Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 -- ISSN 1529-1057

Join IBTTA in Orlando, Florida for the Facilities Management Workshop - April 27-29, 2008

Join the industry’s leading engineers and technical experts at the Facilities Management Workshop and obtain practical solutions to the daily challenges involved with the operation of a toll facility. Program topics ranging from engineering & design, maintenance, security and law enforcement operations, and technology will be covered. Hosted by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority, this workshop will assist you in better managing your facility, while also gaining insight on how agencies are approaching many environmental issues such as alternative fuels, LEED®/Green Facilities and air quality. Registration deadline is April 15, 2008. Download the program, find the details and register online today! www.IBTTA.org.


AVIATION

1) Airline Hopes Avatar is the Future of Customer Service
Link to column in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/grossman/2008-03-17-alaska-airlines-avatar_N.htm

2) The Most and Least Wired Airlines and Airports
Link to story in PC World:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143461-c,broadband/article.html

3) Paper is Out, Cell Phones are In at Airports
Link to story in The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/technology/18check.html?ex=1363492800&en=8effeee3a07e5e79&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

4) US Airlines Blast Plan to Fingerprint Foreign Fliers
Link to story in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2008-03-16-fingerprints_N.htm

5) China Establishing Olympic Air Traffic Management Operation Command Center
Link to story in the People’s Daily:
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6375911.html

BICYCLES

6) Bicycle a Phone Call Away
Cell phones are used to rent bikes in New Zealand.
Link to story in the New Zealand Herald:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10498805

ELECTRONIC TOLLING

7) Ohio Turnpike Moves Toward Electronic Toll Collection
Link to story in The Blade:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/NEWS11/803180362/-1/NEWS

SAFETY / SECURITY

8) Tennessee Senate OKs Traffic Camera Restriction
Link to story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press:
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2008/mar/18/senate-oks-traffic-camera-restrict/?local
Link to traffic camera bill:
http://media.timesfreepress.com/docs/2008/03/SA1011.pdf

9) Audit Pokes Holes in Terrorist Watch List
Inaccurate, old data raise risks of confusion, missing terrorists, it says.
Link to McClatchy-Tribune news story:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5627619.html
Link to report from the US Department of Justice Inspector General:
http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/plus/a0816/final.pdf

TRANSIT

10) Perth First Australian City on Google Transit
Link to AAP story:
http://news.theage.com.au/perth-first-city-on-google-transit/20080318-2066.html

11) Calgary Transit Crime Stats to be Posted Online
Link to story in the Calgary Herald:
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=edf2290e-13e1-4d9b-a4cc-767c852df56f&k=35941

12) Understanding How to Motivate Communities to Support and Ride Public Transportation
Link to report from the Transportation Research Board:
http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=8832


News Releases
1) AirTran and CKPR Receive PRWeek Award for Best Use of Internet Media
2) More than 30 Million New Cars with On-Board Telematics Units Will Ship by 2013
3) Video Surveillance: A Market Poised for $46 Billion of Explosive Growth
4) HNTB Selected as One of Seattle DOT's Prime ITS Design Consultants
5) Los Angeles Metro Launches Campaign to Help Public Focus on Ways of Achieving Free-Flowing Traffic Future
6) ITS United Kingdom 2007/08 Awards for Excellence Announced
7) FHWA Office of Operations Launches a New Tolling and Pricing Program Web Site
8) Ensuring Security for Cognitive Radio Networks is the Goal of CAREER Research


Upcoming Events
Webinar: A Technical Discussion on Wireless Data Transport Systems: Wireless Trends, Tools and Tips Session II - Wireless Link Engineering – April 8
http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/t3/s080408_wireless.asp


Today in Transportation History
1898 **110th anniversary** - Jake Swirbul, co-founder of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corp., was born in Manhattan.
http://www.grummanpark.org/runway1.htm

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© 2008 Bernie Wagenblast