Holiday wishes

20 December 2017

The Smart Transportation Alliance (STA) would like to take the opportunity of this end-of-the year newsletter to express to all our readers the warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful holiday and a very Happy New Year.

2017 has been an eventful year. Seven new organisations joined STA, several new publications and articles were released, and three STA conferences with the 2017 STA Annual Conference and Innovation Awards concluding the season on 28 November 2017. These achievements further stimulate STA to carry its activities aligned with the mission to create smart, sustainable and safe transportation infrastructures globally.

We would like to thank you all for your continued support and look forward to an exciting and enriching 2018!

The Smart Transportation Alliance moves its headquarters to Brussels (Belgium)

15 December 2017

Following a decision of the STA General Meeting held last 19 July 2017, the STA legal headquarters are moving from London (United Kingdom) to Brussels (Belgium).

The transfer will be effective as of January 2018.

frontierCities2 launches its second Market Acceleration Grants (MAG 2) Call

04 December 2017

On 29 November 2017, frontierCities2 launched its 2nd call for Market Acceleration Grants (MAG 2), offering up to € 75,000 equity-free funding for start-ups and SMEs in the Smart Cities sector. The selected Start-ups & SMEs will have the opportunity to receive tailored technical and commercial support to succeed in their Market take-up plans.

NEWS OF INTEREST

Artificial intelligence and supercomputers to help alleviate urban traffic problems11 December 2018

Researchers from the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), the University of Texas Center for Transportation Research and the City of Austin believe so. Together, they are working to develop tools that allow sophisticated, searchable traffic analyses using deep learning and data mining.

Urgent need for more air transport infrastructure, says IATA

GENEVA (Dec 6): Governments around the world are not doing enough to meet aviation infrastructure needs, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said, calling for greater urgency to ensure infrastructure matches demand.

IATA director-general and chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac said governments should work with the industry to plan and build the requisite infrastructure to ensure their economies reap the gains from a growing global air transport industry.

Long-Term Aging of Asphalt Mixtures for Performance Testing and Prediction

This report presents a proposed standard method for long-term laboratory aging of asphalt mixtures for performance testing. The method is intended for consideration as a replacement for the method in AASHTO R 30, “Mixture Conditioning of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA),” which was the most commonly used method for aging asphalt materials for performance testing for input to prediction models for the past 25 years. The method improves on R 30 in that the laboratory aging time is specifically determined by the climate at the project location.

Industrial Strategy can put UK at forefront of transport revolution

The Transport Systems Catapult (TSC) has welcomed the launch of the government’s Industrial Strategy.

The TSC is citing a transport revolution which is dramatically changing the way we move people and goods, with increased focus needed to ensure the UK reaps the benefits. They comment that there will bring huge economic opportunities, but the UK will need to address market failures and fight for a place alongside major international players such as China and the US.