Friday, April 24, 2009

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Friday, April 24, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

Public Meeting on IntelliDriveSM Proof of Concept (POC) Results and Findings - May 19

The US Department of Transportation would like to invite you to the upcoming Public Meeting on IntelliDriveSM Proof of Concept (POC) Results and Findings, which will take place on May 19 at the Sheraton Detroit Novi in Novi, Michigan. POC testing resulted in a number of interesting findings, which will shape the coming activities on the IntelliDriveSM program. Key POC participants from government and industry will discuss the testing that took place and present their findings, recommendations, and lessons learned at this meeting, as well as the next steps for the IntelliDriveSM program and the Michigan testbed. The results should also be of interest to industry representatives from the automakers and makers of after-market devices; federal, state, and local transportation officials; system integrators; information service providers; and university researchers. The event is free, however registration is required for participation. For more information on the meeting or to register, click here or contact Chris Lane at clane@itsa.org.


AVIATION

1) FAA’s Bird Strike Database Goes Public
Link to ABC News story:
http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/story?id=7419909&page=1
Link to database: http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/public_html/index.html#access

2) US Airways Rejects PETA Seal Hunting Ad
Link to story in the Phoenix Business Journal:
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/04/20/daily66.html
Link to further information from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals:
http://blog.peta.org/archives/2009/04/us_airways_peta.php

CAMERAS

3) In Arizona, Cameras that Nab Speeders Record a Murder, Too
Link to story in The Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0424/p02s06-usgn.html

ELECTRONIC TOLLING

4) Minnesota Rips Illinois Tollway About Drivers It Says Were Unfairly Ticketed
Attorney general demands agency update car registration data.
Link to story in the Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-minnesota-illinois-tollway-2apr24,0,1750341.story
Link to news release from the Minnesota Attorney General:
http://www.ag.state.mn.us/Consumer/PressRelease/090424FaultyTollway.asp

GPS / NAVIGATION

5) Guide Dog GPS Device Up for Award
Link to BBC News story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8015296.stm

6) GPS in Cars Can Save Time and Money
Link to column in U.S. News & World Report:
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/daves-download/2009/04/23/gps-in-cars-can-save-time-and-money.html
Link to news release from Navteq:
http://www.navteq.com/webapps/NewsUserServlet?action=NewsDetail&newsId=724&lang=en&englishonly=false

MARITIME

7) Nortel Reporting System Helps Protect Endangered Whale
Link to story in Washington Technology:
http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2009/04/17/nortel-system-looks-to-protect-endangered-whale.aspx

OTHER

8) San Jose, California Street Lights Get Smarter
Link to story in Fortune:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/technology/street_lights_echelon.fortune/?postversion=2009042412

SAFETY / SECURITY

9) Digital IDs Make Clearing Customs Easier for US Citizens Traveling Abroad
Link to story in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-04-23-fastentry_N.htm

10) Feds Turn to ‘Brain Music’ to Boost Emergency Worker Performance
Link to story in Wired:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/04/musical-mind-co.html

SPACE

11) NASA Astronaut Says He Will Twitter from Space
Link to story in Computerworld:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132051

TELEMATICS

12) Toyota Plans ‘G-Book’ Telematics Service in China
Link to story on Tech-On:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20090423/169207/

TRANSIT

13) Los Angeles MTA Approves Spanish Translation of Gold Line
Link to story in the Los Angeles Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/04/mta-approves-spanish-translation-of-gold-line.html

14) New Report Cites Nation’s ‘Transit Innovations’
Link to story in Progressive Railroading:
http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=20253
Link to report from the Environmental Defense Fund:
http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=38941&redirect=transit

15) iPhone App Showdown: Battle of the CTA Bus Trackers
Link to story on ARS Technica:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/04/iphone-app-showdown-battle-of-the-cta-bus-trackers.ars

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

16) New Traffic Operations Center Opens for Western Australia Police
Link to story in The West Australian:
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=137946

VEHICLES

17) Vanity Plates Catch ACLU’s Eye
Link to story in The Denver Post:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_12213302


News Releases
1) Speed Enforcement: Make Roads Safer and Increase the Number of Valid Reads
2) Cyprus Airport Guide Launched by Creators of the Successful Spanish Airport Guide


Upcoming Events
5th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design – June 22-25 – Big Sky, Montana
http://ppc.uiowa.edu/driving-assessment/2009/


Friday Bonus
Don’t worry…this does not smell like you think it does. Take a closer look.
http://commercial-archive.com/n1rv4n4g8/2008/octjpgs/NED_BAONTV_busreklames.jpg


Today in Transportation History
1834 – 175th anniversary of the charter of the Long Island Rail Road.
http://www.mta.info/lirr/Video/175thAnniversary/

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© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast