Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 – ISSN 1529-1057

---

BlueTOAD™ On The Road

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. Advanced software automatically calculates traffic data, in real-time or over time, displaying content in both color-coded speed maps and a dashboard format on a secure web interface. BlueTOAD can work independent of local power and data connectivity, install directly in traffic signal cabinets or even capture data for post-analysis. Speed studies, performance measures, before/after comparisons, Origin/Destination analysis all benefit from the robust data BlueTOAD delivers.

And BlueTOAD is on the road. Distributors are showcasing the technologies at regional trade shows across the country, including OTEC in Columbus October 25-26, the Wisconsin ITS-Forum in Milwaukee November 1, GRITS - Gulf Region ITS in Montgomery November 2-4 and ITS-Texas in San Marcos November 9-11. And, of course, the ITS World Congress - Booth #1771 – in Orlando October 16–20. For more information on these and other shows where BlueTOAD will be hopping, visit http://trafficcast.com/events/

ELECTRONIC TOLLING

1) Maine Turnpike Boss Touts Plan to Increase E-ZPass Use

Link to article in the Portsmouth Herald:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20111012-NEWS-110120369

2) OmniAir Consortium Says Electronic Payments Services Interop Spec Developed, Tested

Link to article on TOLLROADSnews:

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/5544

MARITIME

3) Maritime Safety Boost During Bridge Construction in Macau

Navigation guide, map and sharing of information for vessel traffic management system planned.

Link to article in the Macau Daily Times:

http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/30368-Maritime-safety-boost-for-Delta-bridge-works.html

OTHER

4) Can Smart Transportation Apps Curb Greenhouse Gases?

Link to article in Government Technology:

http://www.govtech.com/technology/Can-Smart-Transportation-Apps-Curb-Greenhouse-Gases.html

Link to report from CITA:

http://files.ctia.org/pdf/Wireless_and_the_Environment_10-06-2011.pdf

5) A Solution for a Vexing Question: Is This Cab Available?

New York City considers easier way to determine if a taxi is off-duty.

Link to article in The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/nyregion/answering-the-question-is-this-new-york-cab-free.html?_r=2&ref=nyregion

Link to notice from the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/industry_notice_11_25.pdf

6) Travel Apps Top Performing Sector in Consumer Satisfaction Survey

Link to article on Tnooz:

http://www.tnooz.com/2011/10/12/news/travel-apps-come-top-in-consumer-satisfaction-league

7) Polis Newsletter – Autumn 2011

Link to newsletter:

http://goo.gl/JB6hQ

ROADWAYS

8) More Roads Going High-Tech

Link to US DOT's Fast Lane blog:

http://fastlane.dot.gov/2011/10/more-roads-going-high-tech.html

SAFETY / SECURITY

9) Amtrak Employs New Safety Program to Identify, Improve Workers' Behavior

Link to article in Progressive Railroading:

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/safety/article/Passenger-rail-Amtrak-employs-new-safety-program-to-identify-improve-workers39-behavior--26585

TRANSIT

10) Las Vegas RTC Launches Tourist-Friendly Website

Link to article in Metro:

http://www.metro-magazine.com/News/Story/2011/10/Las-Vegas-RTC-launches-tourist-friendly-website.aspx

Link to site: http://www.rtcsnv.com/touristms/index.html

11) Using AVL Data to Improve Transit On-Time Performance

Link to article in the Journal of Public Transportation:

http://www.nctr.usf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/JPT14.3Cevallos-.pdf

12) Effort to Test, Evaluate and Deploy Technologies to Automate the Measurement of Real-Time Border Wait Times at US - Canada Land Border Crossings

Link to report from FHWA:

http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/resources/news/news_detail.asp?ID=764

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

13) Green Light for Traffic-Control System in Galway, Ireland

Link to article in the Galway Independent:

http://www.galwayindependent.com/local-news/local-news/green-light-for-traffic-control-system-20111012/

14) Wyoming DOT Weather, Road Condition Warnings Apply to All Motorists

Link to article in the Laramie Boomerang:

http://www.laramieboomerang.com/articles/2011/10/09/news/doc4e910fd159abb075126075.txt

VEHICLES

15) Cadillac Bringing 'Gesture Recognition' to Touch Screens

Link to article and video in USA Today:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/10/cadillac-bringing-gesture-recognition-to-touch-screens/1

Link to news release from General Motors:

http://www.gm.com/content/gmcom/home/article.content_pages_news_us_en_2011_oct_1012cadillac.gm.html

16) Germany Prepares for Big Car-to-X Communication Test

Link to article in automotiveIT:

http://www.automotiveit.com/germany-prepares-for-big-car-to-x-communication-test/news/id-004188

17) Get IT Experts More Involved in Car Development

Link to commentary in automotiveIT:

http://www.automotiveit.com/point-of-view-get-it-experts-more-involved-in-car-development/news/id-004202

News Releases

1) Econolite Group Companies Aegis ITS and Team Econolite to Merge

2) National Business Aviation Association Presents Top Journalism Awards

3) Public Transit Riders Around the World Get on Board Faster with New Ticketing System from ACS

4) Iteris Announces Vantage Vector – Harnessing the Power of Video and Radar Sensor Fusion

5) TripAdvisor Launches Free Mobile City Guides for Android

6) Magellan RoadMate App for the iPhone Adds a Host of Additional Safety Features and Freshest Maps

7) SITA Launches Air Transport Command Center in Singapore

Job Postings

- State ITS Engineer – Iowa Department of Transportation – Ames, Iowa

http://goo.gl/iZB1a

Solicitation

-

Upcoming Events

Intelligent Cities Expo – November 8-10 – Hamburg, Germany

http://www.intelligentcitiesexpo.com/

Today in Transportation History

1961 **50^th anniversary** US Air Force Major Robert White set a new altitude record for a fixed-wing aircraft of 40 miles.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19611012&id=x19SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=NXkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1437,399607

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

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.

© 2011 Bernie Wagenblast Communications, LLC www.bwcommunications.net