Book your agenda for the fourth edition of the STA Annual Conference and Innovation Awards: Brussels, 26 November 2019

03 September 2019

The STA Annual Conference will bring together once again key opinion leaders and business professionals to explore the current state of art and future of Smart Transportation Infrastructures across modes and the Smart City in a unique and dynamic atmosphere.

This fourth edition will take place in Brussels (Belgium) on Tuesday 26 November 2019 and will provide a unique opportunity to learn, reflect and engage with decision-makers and practitioners leading and supporting activities improving the methods, technologies and standards associated to transportation infrastructures.

STA Annual Innovation Awards: Nominate your candidate until 11 October 2019

03 September 2019

The 2019 STA Annual Conference will be coupled with the award ceremony of the fourth edition of the ‘STA Annual Innovation Awards’. The Call for Entries for the “Person of the Year” and “Best Innovation Solution/Project” categories are now open and will close on 11 October 2019.

The ‘STA Annual Innovation Awards’ honour global innovators that have decisively contributed to deploying Smart Transportation Infrastructures (“Person of the Year” Category) and to improving the methods, technologies and standards associated to transportation infrastructures.

NEWS OF INTEREST

Tackling tyre graveyards as new road surface using rubber is trialled in the UK

A section of road between junctions 23 to 22 on the southbound carriageway of the M1 near Leicester has been laid with the new surface which has been developed by Tarmac. Highways England is funding trials into the new asphalt mix to see if this environmentally-sound innovation could be the way forward for future road surfaces. Using waste tyres in roads has both economic and environmental benefits. Some 40 million waste tyres are produced every year in the UK and over 500,000 disused tyres shipped out of the UK each year to be landfilled. The trial on the M1 will test the effective durability of the road surface on a highly trafficked network.

Three Years Later, the French Solar Road Is a Total Flop

It was a solar experiment that seemed ingenious in its simplicity: fill a road with photovoltaic panels and let them passively soak up the rays as cars drive harmlessly above. The idea has been tried a few times, notably in rural France in 2016 with what was christened the "Wattway." Three years later, even the most optimistic supporters have deemed the Wattway a failure. The noise and poor upkeep aren't the only problems facing the Wattway. Through shoddy engineering, the Wattway isn't even generating the electricity it promised to deliver.

Australia installs new safety intersection technology

New safety technology will be installed at a high-risk intersection in south western Victoria to reduce road accidents and keep drivers safe. Side Road Activated Speed technology, which helps slow traffic for drivers entering busy roads, will be installed at the intersection of Cobden-Warrnambool Road and Ayresford Road. In the past five years there have been four crashes at the intersection, which resulted in two serious injuries and six other injuries. New electronic speed signs will be triggered by sensors that detect cars approaching on the side road, Ayresford Road, temporarily reducing the speed until the car is able to turn. The reduced speed limit will only stay active until there are no more vehicles waiting to turn onto Cobden-Warrnambool Road.

Canada: ‘Green Infrastructure’ road designed to recharge groundwater supply

Kitchener is testing some innovative green technology that cleans run-off and helps deal with the more intense storms and flooding that a changing climate will bring. The city is installing green infrastructure that includes perforated storm sewer pipes and “Silva cells,” an underground framework that captures and treats stormwater run-off and holds lightly compacted soil to support the growth of trees in the boulevard. Essentially, the cells are designed to mimic the way a natural environment would handle rainfall, says Matt Wilson, a water resources engineer with the city.