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Continental joins autonomous driving platform as system integrator

Technology firm Continental became a development partner and system integrator of the collaboration between BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye for automated driving.

The new cooperation model on fully automated driving by BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye is intended to offer scalable solutions for the automotive industry worldwide.

The three firms brought their resources and expertise together in July 2016 for the production of fully automated BMW vehicles by 2021.

Econolite launches EOS traffic control software

US-based provider of traffic management solutions Econolite launched its new traffic controller software, EOS.

The new software has been designed to enhance existing traffic control capabilities in order to help the agencies to meet the future traffic demands of the connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) and smart city traffic control systems.

Econolite Engineering vice-president Eric Raamot said: "EOS represents new levels of operational efficiency and capability for traffic controller software.

"EOS provides improved real-time decision-making by enabling dynamic ‘on-the-fly’ changes to phase timing, sequencing, and coordinated split control, serving the immediate needs of connected and autonomous vehicle applications."

New Bell Street Bridge opens in Victoria, Australia

The Government of Victoria in Australia pened the new Bell Street Bridge to ease traffic congestion between Strathmore and CityLink Tullamarine Freeway. 

The new bridge is part of the government's A$1.3bn ($96m) CityLink Tulla Widening Project.

Bell Bridge provides a smoother and dedicated connectivity to the Pascoe Vale Road and removes dangerous blindside merge.

Smart Parking to supply bay sensor technology to Hamilton, NZ

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Smart Parking secured a contract for supplying and maintaining the bay sensor technology for nearly 945 parking spaces in the city of Hamilton, New Zealand, under a partnership with Arthur D Riley. 

The Hamilton City Council has selected Smart Parking technology as part of its new plan that has been created for revitalising Hamilton’s Central Business District (CBD) region.

Hamilton is located in the Waikato region of New Zealand’s North Island and is reported to be country’s fourth most-populous city. 

Queensland begins $383m Logan Enhancement Project

The Government of Queensland in Australia started the A$512m ($383m) Logan Enhancement Project. 

The government anticipates that the project will generate economic benefits of nearly A$1bn ($748m) over the next three decades.

Construction will support 1,300 jobs and take about two years to complete. Works are being financed by Transurban Queensland and will be majorly funded from increased tolls on heavy commercial vehicles on the network.

USDoT provides $99.6m loan to BelRed Street Network Project in Washington

The US Department of Transportation’s (USDoTs) Build America Bureau (Bureau) announced plans to provide a $99.6m Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to the city of Bellevue, Washington, for completion of the BelRed Street Network Project. 

The loan is offered to the city at an interest rate of 2.86% for a term of 35 years. 

The loan will be used by the city for development of BelRed Street Network Project, which comprises 12 multimodal roadways.

Honda aims to introduce SAE Level 4 vehicles by 2025

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Honda revealed plans to introduce its vehicles with highly automated driving capability in most driving situations (SAE Level 4) by 2025. 

The new target set by the company builds upon earlier-announced plans for Honda and Acura vehicles with automated freeway driving capability (SAE Level 3) by 2020. 

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) defines automated driving based on six levels of capability, from zero to five.

USDOT provides $106.95m loan to Colorado for C-470 Express Lanes Project

The US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) Build America Bureau (Bureau) was announced to be providing a $106.95m Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to the Colorado High-Performance Transportation Enterprise (HPTE) for the completion of the C-470 Express Lanes Project.

This loan is offered to the HPTE at an interest rate of 2.86% for a term of 35 years. 

The C-470 is a highway stretch of 26 miles, which runs along the southern and western region of the Denver metropolitan area, stretching between the intersection of I-25 and E-470 in the east to the intersection of US-36 and I-70 in the west.

NYDoT to reopen new Route 150 bridge in September

The Government of New York unveiled plans to reopen the new Route 150 bridge, which is currently being built over the Wynantskill Creek in the US town of North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, in September. 

The new bridge is included in a $16.4m multi-bridge contract, which is part of the $542m Empire Bridge programme, which primarily focuses on the rebuilding critical infrastructure across New York state. 

The Empire Bridge programme focuses on replacing ageing and vulnerable structures across the state and is administered by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYDoT).

GM completes production of 130 self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EV test vehicles

General Motors (GM) completed production of 130 Chevrolet Bolt EV test vehicles, which are equipped with next-generation self-driving technologies. 

The new test vehicles are produced at GM’s Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township, Michigan.

These vehicles will be added to the existing 50 current-generation self-driving Bolt EVs that are deployed in testing fleets in San Francisco; Scottsdale, Arizona; and metro Detroit.