October’s top stories: Philippines’ Skyway Project, UK’s internet connected road

Philippines approves Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 Project

The Philippines has approved a contract for the PHP26.5bn ($609.6m) third stage of the Metro Manila Skyway (MMS) Project, which will link the Southern Luzon Expressway to the Northern Luzon Expressway.

Funded by the Citra Central Expressway Corporation, the latest project will be managed by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

Expected to be completed over a period of three years, the new project will include construction of a road to help ease congestion in EDSA and several other major roads, such as Quezon Avenue, Araneta Avenue, Nagtahan and Quirino.

Oklahoma’s eight-year bridge and highway improvement plan moves ahead

A $6bn, eight-year plan to upgrade highways and bridges has received approval from the Oklahoma Transportation Commission.

Designed a decade ago, the Federal Fiscal Year 2014-2021 Eight-Year Construction Work Plan includes improvement projects on more than 2,000 highways and bridges to be completed by the end of the decade.

It involves replacing or rehabilitating 924 bridges and upgrading 657 miles of two-lane highways, as well as 552 miles of high-volume highways and interstates across the state.

UK’s A6 to Manchester Airport road gets initial approval for government funding

The A6 to Manchester Airport road project in the UK has obtained programme entry approval from the government, paving the way for a grant of £165m funding.

Subject to certain statutory procedures the project will be eligible for the funding, which is part of the total cost of £230m.

The new 6.2-mile dual carriageway road will consist of new sections of road between the M56 Manchester Airport spur and the existing A555; and between the A555 and the A6 at Hazel Grove.

A14 highway to become UK’s first internet connected road

The A14 road connecting Birmingham and Felixstowe in the UK will become the country’s first internet-connected road in a pilot project to trial new wireless technology.

There will be 20 public and private firms participating in Ofcom’s pilot project, by running trials to test a variety of innovative applications in the next six months.

As part of the trial to help reduce congestion and improve road safety, a network of sensors will be deployed along the 50 mile road to transmit information on traffic movement, which will then be transmitted to the mobile phones of motorists on upcoming traffic.

Nokia’s HERE debuts community mapping project in India

Nokia’s mapping services business HERE is launching its first community mapping pilot project in India, where the company partners with handpicked local experts to improve its navigation services.

The project, which is part of an ongoing series of pilot programmes by HERE to enhance its community mapping capabilities, will see HERE integrate its industrial data collection procedures with a crowd mapping initiative.

As part of the initiative, HERE’s regional team of more than 1,000 people will work directly with local experts from more than 12 universities across the country, including Mount Carmel College in Bangalore, Karnataka and the SAL Institute of Technology in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Ford unveils new auto-driver technology to avoid crashes

Ford is introducing an auto-driver mode that will take control of the steering when it detects the risk of collision.

The company’s obstacle avoidance system will warn drivers on the potential risk and then take charge in case the driver does not respond to warnings.

This system is being fitted to one of its vehicles as part of a project that involves other automakers and suppliers.

Q-Free agrees to acquire traffic management company ELCOM

Q-Free has signed a deal to acquire Serbian traffic management company ELCOM, a move that will strengthen the former’s new business segment within Advanced Transportation Management Systems (ATMS).

Under terms of the €1.3m share purchase agreement (SPA), ELCOM will be consolidated into the accounts of Q-Free as of the fourth quarter 2013.

Established in 1994, ELCOM primarily offers traffic centrals and traffic controllers for traffic lights, LED streetlights and system solutions for different traffic control applications based on both third-party products and its own.

INRIX introduces new XD Traffic service

INRIX has developed INRIX XD Traffic, an intelligence system that significantly improves the accuracy of traffic information, and covers twice as many roads compared with the previous service.

With real-time traffic data across about four million miles of roads in 37 countries, the system provides insight into the events on the road independent of the country or map provider.

The traffic system delivers detailed speeds for every mile down to 800ft increments for improved route guidance to drivers and better insight to transportation agencies, while removing cost and complexity of associating traffic with locations on a map.