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The Chilean authorities have had to re-launch the tender process for the 187km La Serena – Vallenar highway project. A consortium, Azvi-Copasa, originally won the tender for the project in 2010 but struggled to find the necessary financing. As a result, Chile's Ministry of Public Works (MOP) has been forced to restart the tendering process and open the project for bidding once more.

An innovative future fuel source could be provided by bacteria, according to researchers working with the US Department of Energy (DOE). Strains of Escherichia colibacteria have been developed that are able to digest switchgrass biomass and then synthesise the sugars into three transportation fuels.

Sustained public information campaigns on road safety can play a crucial role in reducing road fatalities on Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) roads, according to a UK government marketing professional, whose public communication campaigns have helped reduce deaths on British roads by 45 per cent in the last decade.

The Kosovan Government has ambitious plans and aims to have finished building the new Route 6 highway linking with Macedonia as well as rebuilding the existing national roads during the next four years. The Kosovan Transport Ministry has said that the tender process for the Macedonia link will open in 2012 while the work will commence in 2013 and the road is expected to be complete by 2014.

An announcement is due shortly with regard to the Corridor Vc highway in Bosnia. Several talks have been held with Turkish companies for the construction of the highway. The project value is expected to reach some €2 billion. The project is of strategic importance for Bosnia, although the country lacks necessary funding.

Slovakia had received €979million (US$1.28billion) from the European Commission's Operational Programme Transport (OPD) by the end of November 2011, according to Government sources. The money, which can be used until 2015, will pay for 40km of expressways, around 90km of motorway, and improvements to 80km of railways and 600km of roads.

Plans are in hand in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar for a series of road and bridge projects that will improve the city’s connectivity with the rest of the country. Included in the planned works are works to build five new bridges, 139km of roads and widen 150km of roads. The transport plan will run until the end of 2013. Ulaanbaatar will develop a further two bridges, rebuild 200km of roads and run 73km of roads in the period from 2013-2016. At present, there are 64 bridges and 450km of paved roads in Ulaa

The local authorities in China's Sichuan Province are planning a massive expansion and improvement programme targeted at rural roads. Over US$12.7 billion will be invested in rural road development during China's 12th Five-Year Plan, which is for the 2011-2015 period.

The latest official statistics from the US on road accidents show that fatality levels on the nation's roads have dropped to the lowest figures seen for more than six decades. The information was released by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, revealing that highway deaths fell to 32,885 for 2010, the lowest level since 1949.

The annual societal cost of traffic crashes is $299.5 billion, more than three times the $97.7 billion cost of congestion, according to a report released by the American Automobile Association (AAA). Its "Crashes vs. Congestion – What's the Cost to Society?" report highlights the overwhelming and far-reaching economic impacts traffic safety crashes have on the nation and encourages policymakers at all levels of government to ensure safety is a top priority.

The UK's National Audit Office (NAO) has criticised the Department for Transport's (DfT) budget cuts on the grounds that they will increase costs for users. A new report from the NAO suggests that the DfT has no long term strategy and that the cuts lack strategic understanding.

TÜV Rheinland's ITS group is now part of the quality control team for the US Department of Transportation's (US DoT) Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot project, a programme to test reliability and safety of innovative technologies that allow vehicles to communicate with each other and traffic lights, work zones and other infrastructure elements to help prevent crashes

The Government Thailand is giving its approval for the budget to carry out rebuilding work in the country following the recent flooding. Some US$418.4 million has been approved for the rebuilding work, which will be carried out on basic infrastructure wrecked by the flooding.

China is helping provide funding for Nepal's road expansion. The Chinese Government has agreed a deal with the Nepalese Government to expand the Kathmandu Valley ring road. The feasibility study for the project has been completed and design work is currently underway.

Following the long-awaited release of Dainese’s D-air Racing suit earlier this year, the Italian brand says it is now ready to release the road-going version of the system, D-air Street, which is set to go on sale in the Spring of 2012. Specifically designed for use on public roads; the system is composed of the Motorcycle Kit (MKit) and either an outer waistcoat or jacket, to host the airbags. The MKit, fitted to the user’s motorcycle is the brain of the system. It features a pair of accelerometers - one u

European Hitachi Construction Machinery dealer Moviter is expanding into Africa. The Portuguese company is venturing into Angola and other countries on the continent with historical and linguistic links to its native land.

A new report highlights concern over bridge condition on Germany’s road network. Maintenance spending will have to be boosted considerably in the 2012-2016 period for the country’s road (and rail) bridges to be brought back up to the level required. Germany will have to spend some €2.75 billion on maintenance and repair of bridges around the country to ensure that condition is optimal. The survey was carried out by Joachim Naumann for the German industry association BDI and other groups and this revealed ho

Rebuilding work on Moscow’s Warshavsoye Shosse highway is due to commence shortly. The work looks set to be carried out by the ARKS Group, although final details of the contract have yet to be agreed. The work is expected to cost in the order of US$381 million to carry out. Work will include building a section of elevated road, a tunnel, seven pedestrian underpasses, and a two-level interchange. The project is due for completion by 2013.

Unnecessary government bureaucracy will be tackled and costs for local councils reduced following the biggest review into Britain's traffic signing system for 40 years, which was announced by transport minister Norman Baker. The government hopes that the review will dramatically reduce the number of signs councils need to use by relaxing rules, such as by removing the requirement for some signs, including those to indicate the start of a pedestrian zone, to be placed on both sides of the road. The new measu

Qumak-Sekom, the Polish IT integrator, has made the lowest bid (US$39.57 million) in a tender to build an integrated traffic management system for Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot (the so-called TriCity).