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The UK Government is pledging to invest heavily in new engine technologies. This strategy is intended to keep the UK as a technology leader in the field of engine developments, with a particular focus on the automotive sector. The plans are to develop new, low emission vehicles using innovative powertrain systems, such as plug-in hybrids, electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. In all some €1.156 billion (£1 billion) has been pledged by the UK Government over the next 10 years for investment in research a

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.

Massive plans for infrastructure investment have been revealed in Peru. The country’s transportation and communications ministry, MTC, intends to invest some US$20 billion in infrastructure by 2016. Public private partnerships will be used to develop many of the planned projects. Transport infrastructure figures heavily in the plans, with spending on highways, the Chinchero-Cuzco airport and Callao’s Jorge Chávez airport, and additions to Lima’s metro network. One of the key road projects will be for the Lo

From 2014 the police in the UK will be able to use drug testing kits to check if drivers are under the influence while at the wheel. After consultation with medical experts, limits have been set for quantities of illegal and legal drugs that are permissible in the bloodstream while a driver is in control of a motor vehicle. Tests have already been carried out on different types of drug testing kits that use saliva samples to determine whether a person is under the influence. These kits have already been int

New data from Germany and Portugal reveals continued improvement in road safety, with a reduction in fatality levels for both countries. Final figures from the German Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, reveal a reduction in road related deaths for 2012. Some 3,600 people died on Germany’s roads in 2012, a 10.2% drop from the previous year. Meanwhile for the first six months of 2013, some 227 people were killed in vehicle crashes in Portugal, a drop of 18% compared with the previous year.

Balfour Beatty has demolished a farm access bridge over the M8 motorway between junctions 4 and 5 to enable the completion of slip roads for the new Heartlands junction in West Lothian, Scotland. The demolition of Cowhill Bridge is a major milestone for Ecosse Regeneration in the construction of Junction 4a. Using ten excavators equipped with hydraulic breakers and munching attachments, the four span composite construction bridge was successfully removed during a recent 10-hour night time closure of the M8.

In Australia, UBS Infrastructure Fund, Access Capital and Queensland Motorways are reported as heading the bidders' shortlist for the Clem Jones Tunnel of RiverCity. RiverCity's receiver KordaMentha and sell-side adviser Goldman Sachs have ushered through several shortlisted bidders through to the second round. The Clem Jones Tunnel was secured against RiverCity's debt pile of US$1.37 billion (AUD 1.50bn). It is thought that the road may be sold for around $550.3 million (AUD 600mn). Clem Jones Tunnel is sa

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.