Successfully navigating a crossing requires pedestrians and drivers to be mutually aware. Big Brother is watching, and he wants you to cross the road safely. In an attempt to improve pedestrian and traffic flow, and reduce jaywalking, the City of Vienna has ordered a research project to look at the potential future of the pedestrian intersection. Researchers at TU Graz’s Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision claim to have hit upon an “intelligent pedestrian traffic light” system that uses cameras to identify when people are ready and waiting to cross the road and automatically prompt lights to change. In doing so, the system would not just create efficiencies for those on foot – not to mention remove the terrible strain of having to push a button (ouch!) – but improve traffic flow as well by continuously monitoring and anticipating pedestrian movement. “The green phase can be extended in the case of large groups of persons, who require more time to cross the road,” explained Horst Possegger from the Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision. “And if persons leave the waiting area before the lights have turned to green, this is also passed on to the lights. The traffic lights subsequently don’t switch to green and there are no unnecessary waiting times for motorised traffic.” According to the release, the cameras mounted on the traffic lights need just one second to pick up a pedestrian and predict their intent, and another second to deem that prediction “reliable.” Creepy or cool? We say bring on the cameras, Big Bro. Ain’t nobody got time for buttons anyway.
Origin: Future pedestrian intersections could predict when you’ll cross
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Trump’s threatened tariffs against Mexico could cripple auto industry
President Donald Trump waves to the cheering crowd as he arrives for a rally, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes Barre, Pa.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) President Donald Trump’s vow to impose tariffs on all Mexican goods over illegal immigration threatened to increase costs for automakers and other manufacturers and left Mexico’s president calling to resolve the issue “with dialogue.” Trump on Thursday night opened a new front in his trade wars, threatening to place escalating tariffs on Mexico and jeopardizing a new North American trade agreement. Mexico is by far the largest source of U.S. auto imports and tariffs on goods from there would increase costs for many major manufacturers. “These measures aren’t beneficial for Mexicans or Americans,” Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in a press conference Friday. He has not received a response from Trump to a letter he sent the American president overnight calling for talks. The latest move announced by the self-described Tariff Man would put 5-per-cent American duties on all Mexican imports on June 10, rising in increments to 25 per cent in October unless Mexico halts “illegal migrants” heading to the U.S. Trump warned the levy “would gradually increase until the illegal immigration problem is remedied at which time the tariff will be removed.” On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP. The Tariff will gradually increase until the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied,.. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2019 The move, which has major implications for American automakers and other companies with production south of the border and the U.S. economy as a whole, represents Trump’s latest expansion of his trade wars. It comes just days after he removed steel tariffs on Mexico that had caused retaliation against U.S. farm products. It also marries two of his signature issues — trade and immigration — as he ramps up his campaign for re-election in 2020. The value of cars, trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles imported into the U.S. from Mexico totaled about US$68 billion last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. “Tariffs will mean higher price tags on cars for sales in U.S. and that will hit sales,” said Seiichi Miura, an analyst at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley. The tariff move came the same day that Trump presented notice to Congress to pass his renegotiated version of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which has allowed tariff-free trade with Mexico and Canada since it came into effect in the 1990s. The administration said Thursday’s plan to increase tariffs on its southern neighbor was not linked to Trump’s NAFTA replacement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which the White House is presenting as his No. 1 legislative agenda
Origin: Trump’s threatened tariffs against Mexico could cripple auto industry
Tesla’s upcoming Model Y SUV could be built at Fremont plant
Elon Musk is notoriously cagey when it comes to details about his automotive empire. Delivery numbers? Cost estimates? Time frames? Where most other auto manufacturers get their feet held to the fire over such minutiae, Musk and company seem to thrive on a foundation of sand and fog. After introducing the Model Y small crossover earlier this year, questions centred around where exactly the thing would be built. Since it shares much with the Model 3, a logical guesstimate would be for it to share assembly space with its smaller brother. Back in Q4 2018, however, the company stated it would likely utilize the Gigafactory 1 space in Nevada for Model Y production. That seems to have changed, according to a report from CNBC. Citing those in the know, Tesla is looking at pressing its Fremont facility into Model Y production, a plan Musk may have alluded to on an April call with investors. Nothing’s been publicly confirmed. In order for that plan to work, the company would need to shuffle a series of deck chairs at Fremont, a plant which currently produces all three of Tesla vehicles on sale today. Adding the Model Y to that mix would likely require new equipment, gear for which the company has barely begun to place orders, according to sources cited by CNBC. Those same insiders say that making way for the Model Y would necessitate consolidating Model X and Model S production onto a single line. And yes, Tesla’s four vehicles are called S, 3, X and Y. That ‘3’ would have been an ‘E’ if not for the Ford Motor Company crying foul over trademarks and copyrights. Keep in mind that Tesla is planning extensive upgrades to the Model S this year, including an interior that is said to mimic that found in the Model 3. If it utilizes some of the same forms and parts, it could reduce costs, or allow for more flexible manufacturing options at Fremont. The company recently cut production staff and, according to insiders speaking to CNBC, now makes the X and S on weekday
Origin: Tesla’s upcoming Model Y SUV could be built at Fremont plant
Jaguar is nixing the XJ sedan, and its replacement could be electric
2018 Jaguar XJR575Handout Chalk another sedan’s death up to the relentless march of SUVs and crossovers. As reported by industry publication Autocar, Jaguar will halt production of its XJ large sedan in July, after nearly a decade on the market. The supercharged saloon was a looker when first introduced, and continued to retain a measure of visual gravitas through its mid-cycle refresh in 2015. Still, in a market where crossovers are king and electrified rides are in vogue with a certain moneyed set of customers, it was perhaps inevitable the next XJ would be quite different than today’s machine. Yes, Virginia, there will apparently be another XJ. Autocar reports Jag confirmed to them that the brand intends “to continue the XJ nameplate” but, predictably, was mum on details. There has been plenty of speculation Jag will put the model name on a coupe-like sedan, albeit one propelled solely by electrons. Could it be a legitimate competitor to the Tesla Model S? 2018 Jaguar XJR575 Handout / Jaguar It’s not like the company is bereft of electrified technology, after all. The confusingly named I-Pace crossover (the E-Pace is gasoline-powered, remember) features a 90-kWh battery pack and twin electric motors pushing out a combined 400 horsepower. Sculpting a sedan(ish) shape to fit on top of the electrified architecture shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for the design and engineering teams. Here at home, the XJ has never been a particularly strong seller, finding roughly a couple of hundred new owners each year since the dawn of time. The F-Pace crossover easily outsells it in this country by a margin of at least 10-to-one. In recent years, Jag has been pushing a “British Villains” advertising campaign, a tongue-in-cheek promotion suggesting its cars are a slightly dastardly alternative to mainstream luxury sedans. With this shift in production, Bond’s nemesis will need to adjust to life in an all-wheel-drive crossover. At least there’ll be lots of cargo room for his
Origin: Jaguar is nixing the XJ sedan, and its replacement could be electric
Autonomous cars could worsen traffic on Canadian roads, experts warn
TomTom’s 2013 congestion index ranks Vancouver the most congested among North American cities, ahead of L.A., ahead of Chicago, and even New York. Toronto ranked 7th on the list.Christina Ryan When you picture the future of autonomous transportation, you’re probably not picturing gridlock traffic. The robots are supposed to be smarter and more efficient than us humans, right? Some transport researchers and experts are warning traffic may get worse before it gets better as society moves toward automation in transportation. We may see increases in total vehicle traffic in Canada as significant as 30 per cent, says Todd Litman, the executive director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in British Columbia, in a recent interview with Global News. “Cities need to start looking into regulations,” he said, warning the issue is approaching quicker than many realize. Today, for example, the average Toronto commuter spends 34 minutes in their vehicle. If Litman’s prediction proves accurate, that number could increase to as high as 45 minutes. Michal Antkiewicz is a research associate at the University of Waterloo who has been studying the potential future impacts of autonomous vehicles (AV). He told Global that though the problem is “at least five years away” in Canada, some U.S. centres are already feeling the strain. The issue, he explains, is the vehicles’ unwillingness to bend or break the rules, combined with mankind’s drive to do just that. “(AVs) will never break any traffic rules,” he said. “If there is a speed of 50 km/h, (AVs) will go 50 km/h. (AVs) will wait for an efficient gap to merge into traffic. Where a human would bend the rules to make progress, autonomous vehicles will be more cautious.” So, while having an AV that’s able to circle the block while you pop into the corner store for some eggs is undeniably convenient, being stuck on an on-ramp behind a robotic car that’s unable to merge into traffic that’s moving 5 km/h over the speed limit is anything but.
Origin: Autonomous cars could worsen traffic on Canadian roads, experts warn
New fuel cell design could make hydrogen-powered cars cheaper
Researchers at Ontario’s University of Waterloo have developed a fuel cell they say could potentially make the technology cheap enough to replace the gasoline engine. Fuel-cell vehicles are electric cars that make their own power by producing electricity within the fuel cell, using ambient air and an on-board supply of hydrogen. Xianguo Li, director of the university’s Fuel Cell and Green Energy Lab, said the new cell may last as much as ten times longer than current fuel-cell technology. This improvement would make them economically practical to power vehicles, if they are mass-produced. “With our design approach, the cost could be comparable or even cheaper than gasoline engines,” Li said. “We have found a way to lower costs and still satisfy durability and performance expectations.” The researchers originally concentrated on hybrids, looking at ways to replace the hybrid system’s gasoline engine with a fuel cell. However, the high cost of current fuel cells is an issue. The new design makes the fuel cell far more durable by delivering a constant amount of electricity, rather than a fluctuating flow. Li collaborated with researchers and professors in Waterloo and in Sweden on the design. A paper on their work describes the design as three fuel-cell stacks that each work at a fixed power output, but are switched on and off to shorten the time each one is active. The results showed that the durability of the cells increased by 11.8 times in city driving, 4.8 times in highway driving, and 6.9 times in a combination of the two. The cost savings would come from the cells not having to be “over-designed” to make them last
Origin: New fuel cell design could make hydrogen-powered cars cheaper
This Nova Scotia sinkhole could swallow up part of the Trans-Canada Highway
In this file photo, construction continues on the Connecting Link section of Highway 101 in northern Ontario.Len Gillis / Postmedia Network As a gearhead, most of us have had experience with sinkholes of the automotive variety. Your author has witnessed sinkholes in the form of a Jeep CJ-7 and Chevy Camaro, for example. Maybe it’s more apt to call those financial sinkholes, however. This one that has cropped up in Nova Scotia recently is decidedly more of the physical sort, and has the potential to swallow up some critical roadwork, and perhaps even the Trans-Canada Highway. The sinkhole first appeared last summer in a park near the entrance of Oxford, Nova Scotia, not too far from the Lion’s Club. When first spotted by locals, it was about the size of a good dinner plate. Now it’s grown to the diameter of an Olympic-sized swimming pool, making the ground near the park quite unstable, while also eating into a parking lot. Locals will tell you there are plenty of sinkholes in the area already, some of which are now considered lakes and ponds which can be clearly seen on Google Earth. The red arrows on the image below point toward bodies of water which occurred thanks to sinkhole activity, one of which is adjacent to Route 104. The green arrow indicates the approximate location of this story’s subject. Is the new sinkhole super-close to the Trans Canada Highway? Well, it’s about half a kilometer from the nearest TCH infrastructure, including an off-ramp for Exit 6 of Highway 104. Left unchecked, and given the historical instability of the area’s geography, it could happen. It’ll not escape your notice that it is extremely close, within just a stone’s throw, to the main road leading into town. Fortunately, the federal government is helping out local residents to the tune of about $68,000, hiring a geology team to perform electrical and then seismic testing to map the earth around and underneath the sinkhole. Dan Parker, the team lead, told CBC News that the two sets of data will provide “a good image as to what’s going on in the vicinity of the active sinkhole.” The geological team will be on-site for the next couple of
Origin: This Nova Scotia sinkhole could swallow up part of the Trans-Canada Highway
Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Yes, you could call this an ‘unsafe’ load
This is not how you carry wide loads in a car.David Fafinski / Facebook On a recent Thursday afternoon near Burlington, Ont., a driver decided to start his do-it-yourself project a little early. Police received several reports of an unsafe load, and of course, there is a picture. There is also video posted, but it’s disappointing. If you’re gonna have a dashcam people, have it pointed in the right direction. Oh, what great times we live in. It appears to be an older Chevrolet Lumina sedan. I’m pretty sure there are four doors, because the rear two are open, with lumber occupying the back seat. Wouldn’t be much to get excited about here, except the length of the wood spans the width of the car seat, plus another metre or two. It totally takes your eye away from the large cabinet perched awkwardly in the trunk — not a tie-down or bungee cord in sight. It’s important to note this car isn’t on the shoulder. It’s driving in a live lane of traffic, with both doors and the trunk open. This vehicle appears to have just come down off the Skyway Bridge in Burlington, a towering and lengthy span featuring crazy crosswinds and eight lanes of thundering traffic. It was up on this bridge that the dump truck with a raised box smashed into the infrastructure back in 2014, causing $1 million in damage. With 80,000 cars a day whistling through here, this place is dangerous enough without freelancing yahoos. Time to put on your judgy-pants. Take Our
Origin: Put on Your Judgy-Pants: Yes, you could call this an ‘unsafe’ load
Could Alberta drive B.C. gas prices up even further?
A tanker tractor-trailer semi truck driving down a rainy road.Fotolia Drivers in Canada’s westernmost province have historically paid more at the pumps for gasoline than their Alberta neighbours. A combination of demand and taxation, amongst other reasons, conspire to hose British Columbia’s drivers with fuel prices generally much higher than the rest of the country. It doesn’t help the Lower Mainland used to have four refineries but shuttered three of them over twenty years ago, but that is a topic for another day. With a new premier in the Alberta driver’s seat, the energy-rich province has sparked a war of words with its west coast neighbour. By enacting Bill 12 into law, premier Kenney has thrown down the gasoline gauntlet. If you have been living under an especially virulent rock, know that Bill 12 gives Alberta the ability to restrict the export of crude oil, natural gas and refined fuels, if necessary. It was actually passed by the previous NDP government, who intended to hang onto it and only enact it into law if needed. A bit of background on how fuel makes its way into British Columbia might be helpful. With a dearth of refineries, the province relies on a series of import systems to quench its thirst for the almighty go-juice. It is estimated Alberta supplies well over two-thirds of the gasoline and diesel used in B.C., liquid gold that is sent west via trucks and a pipeline. With the latter full to capacity, B.C. needs to ship in more gas via trucks and barges, both of which are eye-wateringly expensive ways to move fuel. It’s clear, then, why some think the threat of tightening the taps in Alberta should scare the bejeebers out of folks in British Columbia. With gas prices rapidly approaching $2.00/litre, they may have a point. But there’s a problem. Lawmakers in B.C. have filed a constitutional challenge to Bill 12, arguing it contravenes the Constitution Act, 1867, which allows for the free flow of goods throughout the provinces. The new bill would give the provincial government authority to require companies to obtain a licence before exporting energy products from Alberta via pipeline, rail or truck. Those export licences would be required for every company if the energy minister determines it’s in the public interest to ensure adequate pipeline capacity is available to maximize the return on resources and supply is maintained for Alberta’s needs, now and into the future. It’s likely that latter stipulation that has rankled the crew in B.C. We won’t have long to wait: an initial hearing on the issue is set for May 7 in
Origin: Could Alberta drive B.C. gas prices up even further?
Next-gen Porsche hypercar could adopt retro styling
Porsche design boss Michael Mauer is deciding whether the firm’s new hypercar, due around 2025 as a successor to the 918 Spyder, should be styled futuristically or with a retrospective nod to some of the greatest cars from the company’s past. The firm recently released a Porsche 917 Concept design study (above) to mark the 50th anniversary of its 1970 Le Mans victory, with Mauer saying it reflected ongoing discussions over the next-generation hypercar. “If you launch a new hypercar then you can go extremely modern in your thinking or maybe just go back to our sports car roots and take inspiration from some of the many icons in our history,” he said. “When you look at the 917 Concept then, personally, I love it. You look at it and you immediately make the connections. “But as a designer who believes that the next hypercar should point to the future, I’m not so sure. There is always the option to look into history, but sometimes you can also take the option to create some history.” Porsche CEO Oliver Blume confirmed that plans for a next-generation hypercar are under way, but said its future hung on a decision on its powertrain: “If we want it to be electric then we must wait, because battery performance is not where we need it to be yet in order to meet our performance targets. “It is not decided though that the car will be fully electric. There are opportunities with hybrid, too. We will make a decision when the time is
Origin: Next-gen Porsche hypercar could adopt retro styling
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