Bollards and rubber curbs that prevent drivers from cutting across intersections at a diagonal can make streets safer for pedestrians, according to a new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Such “centerline hardening” forces drivers to turn more slowly at close to a right angle by blocking... Read more →

The National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the US Department of Energy (DOE) and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), launched the Civic Innovation Challenge, a national research and action competition in the smart and connected communities domain. Teams will compete for awards of up to $1 million to... Read more →

In a survey of 2,000 adults across the UK, Nissan’s research found that only 1 in 3 were aware of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) going live on 8 April—yet almost half of all respondents support the daily charge’s introduction. The ULEZ now operates 24 hours a day, 7... Read more →

Daimler became the first international automaker to receive a road test license for highly automated driving research vehicles (level 4) in Beijing, marking a major new milestone in the company’s local research and development efforts in China. Urban traffic is one of the biggest challenges on the road to autonomous... Read more →

The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors approved a €428-million ($499-million) loan to set up a regional emission-reduction and pollution-control facility as part of a multiyear and multisector support program to improve air quality in the greater Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, which suffers from heavy air pollution. Cities in the... Read more →

Dearman, the UK-based developer of clean cold power systems based on its engine powered by liquid nitrogen (earlier post), has identified a diesel loophole in the new London T-Charge levy on the most polluting vehicles. (Earlier post.) The £10 (US$13) per day levy applies to vehicles whose main engines do... Read more →

Scientists at Rice University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chile are proposing that quantum-controlled motion of nuclei, starting from the nanometer-size ground state of a molecule, can potentially overcome some of the difficulties of thermonuclear fusion by compression of a fuel pellet or in a... Read more →

Sales of plug-in vehicles (PEVs) in China—battery-electric and plug-in hybrid—suddenly soared 343% in 2015 to about 331,000 units—more than 3 times the number sold in the US that year. China-based BYD is now the world’s leading manaufacturer of PEVs, jumping ahead of Nissan and Tesla. Six other China OEMs are... Read more →

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, joined by Barbara Bennett, President and COO of Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. and Rick Clemmer CEO of NXP Semiconductors, announced the seven finalists for the US Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Smart City Challenge. (Earlier post.) The USDOT has pledged up to $40 million (funding... Read more →

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx launched a Smart City Challenge to create a fully integrated, first-of-its-kind city that uses data, technology and creativity to shape how people and goods move in the future. The USDOT will make an award of up to $40 million to one mid-sized city that can... Read more →

New data and an accompanying report from the World Bank shows that almost 200 million people moved to urban areas in East Asia from 2000-2010—a figure that would be the world’s sixth-largest population for any single country. The Pearl River Delta in China—which includes the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan... Read more →

The Electrification Coalition released two case studies outlining how two cities—Houston, Texas and Loveland, Colorado—are saving money by using electric vehicles (EVs) in their vehicle fleets. The Electrification Coalition, launched in November 2009, is committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass... Read more →

Expected urban private motorized travel (in passenger kilometers). Source: IEA. Click to enlarge. Policies that improve the energy efficiency of urban transport systems could help save as much as US$70 trillion in spending on vehicles, fuel and transportation infrastructure between now and 2050, according to a recently released report from... Read more →

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will has outlined a vision for a £913-million (US$1.48-billion) investment in cycling infrastructure for the city. Among other features, the plans would create a “Crossrail for the bike”—a route that will run for more than 15 miles (24 km), very substantially segregated, from the... Read more →

The waste heat generated by everyday activities in metropolitan areas—which is distinct from the urban heat island effect—alters the character of the jet stream and other major atmospheric systems, affecting temperatures across thousands of miles, significantly warming some areas and cooling others, according to a new study published in the... Read more →

In a new report, Pike Research forecasts that the smart city technology market will grow from $6.1 billion annually in 2012 to $20.2 billion in 2020—a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.2%. Globally, Pike anticipates cumulative investment of more than $117 billion in smart city technologies between 2012 and... Read more →

As part of its plan to significantly expand the mobility services business operations, Daimler Financial Services AG (DFS) has created a subsidiary known as Daimler Mobility Services GmbH (DMS). Daimler’s car2go, moovel, and other mobility services have been consolidated into DMS. The new company’s headquarters are in Stuttgart. Daimler Financial... Read more →

A new Chicago-based research center using advanced computational methods to understand the rapid growth of cities will receive a $500,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The funds help launch the Urban Center for Computation and Data (UrbanCCD), an initiative of the Computation Institute (CI) dedicated... Read more →

IBM is opening its 12th global research lab, and its first in Africa. IBM Research - Africa will have its first location in Nairobi, Kenya in collaboration between the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) through the Kenya ICT Board. Key research areas that will be explored by IBM... Read more →

Veolia Transdev and IBM are collaborating to develop a smarter mobility solution designed to help cities alleviate road congestion, optimize transportation infrastructures and improve the urban traveler experience. The smarter mobility solution brings together Veolia Transdev’s expertise in the public transit industry and IBM’s expertise in managing big data and... Read more →

IBM is working with the City of Zhenjiang, China to transform the city’s public transportation system. Zhenjiang will use hardware, software, services and technologies from IBM’s Research labs, all brought together through the IBM Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities (earlier post)—a solution that will serve as the central... Read more →

IBM and the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) in Mexico have created a Smarter Cities Exploration Center. Supported by technical and intellectual guidance of IBM’s global research lab experts, the Center will be the first of its kind in Latin America, tasked with the mission to design solutions to tackle infrastructure... Read more →

IBM unveiled the fifth annual “Next Five in Five”—a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years. Of the five, only one is directly transportation-related: Commuters will be able to quickly access personalized recommendations that help them... Read more →