Monday, October 15, 2007

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Monday, October 15, 2007 -- ISSN 1529-1057

1) Unmanned, Armed Vehicles to Secure Ben-Gurion Airport Fence
Link to story in Haaretz:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/912396.html

2) New 511 Traffic Alert System Unveiled in Massachusetts
Link to story on WBZ-TV:
http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_288100240.html
Link to news release from the Massachusetts Highway Department:
http://www.eot.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=content/releases/pr101507_511&sid=release
Link to 511 Massachusetts: http://www.mass.gov/511

3) Audit Board Urges Japanese Construction and Transport Ministry to Charge for ETC Devices
Link to story in The Yomiuri Shimbun:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071014TDY02306.htm

4) Washington Metro Seeks Better Ways to Get Word Out to Riders
Link to story in The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/14/AR2007101401513.html
Link to story on WRC-TV:
http://www.nbc4.com/traffic/14339665/detail.html

5) 2 Los Angeles Traffic Engineers Must Face Trial
They are accused of trying to sabotage traffic flow at four busy intersections just before a job action.
Link to story in the Los Angeles Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-traffic13oct13,1,6642481.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california

6) Delaware Port Launches ID Card Program
Link to story in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-10-14-ID-cards_N.htm

7) Automated Booths on the Way to Simplify Boarding of Washington State Ferries
Link to story in the Kitsap Sun:
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2007/oct/14/the-state-hopes-booths-will-enable-ferry-riders/

8) License Plate Recognition Tools Led to Abduction Arrest in San Jose
Link to story in the San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/13/MNJFSO1NM.DTL

9) Is This ‘Smart Card’ Too Smart?
Some students at the University of Washington are concerned that linking transit card to student payment card would violate privacy.
Link to story in The Daily:
http://www.thedaily.washington.edu/article/2007/10/15/whataboutRadioUpdateIsTheSmartCardTooSmart

10) US House Bill Would Provide Tax Credits for Truck Fleet Safety Technology
Link to story in Transport Topics:
http://www.ttnews.com/articles/basetemplate.aspx?storyid=18499

11) Marines, Start Your Engines
OnStar-like technology drafted for combat.
Link to story in Washington Technology:
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/print/22_19/31638-1.html

12) What if Every Car on the Road was a Roaming Traffic Report?
Link to column on Yahoo Tech:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/raskin/14580/what-if-every-car-on-the-road-was-a-roaming-traffic-report

13) Connecticut Legislators Consider How to Toughen Motorists’ Cell Phone Ban
Link to AP story:
http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-15090752.apds.m0854.bc-ct--celloct15,0,526420.story

14) Board the Plane, Turn Off Your Phone ... Surf the Web
Link to story in The Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1009/p01s02-usec.html

15) Helping Drivers Around Construction
New Hampshire DOT deploys Smart Work Zone System.
Link to column in The Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/14/helping_drivers_around_construction/ (may require free registration)
Link to Rebuilding I-93 site: http://rebuildingi93.com/

16) MapQuest Plays Catch-Up with Launch of Beta
Link to story on TechCrunch:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/12/exclusive-mapquest-plays-catch-up-with-launch-of-beta/
Link to MapQuest beta: http://beta.mapquest.com/

17) US DOT ITS Lesson of the Month
Partner with neighboring agencies, either formally or informally, to address institutional challenges and benefit from cross-jurisdictional traffic signal coordination.
Link to further information from US DOT:
http://www.itslessons.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/Lesson?OpenForm&CE3E8AC8C9A2EB91852572740068C6EB

18) October Issue of Oregon DOT’s ITS News Available Online
Link to newsletter:
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/ITS/news_2007_10_07.shtml

19) Latest Issue of the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Online
Link to journal:
http://www.bepress.com/jhsem/


News Releases

1) Houston TranStar Adds Sensor Coverage
http://www.newsrouter.com/NewsRouter_Uploads/6/news_release.asp?intRelease_ID=3001&intAcc_ID=6

2) Microsoft Extends and Expands Agreement for Use of Navteq Traffic Data
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQM03815102007-1.htm


Upcoming Events
Road Expo Scotland – October 31-November 1 – Edinburgh, Scotland
http://www.road-expo.com/re2007s/


Today in Transportation History
1932 **75th anniversary** - Tata Sons Ltd., the predecessor to Air India, has its first flight.
http://home.airindia.in/SBCMS/Webpages/Time-line-1932-1940.aspx?MID=196#

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© 2007 Bernie Wagenblast