HGV sharing in France

Vehicle sharing is upgrading the concept from car into HGVs. French website www.WeTruck.fr offers a similar service to www.blablacar.com but with HGVs instead of cars.

Great idea as HGVs are more spreaded out over the territory than Public Transport.

Pan-European enforcement of traffic laws

The European parliament has approved the Pan-European enforcement of traffic laws. This will allow police forces across Europe to share information on foreign motorists who break road traffic rules. Both the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) and the European Traffic Police Network (TISPOL) have welcomed this move.

Non-resident drivers account for approximately 5% of road traffic in the EU but are responsible for 15% of speeding offences, according to European Commission figures. The law is expected to save at least 400 lives/year.

https://www.tispol.org/news/articles/european-parliament-lifts-road-block-cross-border-traffic-penalties

Scania tests truck platooning on Dutch roads

Scania tests truck platooning on Dutch roads. The steering was done by truck drivers, but speed and braking were controlled by the front truck using Wi-Fi technology.

The plan is to have fully self-driving trucks in the future. Currently, this method reduces the fuel consumption a 5%, decreasing costs and cutting emissions.

http://www.logisticsmatter.com/2015/02/10/scania-tests-selfdriving-trucks-dutch-highway/

French unlimited rail card

SNCF (France's national state-owned railway company) is promoting a new unlimited card for 60€/month. Not all the lines, not all the services and limited seats per train but... seems to be already a sucess (FR; bit.ly/1Kp4ExD)being recently launched!

(FR) http://www.lefigaro.fr/conso/2015/01/28/05007-20150128ARTFIG00301-idtgv-lance-le-train-en-illimite-pour-60-euros-par-mois.php

UK's engineering shortage

More engineers could create an extra £27bn per year for the UK economy from 2022.

In the decade to 2022, Engineering UK predicts that engineering companies will need 182,000 people per year with engineering skills, yet there is a current annual shortfall of 55,000 skilled workers.

http://www.engineeringuk.com/Research/Engineering_UK_Report_2015/