Friday, August 29, 2008

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Friday, August 29, 2008 -- ISSN 1529-1057

Register Now for IBTTA's 76th Annual Meeting and Exhibition – Early Bird Discount Extended to September 5th

Registration is now open for IBTTA’s 76th Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Connecting, People, Places & Ideas, September 20-24, 2008, in Baltimore, Maryland. Join IBTTA for the most significant gathering of toll industry professionals and business partners in the world. Register by September 5th and receive a $100 discount off your registration fee. More than 1,000 delegates from 25 countries on six continents will converge on Baltimore's Waterfront to examine best practices and critical innovations in toll industry finance, marketing, technology, customer service, environmental stewardship, operations, maintenance, and related issues. This meeting is hosted by the Maryland Transportation Authority. Registration cut-off for this meeting is September 5, 2008. For more information, visit IBTTA's website and register online today! www.IBTTA.org.


AVIATION

1) FAA Outage Reveals Odd Computing Practices
Link to AP story:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h1bzBw02FwEGqVA7Fw2oLDdSE8zgD92S5GE02

CAMERAS

2) Iowa Supreme Court Rules Traffic Cameras OK
Link to AP story:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-supco-trafficcame,0,794695.story

GPS / NAVIGATION

3) Map Reading Skills 'Dying Out Due to Internet and Sat-Navs"
Link to story in the Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2639307/Map-reading-skills-dying-out-due-to-internet-and-satnavs.html

4) European Sat-Nav Device to Warn Against Snarled Roads and Radar
Tom Tom says it will use cellular data from Vodafone.
Link to Deutsche Presse-Agentur story:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1427509.php/Sat-nav_device_to_warn_against_snarled_roads_and_radar

OTHER

5) Poor Communication Caused Texas DOT's $1 Billion Error
Link to story in the Houston Chronicle:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5972958.html

6) Missouri Law Now Mandates English-Only Commercial Driver’s License Tests
Link to story in Land Line Magazine:
http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2008/Aug08/082508/082808-04.htm

PUBLIC INFORMATION / EDUCATION

7) Pennsylvania Turnpike Lease-Backers Issue Poster, Video
Link to story in The Patriot-News:
http://www.pennlive.com/news/capitol/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/121997493131160.xml&coll=1

ROADWAYS

8) Washington State Rest Area Wi-Fi: Little Used, Expensive and Gone
Link to story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/147374.asp
Link to news release from Washington State DOT:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2008/08/28_RestAreaWiFi.htm

SAFETY / SECURITY

9) US Gears Up to Detect Nuclear Materials at Sea
Link to story in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-08-28-boats_N.htm

10) Panel Finds Transportation Worker Identification Credential Riddled with Problems
Link to story in Federal Computer Week:
http://www.fcw.com/online/news/153628-1.html

11) Database Catches Unfit Arkansas Big-Rig Drivers
Link to AP story:
http://www.thedailycitizen.com/articles/2008/08/29/ap-state-ar/d92rrnm88.txt

12) US Department of Homeland Security Studies PDAs for First Responders
Link to story in Federal Computer Week:
http://www.fcw.com/online/news/153654-1.html

TRANSIT

13) Miscommunication Blamed in Calgary Train Crash
Link to CTV News story:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080827/train_calgary_080827/20080827?hub=CTVNewsAt11

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

14) Signs Point to Boston T Times
Link to story in the Boston Herald:
http://bostonherald.com/business/general/view/2008_08_29_Signs_point_to_T_times:_Options:_Text_messages__up-to-minute_postings/srvc=home&position=5

15) Brisbane Coronation Drive Traffic Management System ‘a Failure’
Link to story in the Brisbane Times:
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/coronation-drive-lane-system-a-failure/2008/08/27/1219516522271.html

VEHICLES

16) GM to Offer Radios with Ports for Music Players
Link to AP story:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080829/gm_music_players.html?.v=4


Upcoming Events
13th International Conference of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies – December 13-15 – Hong Kong
http://home.netvigator.com/~hksts/conf.htm


Friday Bonus
Washington State DOT Announces Ultra-Green Ferry Routes
http://nakedloon.com/community/2008/04/02/dot-announces-new-ultra-green-ferry-routes/


Today in Transportation History
1958 **50th anniversary** -- The United States Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

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© 2008 Bernie Wagenblast