Transportation Communications Newsletter: Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Wednesday, September 7, 2011 – ISSN 1529-1057

BlueTOAD™ On The Road This Month

BlueTOAD by TrafficCast is the industry's leading Bluetooth™ traffic monitoring system. It accurately measures travel times, road speeds and route choice behaviors through anonymous detection of Bluetooth signals from mobile devices inside vehicles, and the vehicles themselves. An advanced software interface is included that automatically calculates the traffic data, in real-time or over time, displayed in color-coded speed maps as well as a dashboard format. BlueTOAD can work independent of local power and data connectivity, or installs directly in traffic signal cabinets. And the new Mini-BlueTOAD is perfect to collect data for studies, performance measures and before/after analysis.

And BlueTOAD is on the road this month. Distributors are showcasing the technologies at regional trade shows across the country, including ITS Maryland/Tri-Chapter September 14-15 in Hagerstown, Texas ITE in Garland on the 14th-16th, MASITE in Cape May, NJ on the 18-19, Tennessee ITS September 27-30 in Memphis, ITS-Midwest September 28-29 in Cincinnati, and ITS-Arizona on September 29 in Mesa. For more information on these and other shows next month, visit http://trafficcast.com/events/P0/

CARTOGRAPHY

1) CHK America's Maps Help People Navigate Transit Systems Around the World

Link to article in the Santa Barbara News-Press:

http://www.coverlypro.com/CHK-LoRes.pdf

GPS / NAVIGATION

2) North Korea Developing High-Powered GPS Jammer

Link to article in The Chosun Ilbo:

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/09/07/2011090700649.html

3) Only About Half of Smartphone Owners Use Phone's GPS for Directions

Link to CNN story:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/09/07/location.services.gahran/

4) Study Shows that Vehicle-to-Vehicle Navigation Systems Really Do Work

Link to article on PhysOrg.com:

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-vehicle-to-vehicle.html

OTHER

5) Washington State DOT Testing Advertising on Some of Its Web Pages

Link to article in Governing:

http://www.governing.com/topics/technology/click-here-more-revenue.html

6) High-Tech Ghost Town Planned for New Mexico

ITS among the technologies to be tested at site.

Link to CNET News article:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20102653-1/high-tech-ghost-town-planned-for-new-mexico

Link to further information from Pegasus Global Holdings:

http://www.pegasusglobalholdings.com/test-center.html

7) Top Wisconsin DOT Official Tells Staff Not to Mention Free Voter ID Cards to the Public – Unless They Ask

Link to article in The Capital Times:

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/capitol-report/article_335f59fa-d8fe-11e0-8a23-001cc4c03286.html

8) Demo: WiFlow – Real-Time Travel Time Estimation Using Wi-Fi Monitors

Link to demonstration paper:

http://www.cs.uic.edu/~jakob/papers/musa-sensys11.pdf

PUBLIC INFORMATION / EDUCATION

9) New York MTA, NYPD Praise 'See Something, Say Something' Campaign

Link to story and video on NY1

http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/transit/146535/mta--nypd-praise--see-something--say-something--campaign

SAFETY / SECURITY

10) Roadside Video Screen Shows Cars Speeding in School Zone

Link to article on Burnaby Now:

http://www.burnabynow.com/business/being+tracked/5362802/story.html

11) Female Blogger Threatened with Defamation Suit for Writing about TSA 'Rape'

Link to blog in Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/09/06/female-blogger-threatened-with-a-defamation-suit-for-blogging-about-tsa-rape/

TELEMATICS

12) Plans for New EU Cars to Automatically Dial for Emergency Help

Link to AFP article:

http://goo.gl/DUVd3

13) Kia Working on Next-Gen Telematics System for Global Application

Link to article on WardsAuto.com:

http://wardsauto.com/ar/kia_nextgen_telematics_110902/

TRANSIT

14) Countdown Signs Coming to DC Metro Bus Stops

Link to article in The Examiner:

http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/09/countdown-signs-coming-bus-stop-near-you

15) Real-Time Train Arrival Data in Calgary Delayed, but is En Route

Link to article in the Calgary Herald:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Real+time+train+arrival+data+delayed+route/5362927/story.html

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

16) Early Planning to Avoid Repeat of Scotland's Snow Chaos

Link to BBC News story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14816984

VEHICLES

17) Car Insurance by the Mile Debuts in California

Link to article on Stateline:

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=598582

News Releases

1) Nebraska ClickDMV Receives a Digital Government Achievement Award

2) Chemtrec, World's Foremost Chemical Emergency Response Service, Marks Milestone Anniversary

3) Delta First Airline in World to Provide Wi-Fi-Equipped Regional Aircraft

4) New Smartphone Application Lets Consumers Interact with Static Billboards

5) Kansas Turnpike Authority Launches Mobile Website

Upcoming Events

Traffic Management Center Pooled Funds Study Webinar: Design and Display of Effective Dynamic Message Sign Messages – September 14

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications-add/message/40

Today in Transportation History

1776 **235^th anniversary** The first submarine attack in war is alleged to have occurred in New York Harbor when the Turtle attempted to fasten an explosive device to the British flagship, HMS Eagle.

http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/t9/turtle-i.htm

======================================================================

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

To subscribe (for free) or unsubscribe, please contact me at bernie@bwcommunications.net.

TCN archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications

Become a TCN fan on Facebook!

Questions, comments about the TCN? Please write the editor, Bernie Wagenblast at bernie@bwcommunications.net.