Thursday, November 13, 2008

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Thursday, November 13, 2008 -- ISSN 1529-1057

TIC for Radio and TV Traffic Reports – create useful information audiences want to hear and see.

TIC can create formatted traffic reports from a consistent set of traffic, weather, news, advertisements, and more. Information can be localized and organized by type, market area, priority, advert sponsorship level, and many other criteria. Reports can be automatically or manually created by operators. Data can be collected from service providers, sent to web sites and for radio data broadcast (for navigation device using RDS-TMC & TPEG), personalized for IVR and mobile phone text, and time scrolled for announcers. Data can include speed and flow, traffic events, roadside camera images, parking availability, fuel prices, social events (such as sports), pollution and pollen levels, general news items, audio files, text, program associated data (PAD), advertisements, and more. TIC is a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) platform solution proven in over 100 projects operating worldwide, and can be deployed faster, more affordably, and with less risk than build-your-own solutions.

See TIC at GEWI booth #1025 at the ITS World Congress or contact jim.oneill@gewi.com to discuss your requirements.


AVIATION

1) Canadian Pilots Worried About ‘Stupid Hobby’ of Shining Laser Lights at Planes
Link to CBC News story:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/11/12/planes-lasers.html

2) American Airlines Offers Mobile Boarding Passes
Link to AP story:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081113/american_airlines_boarding_passes.html?.v=1
Link to news release from American Airlines:
http://www.aa.com/content/amrcorp/pressReleases/2008_11/13_barcode.jhtml

CARTOGRAPHY

3) Artists Stage Street Scenes to Lurk in Google Maps
Link to AP story:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-11-12-google-street-art_N.htm
Link to Google Maps Street View of Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh:
http://tinyurl.com/62lpch

GPS / NAVIGATION

4) Connected PND Market Anything but Clear
Link to story in Perspectives on LBS:
http://lbs.gpsworld.com/gpslbs/LBS+Insider%3A+Editor%27s+Column/Perspectives-on-LBS-mdash-Early-November-Newslette/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/565693?contextCategoryId=34248

5) GPS Units Can be Used to Track People Without Their Knowledge
Link to story and video report on WAGA-TV:
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7850654&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

MARITIME

6) US Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on Navy’s Sonar Use
Link to story in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-11-12-navy-sonar_N.htm
Link to opinion from the US Supreme Court:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-1239.pdf

PARKING

7) Findings and Lessons Learned from an Evaluation of Advanced Parking Management Systems for Transit
Link to webinar transcript and presentations from US DOT:
http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/t3/s081021/s081021_parking_intro.asp

ROADWAYS

8) Chattanooga Eyes Tighter Rules on Naming Streets
Link to story in the Chattanooga Times Free Press:
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2008/nov/13/chattanooga-city-eyes-tighter-rules-naming-streets/

9) Work Zones and Maintenance Operations
Link to report from the Transportation Research Board:
http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=9708

10) New Publications Available from US DOT
- Road Weather Management Performance Metrics
http://www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/JPODOCS//REPTS_TE/14420.htm
- Integration of Weather Information in Transportation Management Center Operations: Self-Evaluation and Planning Guide
http://www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/JPODOCS//REPTS_TE/14437.htm
- Maintenance Decision Support System Deployment Guide
http://www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/JPODOCS//REPTS_TE/14439.htm
- Intelligent Transportation Systems for Planned Special Events: A Cross-Cutting Study
http://www.itsdocs.fhwa.dot.gov/JPODOCS//REPTS_TE/14436.htm

SAFETY / SECURITY

11) Experts Meeting in Abu Dhabi Call to Invest in Traffic Safety
Link to story in Gulf News:
http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Traffic_and_Transport/10259316.html

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

12) New York City Traffic Center Opens (‘All Clear, Mr. President’)
Link to story in The New York Times:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/traffic-center-opens-all-clear-mr-president/

13) Tennessee DOT Launches SmartWay in Memphis
Link to story in the Memphis Business Journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/stories/2008/11/10/daily25.html
Link to news release from TDOT:
http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/news/2008/111308.htm

14) Pennsylvania DOT Installing Traffic Cameras and Message Boards in Central Part of State
Link to story and video report on WHP-TV:
http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=e71383f3-af0f-4d1d-b24f-fcc82edb327f

VEHICLES

15) Talking Car Technology Making Progress
Link to DPA story:
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=665653

16) Broadband in the Car: Revolution or Epic Fail?
Link to story in PC World:
http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;634899338;fp;4;fpid;1


News Releases
1) Men Break More Traffic Laws, Drive More Dangerously than Women, Concludes QPC Study
2) Urban Mapping Launches Mass Transit Proximity API
3) NJ Transit Launches Online News Feeds for Vital Service Info
4) A National Model for Metropolitan Cooperation: Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority
5) Indian Premier Calls for Greater Maritime Cooperation at Summit
6) Cellint Announces the Completion of the Expanded Phase of Cellular-Based Traffic Data Delivery for the SRA in Southern Sweden
7) Pollution Sensors Send Out a Clear Message


Upcoming Events
Texas Transportation Forum – January 5-7 – Austin, Texas
http://www.texastransportationforum.com


Today in Transportation History
1956 – The US Supreme Court struck down bus segregation laws.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1113.html#article

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© 2008 Bernie Wagenblast