Measures to reduce traffic congestion, an electrified vehicle goal, a record parade of Priuses, and a connected car partnership were among the items being promoted by automakers and automotive organizations recently.

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[naviga:li]The Federal Highway Administration has proposed new performance measures to help reduce traffic congestion and cut down on traffic-related air pollution. The proposed rule would provide requirements for states to evaluate the performance of their transportation systems—including reliability of travel time, the number of hours of delay, peak hour congestion, and movement of freight—and report on these issues more effectively and consistently. The FHWA says it is also looking into whether to establish a greenhouse gas emission measure.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Volvo is looking to sell 1 million electrified vehicles by the year 2025. The automaker says it plans to introduce its first all-electric vehicle in 2019, and will begin offering at least two hybrid versions of each of its models. The pledge is one of a number of benchmarks Volvo has set for itself, including the goals to have no one killed or seriously injured in one of its vehicles by 2020, to have 35 percent of its leading positions held by women by the same year, and to be climate neutral by 2025.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Toyota has set a new Guinness World Record for the number of hybrid vehicles in a parade. The automaker hosted the parade on April 22, Earth Day, with 332 Prius owners gathering at the Alameda airfield on San Francisco Bay for a lap. The previous record was set in 2011, when 208 hybrid vehicles paraded along a 2.1-mile loop in Madison, Wisconsin.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Hyundai has partnered with the information technology company Cisco for a connected car initiative. The automaker says it will first enhance its in-vehicle systems, including the transmission and reception of data, to prepare for the larger data operations of car-to-car communication. It will also invest in researching and developing cloud technology, big data analytics, and connected car security.[/naviga:li]

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