• Planning traffic routing in no-notice disasters

    Spontaneous evacuations of New York City and Washington, D.C. following the 9/11 terrorist attacks demonstrated that U.S. cities are not prepared to manage the sudden influx of traffic into roads and highways following a no-notice disaster

  • £5 million investment in U.K. rail technology, business innovation

    The U.K. government is leading on an investment of £5 million to accelerate business innovation and growth in the U.K. rail industry, using the funds to support the development of technologies to address technological and business challenges

  • Reducing fatalities in traffic’s “twilight zone”

    There are more than 30,000 traffic fatalities each year in the United States, and about 2,000 of them occur in stoplight intersections; engineers call them “dilemma zone” — that area before a stoplight intersection where the traffic light turns yellow and the driver is not sure whether to stop or go ahead

  • Making bus transportation more secure: Learning from Israel’s experience

    A new report on ground transportation security draws on the experience of Israel with Palestinian terrorists’ attacks on buses; the report helps increase understanding of what can happen and of what can deter, prevent, and mitigate terrorist attacks against bus transit

  • Hackers attack U.S. railways

    Last month hackers took control of passenger rail lines in the Northwest, disrupting signals twice and creating delays

  • Canada tests explosive detecting ticket readers

    In a pilot program, Canadian light rail passengers in Edmonton will be scanned for explosives as they pass through ticket turnstiles in a seamless system that avoids recreating the long lines of airport security checkpoints

  • Congressional transportation security caucus formed

    On Thursday members of the House Homeland Security Committee announced that they were starting a “Transportation Security Caucus”

  • NICE joins European transportation security consortium

    Secured Urban Transportation - European Demonstration (SECUR-ED) consortium aims create a pan-European improvement in mass transportation security which promotes the entire public transport sector; the consortium comprises thirty-nine members, which include all the major stakeholders from across Europe; NICE Systems announced it is a member of the consortium

  • Increasing durability, cutting cost of railroad maintenance

    Every year, companies that own railroad track across the United States spend millions of dollars maintaining ballast, the crushed rock underneath railroad ties and steel rails; in addition to the high cost, railroads must reroute trains around operations that maintain ballast, delaying the delivery of freight; researchers offer a solution

  • Railroad authority investigates threat of unattended trains

    The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is currently investigating the dangers of unattended freight trains, especially those that carry hazardous materials, following a report by a Seattle television station; in a segment called “Problem Solvers,” KOMO News investigators boarded several freight trains throughout the state without encountering security personnel or crew members

  • Plan for cameras and mics in U.K. cabs draws sharp criticism

    Privacy advocates in Oxford, Britain are up in arms over plans to install security cameras and audio recording cameras in every taxi; the city council recently passed a plan that would require every taxi driver in town to equip their cabs with the £460 devices by 2015 or have their license revoked

  • DHS warns terrorists targeting buses

    In a recent Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security bulletin, officials warned state and local authorities that terrorists are increasingly targeting bus networks; John Pistole, the head of the TSA, explained that bus networks are attractive targets for attacks because of their “accessibility” and their “open architecture”

  • TSA deploys vehicle inspection teams in Tennessee

    Last week in an effort to improve security on U.S. highways, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) established checkpoints at truck weight stations in Tennessee; working with the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security, TSA deployed Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams across the state to inspect vehicles

  • Robotic car allows drivers to work while driving

    The overall cost of road congestion in the United Kingdom to business is likely to rise to £23-24 billion a year within the next fifteen years; increasing public transport capacity may help, but experts believe that, with people unwilling to give up cars, the solution is autonomous vehicles: they make road journeys safer, more efficient, and allow people to do work while on their way to the office

  • Future electric vehicle to run unlimited distances

    Electrically powered vehicles (EV) are promising environmentally friendly alternatives for combustion engine-based automobiles; batteries used in present-day EV, however, limit the continuous running distance from one charge; researchers propose a potentially revolutionary solution for powering EVs capable of running unlimited distances