Technology Briefs - Aug. 23 - Aug. 29
The Latest Headlines:
- SAIC to Provide Technology for Illinois Tollway
- Cummins, Scania Form Fuel-Tech Partnership
- Sirius to Launch Traffic Data Service
- Firm Signs Agreement With Md. to Provide Traffic Sensors
- So. Calif. Ports Plan Clean-Diesel Harbor Trains
- Cummins, Scania Form Fuel-Tech Partnership
SAIC to Provide Technology for Illinois Tollway
Science Applications International Corporation said Monday that its security transportation technology business unit was awarded a $6.6 million contract by the Illinois Tollway to assist in a systemwide conversion to open-road tolling.SAIC said the conversion would be the first in the nation to convert mainline toll plazas to a barrier-free, electronic toll collection system for Illinois’ I-PASS system.
It will provide equipment to upgrade its existing violation enforcement system, which enforces payment of tolls by capturing images of vehicle license plates that drive through toll lanes without paying or without a valid I-PASS.
Cummins, Scania Form Fuel-Tech Partnership
Cummins Inc. and Scania CV AB said Friday they have signed a joint venture agreement to produce next-generation fuel systems for heavy-duty on-highway trucks.Cummins-Scania XPI Manufacturing LLP is a 50-50 joint venture, which builds on partnerships on fuel systems development and manufacturing between the two dating back to January 1992.
The two companies currently work together in Columbus, Ind., where Cummins is headquartered, to produce the HPI fuel system, which eventually will be replaced by an XPI, for Xtra-High Pressure Injection, system.
The XPI common rail fuel system is expected to be manufactured by the joint-venture company located at the Cummins Fuel Systems facility in Columbus and at the Cummins plant in Juarez, Mexico, the two said. Transport Topics
Sirius to Launch Traffic Data Service
Satellite radio provider Sirius Satellite Radio plans to broadcast traffic data nationwide starting in November for 22 major U.S. metropolitan areas, according to digital map company Navteq, which will provide the updated traffic information.Navteq culls traffic reports from multiple sources, including commercial traffic data providers, government departments of transportation, police and emergency services, road sensors, cameras and airborne reports and relays that information directly to a navigation system.
Once received, traffic data is quality tested and linked to the map for wireless delivery to a navigation system, Navteq said. Transport Topics
Firm Signs Agreement With Md. to Provide Traffic Sensors
Traffic.com, a leader in traffic data collection and reporting, said Monday it signed an agreement with the Maryland State Highway Administration that will allow the construction of a network of wireless roadside traffic sensors.The project will provide Traffic.com with sensor coverage from north of Baltimore to south of Washington, in Northern Virginia, including the stretch of Interstate 95 that connects the city’s two Beltways.
According to the 2005 Urban Mobility Report issued by the Texas Transportation Institute, traffic congestion cost Baltimore area drivers 62 million hours of delay and nearly 40 million gallons of wasted fuel in 2003, Traffic.com said.
The Traffic.com sensor and data collection technology will be deployed on Maryland roadways as part of a public-private partnership funded by the federal government to provide travelers with real-time, actionable traffic information. Transport Topics
So. Calif. Ports Plan Clean-Diesel Harbor Trains
Pacific Harbor Line and the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles said Friday they had tentatively agreed to launch a $23 million program to replace a fleet of 18 harbor locomotives with “clean-diesel” and alternative-fuel locomotives to reduce polluting emissions.The replacement program is part of a new 10-year extension of an agreement between the ports and PHL, a private company that since 1998 has provided railroad switching services to customers at the ports, the nation’s busiest port complex.
PHL dispatches all BNSF Railway and Union Pacific trains within the ports.
The tentative pact, which could go to the Long Beach and Los Angeles Harbor Commissions for a vote this week, calls for PHL to replace its existing fleet of diesel-electric locomotives, some of which are more than 50 years old. Transport Topics
