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Invitation to e-Transport Conference and Exhibition
 Exhibition space is selling fast and ITS companies from South Africa and abroad are invited to become sponsors and / or exhibitors at the e-Transport Conference and Exhibition The overall theme is Moving People Smartly: Transport Solutions for FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010 and beyond. It takes place on 24-25 March 2009 at the Sandton Convention Center.
The biennial e-Transport Confex is the premier ITS event to network with key decision-makers and ITS professionals and exploit business opportunities in South Africa’s booming ITS market. With a current infrastructure spend of R600 bilion, there are numerous ITS projects in the pipeline.
The mega transport projects to the value of several billion Rand transforming South Africa transport environment are attracting huge local and international interest. If you want to be part of this rapidly growing market, explore the sponsorship and exhibition opportunities to raise your profile in the South African ITS Market.
The e-Transport Conference has been accredited for Continuous Professional Development points. The CPD number is ProvSAICEtr09/00456/09.
 To view the programme, click here.
You are cordially invited to register now. Click here.
For sponsorship and exhibition packages, click here.
For the exhibition floor plan, click here.
For the stand reservation form, click here.
For general information about South Africa, click here.
International ITS Master Class – 26 March 2009
With the support of the World Road Association (PIARC), the National Roads Agency (SANRAL) and the ITS Centre of Excellence, ITS South Africa is proud to host an International ITS Master Class on Thursday 26 March as a post conference event to the e-Transport Conference, which will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday 24-25 March 2009. The venue is the Sandton Convention Centre.
With several mega transport projects underway – and more in the pipeline – international-level training is vital to better equip us with the skills and best practice examples required to raise the standard of planning, deploying, managing operations and undertaking maintenance.
The ITS Master Class will help you improve your skills with the guidance of a panel of international presenters.
The ITS Master Class has been accredited for Continuous Professional Development points. The CPD number is ProvSAICEtr09/00455/10.
Click here to register.
Communication Applications for Transport
 As ITS deployment intensifies, the need to expand and improve the communication layer becomes increasingly important Different technologies provide divergent benefits and the challenge is to find an inclusive solution. On 11 February ITS South Africa hosted a workshop in Durban on Communication Applications for the Transport Environment in cooperation with the ITS Centre of Excellence and the eThekweni Transport Authority. 70 delegates attended it.
Click here for the presentations.
Business Opportunity
 An SME company based in Italy is looking for a partnership. It is a leading Italian player in the Intelligent Transport Systems market, with advanced technology products and system solutions.
Main addressed markets and applications:
- Public Transportation: AVM/AVL, DRTs (on Demand Responsive Transportation system)
- Fleet management: Fleet of vehicles (included the goods transportation), Containers, Vehicle “Pay-as-you-drive” insurance schemes applications
- Satellite anti-thief systems: Self managed, Managed by Operative Center
- Infomobility: Systems based on processed data through vehicle tracking devices, GPS based devices able to supply infomobility audio messages
The company is looking for technical and commercial partnerships suitable to value any possible existing synergy with international members of ITS National Associations.
If you are interested, please click here.
 ITS Canada Annual Conference
ITS South Africa members can attend ITS Canada’s Annual Conference in Edmonton at the “member rate” if they register and pay before March 6.
Full details about the Conference are available at www.itscanada.ca/edmonton2009
Member News
 Q-Free
Friday 23rd of January is going down as the most successful day ever in the history of Q-Free:
- In the morning we signed a contract in Bangkok, Thailand to deliver a turn-key ETC/MTC system for the customer BECL. This is an existing customer of Q-Free and it is very satisfying that they are placing additional orders with us. Contract value: 60 mill NOK (7 mill EUR)
- At lunchtime we signed a contract in Porto, Portugal with the customer AENOR to supply a turn-key system based on free flow DSRC and Central System. Contract value: 220 mill NOK (24 mill EUR)
- In the evening we signed the contract to deliver the complete enforcement system on the roadside and the complete Central System in Slovakia. The installation will be used for the truck tolling project and payments will be calculated based on GPS positions. Contract value: 450 mill NOK (50 mill EUR)
This sums up to a total value of 730 mill NOK (81 mill EUR) which represents a value well above a normal year’s revenue for us. It will mean a major leap forward in the size of our company and our ability to deliver large scale projects in short time. All the three systems will be built mainly during 2009.
Osma Elevators Germany selects DigiCore’s C-track GPS / GPRS Solution
 DigiCore Holdings, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed vehicle telematics company, recently increased it’s shareholding in it’s DigiCore Deutshland subsidiary from 50% to 100%. The group has over the last 3 years followed a policy of purchasing 100% shareholding in the offshore entities over a period in order to exploit synergies and align strategies throughout the Group.
Following the conclusion of this transaction It is exciting to announce that after two years of testing C-track in a pilot phase, Detlef Ruthemeyer, technical managing director of the family-owned enterprise Osma-Aufzuge, has decided to fully rely on C-track for his fleet’s needs. In the coming weeks, the technicians’ vehicles and all trucks will be equipped with DigiCore’s fleet management system. Click here to read more.
Kapsch: Success in France, the Czech Republic and Italy
 Kapsch TrafficCom AG recently had great success in France, the Czech Republic and Italy. In the next three years, Kapsch TrafficCom France will impelement four orders for the biggest French road operators (Vinci, APRR and Sanef Groups) and the tag issuer Axxes. In total, Kapsch will supply over half a million on board units and related accessories to France for an order value of around 10 million EUR.
“Despite our many successes in other continents, Europe has lost none of its importance for us. To date, we have repeatedly supplied France with equipment for single lane electronic toll collection. Kapsch TrafficCom on-board units will be in use on the most important routes in France,” Explains Erwin Toplak, Member of the Board, Kapsch TrafficCom AG.
Revenues from the toll system installed by Kapsch TrafficCom in the Czech Republic has grown with around 10% as the state has collected around 245 million EUR last year.
Development in the previous year was extremely positive with a total growth of 23 million EUR. Erwin Toplak underscores the economic importance of collecting tolls: “The income generated by our system allows the state to invest actively in the area of infrastructure. The maintenance and improvement of highway infrastructure places enormous demands on funds, which cannot be covered by the normal budget.”
Kapsch had further success when it secured a City Access order in Italy, as the town of Cremona in Lombardy has chosen Kapsch-Busi to implement its City Access control solutions. Kapsch-Busi will implement the order together with partner company, Famas System Spa in around eighty days. The order is worth more than half a million euro.
“Winning the tender in Cremona secures the status of Kapsch-Busi in Northern Italy. We are also counting on good changes of winning other upcoming City Access control projects in Italy,” Explains Viktor Hatwagner, Member of the Management Board of Kapsch-Busi.
Kapsch products are set to be used on over 8 000km of French motorways. In the Czech Repulic tolls are currently levied on 1 000 km of motorways and expressways, while Kapsch-Busi in Italy will be responsible for the technical operation and maintenance of the system for the next three years.
 New members
Intelligent Devices is an international company with an office in Cape Town and focuses on Advanced Traffic Management Systems. They are represented by Peter Ashley. Please contact him at Telephone +27 21 552 0794. His e-mail is petera@idisa.co.za or visit their website at www.intelligentdevicesinc.com.
 MaxID’s focus is on the design and development of rugged mobile terminals and the ancillary technologies for data acquisition and communications such as biometric applications, RFID, Barcode scanning, GPS positioning, and GSM/GPRS. They are represented by Mr Selwyn Jackson. Please contact him at Telephone +27 11 234 2110 or selwyn@maxidgroup.com or visit the website at www.maxidgroup.com.
Welcome to Johannesburg-based Mncedisi Ndlovu & Sedumedi Consulting. They are represented by Mr Tebogo Moremi, Project Manager for Integrated Public Transport. You can contact him on Telephone +27 11 447 3811 or tebogo@ndlovu-sedumedi.co.za.
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Of the 36 daily deaths on South Africa’s roads, an average of three are killed in taxi-related incidents – translating into 1 095 deaths every year. And according to a study by the Automobile Association of South Africa, around 70 000 minibus taxi crashes happen each year – double the number of accidents involving other motor vehicles.
The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) wants to “reopen” the taxi industry in place of the bus-rapid transit (BRT) system, SABC radio news reported on Thursday. This formed part of a counter-proposal to the establishment of the BRT system.
Taxi bosses say the government must shoulder the blame for the recent violent taxi strikes which led to the death of Katrina Samuels and her prematurely born baby, and the emotional and physical scarring of at least one other woman. Three weeks ago, the National Taxi Alliance (NTA) called for its members to stage a three-day strike in opposition to the Bus Rapid Transit System.
Investment in transport-related infrastructure projects will total R50,9-billion over the next three years, reports the Treasury in its 2009 Budget Review. The South African Rail Commuter Corporation will receive an additional R600-million over the medium term in order to overhaul and upgrade 1 900 coaches and improve the signalling system.
Investment in transport-related infrastructure projects will total R50,9-billion over the next three years, reports the Treasury in its 2009 Budget Review. The South African Rail Commuter Corporation will receive an additional R600-million over the medium term in order to overhaul and upgrade 1 900 coaches and improve the signalling system.
The Gauteng provincial government (GPG) would spend about R40-billion in infrastructural projects over the next three years, in a move that could help to mitigate the impact of the global economic slowdown on the province, Gauteng Finance and Economic Development MEC Mandla Nkomfe said on Tuesday.
Intelligent Transport System (ITS) will be introduced on the entire Outer Ring Road (ORR) with Japanese assistance to facilitate smooth flow of traffic. Work on laying an eight-lane, accesscontrolled expressway (ORR), running to a total length of 158 km, around the Hyderabad city is in progress.
The theme for this year’s e-Transport Conference is “Moving People Smartly: Transport Solutions for FIFA Soccer World Cup 2010 and Beyond.” The biennial e-Transport Confex is the premier ITS event to network with key decision-makers and ITS professionals and exploit business opportunities in South Africa’s booming ITS market. With a current infrastructure spend of R600 bilion, there are numerous ITS projects in the pipeline.
To view the programme, click 
Absa has suspended all taxi vehicle finance approvals because of its inability to verify the authenticity of taxi operating licences after the alleged theft of 800 000 operating permits at the end of 2008. Marcel de Klerk, the managing executive of Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance, said yesterday the division had stopped approving taxi vehicle finance applications about two weeks ago after it had noticed that some operating licences were fraudulent or stolen.
The impact of the three-day taxi strike on the provincial economy was an indication that a “clear message” had been sent to the government, said leaders of the National Taxi Alliance (NTA). Last week the taxi operators went on a three-day strike against the new Bus Rapid Transit system that plunged the city into chaos.
Since late last year, this publication has been championing the public infrastructure programme as South Africa’s main economic stimulus opportunity. We have written over and over again that government departments and State-owned enterprises must be given the strongest possible signal that they need to continue with their previously-announced implementation schedules, and even seek to enlarge there programmes.
The Lagos State Government should urgently address the reckless way and manner the drivers of Bus Rapid Transit behave on the highways. Most of them drive with reckless abandon, thereby giving other road users a tough time. They don’t slow down for other road users who may accidentally cross their way – where there are no BRT lane markings, that is.
As the taxi strike entered its second day on Thursday, police were out in force to prevent further violence, as commuters switched to trains and buses. Since the start of the unprotected, three-day strike against the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system, scores of residents and bus drivers have been injured and more than 50 people arrested for malicious damage to property, attempted murder and public violence.
