Paris will become the first metropolitan area in the world to experiment with an extensive system of self-service hire cars.

Speeds of hundreds of kilometres an hour now common on rail network.

Almost a third of Auckland drivers believe traffic congestion harms their health and performance at work or in class.

Police have blocked off an inner-city Auckland street after a suspicious substance was found in the carpark of a building that houses the US Consular General and other diplomatic offices.

A driver ran from his car sobbing and yelling: "I checked the road, I checked and it was clear," witnesses say.