Future demands much of tiny cars
The Detroit News
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Commuters are slow to use 35W's pay-to-play fast lane
Star Tribune
The state of Minnesota started selling off pieces of Interstate 35W last week. And the public reaction was remarkably subdued. In other parts of the country, so-called "congestion pricing" — making driving more expensive to discourage it in certain places and times — has been a hot issue politically. More

Nissan robot car concept avoids accidents by mimicking fishes
AutoBlog Green
Nissan sleeps with the fishes? Well, no... not exactly. But we'd guess someone in Nissan's Japanese think tank must watch a little too much Discovery Channel. We've all seen those amazing videos where unspeakably large schools of fish travel huge distances without anyone or anything to guide them. Somehow, it's all very organized and the fish don't seem to have any problems with traffic jams – which is more than we can say for us bipedal earth-goers. Apparently, Nissan has noticed the same thing. More

Volvo ready to bring cars to a full stop in an emergency – without any help from the driver
USA Today
With the launch of the S60 next year, Volvo will introduce a "full auto brake" and "pedestrian safety" function. Cars will come a full stop at speeds less than about 15 miles an hour if their radar systems detect they are about to strike a car or a person. If the car is going faster, the car will try to come as close to a full stop as possible. More

Motorist group slams 'congestion pricing'
The New York Times
A group representing car drivers has strongly condemned the expansion in Europe of systems that charge motorists entering heavily trafficked areas. The Eurocouncil of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or F.I.A., said that charging systems were an assault on individual rights, a threat to prosperity and ineffective at curbing traffic. More

Terror underground: Eight years after 9/11, New York subways vulnerable to attack
ABC News
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars allocated to create a state-of-the-art surveillance system for New York City's subway system, the monitoring technology is still not in place and experts say the city's underground transportation tunnels remain a leading and unnecessarily vulnerable target to terrorism eight years after the 9/11 attacks devastated the country. More

Truck weight limit hike concerns highway safety advocates
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network
The U.S. Senate will vote on a proposal introduced by Sen. Susan Collins that would allow heavier trucks to operate on the interstate in Maine. The change is opposed by highway safety activists, who argue it will increase highway deaths and injuries, and damage roads and bridges. More

Will smarter roads save us more money?
The New York Times
Traffic congestion reduces gross national product around the world by one percent, I.B.M. researchers calculate — a serious chunk of money. To do something about it, Big Blue has been experimenting in Australia, Hong Kong, Scotland and the Netherlands on new ideas for smart roads to speed traffic. More

BMW innovation days : Paving the way for the future of individual mobility
BMW via Auto123.com
Never before has society been as mobile as today. But at the same time the transport infrastructure in many densely populated areas is already reaching the limits to its capacity. It is therefore essential, introducing new transport concepts and intelligent traffic management, to ensure most efficient and environmentally compatible use of the existing road network, and to minimise negative side effects of mobility such as traffic congestion, accidents and burdens on the environment. More

2010 Volvo S60 to introduce collision avoidance system
The Motor Report
Volvo is set to begin the first production use of its collision avoidance system with the launch of the new S60 sedan next year. Officially known as Collision Warning With Full Auto Brake And Pedestrian Detection, the system tracks and anticipates the path of pedestrians and other vehicles, reacting accordingly. More