Transport

Blast-resilient carriages and auto-tracking cameras could add new layers of protection to Europe’s rail and metro passengers.

A transatlantic initiative hopes to encourage more people to buy electric cars by developing a universal plug that would drive down the cost and make charging as easy as filling up at a gas station.

Commuters could be lifted out of the noise and pollution of Europe’s overcrowded cities thanks to a group of researchers who are laying down the groundwork for the development of a personal helicopter system as an alternative to land-based travel.

Zero emission vehicles could help reduce Europe’s carbon footprint, create jobs and preserve energy security if investment in an ambitious new energy partnership pays off.

Clad in white radiation suits with triple layer-gloves, police and nuclear experts carefully probe the debris of an amateur dirty bomb.

Imagine being able to know ahead of time if you will have to wait for your bus due to road works, or if your train is running behind schedule.

Drivers may soon be able to take their hands off the wheel and their eyes off the road in their own cars, leaving the driving to modern technology. That is the conclusion drawn by the partners of the SARTRE project, after recent successful testing of road train ‘platooning’ in Sweden. However, more human barriers remain to be lifted before it could become commonplace. 

Vehicles without drivers can go far, very far. Such as the ones from the VIAC project, led by Professor Broggi from VisLab at the University of Parma, Italy. Its vans drove from Parma to Shanghai, China in three months, without much human intervention.