent transportation system (ITS) operations. The deal relates specifically to the ITS Business Unit, which employs approximately 220 people and recorded a revenue of € 31.4 million in 2011. Sanef is a global service road infrastructure provider, focussing on mobility.

KPI-JCI & Astec Mobile Screens took part in the recent M&T Expo in São Paulo, Brazil as part of a newly-established joint venture called Astec Agregados E Mineracao do Brasil between its parent corporation, Astec Industries, and MDE, a KPI-JCI & Astec Mobile Screens authorised dealership in Brazil. The company showcased its GT200DF, a trackmounted cone plant.

Xylem has opened a new sales and service office in Panama to provide greater customer support to the developing Latin American market. The water technology company, focused on addressing the world’s most challenging water issues, says the expansion reflects its commitment to expansion within emerging markets. The company’s Flygt and Godwin pumps are already being used for the Panama Canal expansion project for dredging and construction works.

A leading road safety campaigner has urged the UK government to show “much greater leadership” on the issue after new Department for Transport (DfT) figures revealed a rise in pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads. The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured (KSI) on UK roads between April 1 and June 30, 2012 rose 13% to 700, compared to 621 over the same three months of 2011.