Thursday, February 26, 2009

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Thursday, February 26, 2009 -- ISSN 1529-1057
Register Today for IBTTA’s Toll Road Summit of Australia, New Zealand & the Asia Pacific Rim, March 15-18, 2009 in Sydney, Australia

If you are interested in public-private partnerships, innovations in customer service and next generation technologies, you need to attend this meeting! Join IBTTA and ITS Australia in Sydney, Australia and learn about the explosive growth of tolling in Australia, New Zealand and the countries in the Asia Pacific Rim. Learn about toll concessions and operations, including the political, regulatory, public affairs and customer service aspects of startup and mature facilities, and lessons learned from successive implementation of all electronic toll collection. Visit IBTTA’s website to view the preliminary agenda, make your travel arrangements and register today

AVIATION

1) Transportation Budget Proposes NextGen Air Traffic Control Funding
Link to story in Business First of Louisville:
http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2009/02/23/daily40.html

2) Technology in the Sky
A photo essay in Time:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1666378_1454387,00.html

CAMERAS

3) Mississippi May Blind ‘Eyes’ on Traffic
Bill to ban devices that photograph traffic scofflaws advances.
Link to story in The Clarion-Ledger:
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090226/NEWS010504/902260345/1001/news

ELECTRONIC TOLLING

4) FastLane Slips in Stealth Fees
Up to one million customers hit with faulty charges.
Link to story in the Boston Herald:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2009_02_26_Fastlane_slips_in_stealth_fees:_Up_to_1_million_customers_hit_with_faulty_charges/srvc=home&position=0

GPS / NAVIGATION

5) Federal Commission Backs Mileage Fees Over Gas Taxes, Champions GPS Technology
Link to story in Inside GNSS:
http://www.insidegnss.com/node/1366

OTHER

6) New Weather Monitoring System Reaches to the Heavens
Microwave technology used for the first time in US.
Link to story and video report on KING-TV:
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_022509WAB-weather-testing-KS.2f300ba.html

PARKING

7) Parking Meters Out to Destroy the Human Race
Washington, DC meters pretend to be broken then 'self-correct' to give you tickets.
Link to story on WRC-TV:
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Local-Parking-Meters-Develop-Artificial-Intelligence-Will-Destroy-Humans.html

SAFETY / SECURITY

8) US Department of Homeland Security Secretary: Agency Likely to Miss Cargo Scanning Deadline
Link to story from CongressDaily:
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090225_7302.php
Link to further information from the House Committee on Homeland Security:
http://homeland.house.gov/Hearings/index.asp?ID=171

9) TSA: Mule Skinners Need Background Checks, Too
Employees who accompany historic canal boats required to get security credentials.
Link to CNN story:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/25/mule.skinner.blues/

TELEMATICS

10) Leverage Telematics and On-Board Diagnostics for Warranty Management
Link to story in Automotive DesignLine:
http://www.automotivedesignline.com/howto/214600030;jsessionid=3QLTBFFM2ABFAQSNDLPCKH0CJUNN2JVN

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

11) Traffic Nerd Looks Through Numbers with CEO
Seattle traffic reporter meets with the president of Inrix to discuss new traffic data.
Link to story on KIRO-TV:
http://www.kirotv.com/traffic/18792881/detail.html

VEHICLES

12) ‘Talking’ Cars Could Hit the Road by 2012
Link to story in Wired:
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/02/talking-cars-co.html


News Releases
1) SITA and WestJet Go Live with New Standard for Checking In and Boarding Passengers
2) US Department of Transportation Unveils 2010 Budget Framework
3) Toyota Adds to Pre-Crash Safety Technologies
4) Gresham, Smith and Partners Wins City of Memphis, City Engineer’s Award of Excellence for SmartWay Project
5) Raleigh-Wake Emergency Communications Center Offering Online Traffic Information
6) GeoSpot Deep Local Search Launches Nationwide on Web and Mobile


Upcoming Events
Carbon-Free Mobility Conference – March 6 – Oakland, California
http://www.advancedtransit.org/doc.aspx?id=2109


Today in Transportation History
1914 **95th anniversary** - The HMS Britannic was launched in Belfast.
http://www.atlanticliners.com/britannic_home.htm

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© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast