Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Tuesday, February 13, 2007 -- ISSN 1529-1057

Student Essay Competition Deadline Approaching

ITS America’s Student Essay Competition, which has been sponsored by PBS&J for six years, is designed to encourage student interest and future participation in the development of ITS solutions. Both graduate and undergraduate students are eligible to participate. The winner will receive complimentary registration, transportation and accommodations to attend ITS America’s 2007 Annual Meeting & Exposition from June 4-6, 2007 in Palm Springs, California. The deadline for entries is March 16, 2007. For the list of topics and entry guidelines, please visit www.itsa.org/amstudentessay.html.


1) Much-Touted TransLink Card Finally Hits the Bay Area Transit Scene
Link to story in The Oakland Tribune:
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_5210829

2) Montana Bill Would Require Drivers Know English
Link to AP story:
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/02/13/news/state/56-legienglish.txt

3) New York MTA: Cell Phone Service to Move Forward
Link to story in amNew York:
http://www.amny.com/news/local/am-cell0213,0,4126234.story?coll=am-local-headlines

4) Metal Theft Web Site Set Up by Washington State DOT
Link to AP story:
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_021207WABmetaltheftwebsiteSW.786c49e2.html
Link to site: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/maintenance/material

5) Long Island Rail Road Probe to Look at Alert Protocol
Link to story in Newsday:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lilirr0211,0,5450021.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines

6) More Airports Tell Drivers Just Where to Go to Get Parking
Link to story in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/biztravel/2007-02-12-parking-usat_x.htm

7) Avoiding Traffic Jams Just Click Away
Lake County, Illinois Web site highlights bottlenecks.
Link to story in the Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northshore/chi-0702130205feb13,1,5302677.story?coll=chi-newslocalnorthshore-hed (may require free registration)
Link to Lake County Passage: http://www.lakecountypassage.com

8) Unhappy Irish Motorists Don’t Feel at All Safe on Road Network
Signage visibility, road markings and lack of variable message signs among concerns.
Link to story in the Irish Independent:
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1775171&issue_id=15247

9) Trucking Firm Turns to RFID to Fill Black Hole
Uses active tags to track containers to North Pole.
Link to story in Computerworld:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011214&intsrc=news_ts_head
Link to news release from Horizon Lines:
http://www.horizon-lines.com/ArticleBody.asp?ID=76&ListName=HLNews

10) FHWA Broad Area Announcement for Exploratory Advanced Research Program
Link to further information:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/crt/initiatives/pip.cfm


News Releases

1) North Carolina Governor Announces Upgrades to 511 Travel Information Line
http://www.public-cio.com/newsStory.php?id=2007.02.13-103904

2) New Tool on Bay Area 511 Web Page Lets Drivers Forecast Travel Times
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070213/sftu142.html?.v=43
Link to Predict-a-Trip site: http://traffic.511.org/his_traffic_text.asp

3) Customize Your Bus Trips with King County Metro Online Tools
http://www.metrokc.gov/kcdot/transtoday/
Link to Metro Online: http://transit.metrokc.gov/


Upcoming Events
Global Border Security Conference & Expo – May 8-10 – San Antonio, Texas
http://www.globalbordersecurity.com/


Today in Transportation History
1923 – Chuck Yeager, the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound, is born in Myra, West Virginia.
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/yea0bio-1

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© 2007 Bernie Wagenblast