Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Wednesday, October 5, 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 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. 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 1st, 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/


AVIATION

1) FAA's New Air-Traffic System Hits Turbulence

Link to AP article:

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/10/05/faas_new_air_traffic_system_hits_turbulence/

Link to report from the US DOT Inspector General: http://www.oig.dot.gov/node/5636

Link to report from the US Government Accountability Office: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-141T

2) Taiwan Launches New Generation Air-Traffic Control System

Link to CNA article:

http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aSOC&ID=201110050017

BICYCLES

3) How Intersections Now Sense What Will Zoom By

In Pleasanton, California radar-like sensors can more easily detect bicycle traffic, providing safer crossings for cyclists and motorists.

Link to article in Governing:

http://www.governing.com/topics/technology/how-intersections-sense-what-zoom-by-pleasanton-california.html

CAMERAS

4) Study Shows Red-Light Cameras in Iowa Save Lives and Reduce Injuries

Link to article in UTC Spotlight:

http://utc.dot.gov/publications/spotlight/2011_10/html/spotlight_1110.html

GPS / NAVIGATION

5) FCC Wants GPS in All Cellphones by 2018

Link to article in PC Magazine:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2394177,00.asp

OTHER

6) UK Office of Fair Trading Begins Investigation of Acquisition of ITIS Holdings by Inrix

Link to article in the Manchester Evening News:

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/business/s/1460665_oft-begins-investigation-of-acquisition-of-itis-holdings-

7) Taxpayer-Backed Traffic.com to Close Malvern, Pennsylvania Offices

Link to column in The Philadelphia Inquirer:

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/joseph-distefano/131114523.html

PUBLIC INFORMATION / EDUCATION

8) Louisiana Highway Safety Commission Providing Safe Driving Info via Social Media

Link to story on KATC-TV:

http://www.katc.com/news/highway-safety-information-now-available-through-popular-social-media-sites/

SAFETY / SECURITY

9) Time for Las Vegas Airport to Tap New Celebrities for TSA Explainers?

Link to column on Vegas Inc:

http://www.vegasinc.com/news/2011/oct/05/mccarran-taps-local-talent-tsa-explainers/

10) The Responder – October 2011

Link to newsletter from The TIM Network:

http://timnetwork.org/category/the-responder/

11) Communication with Vulnerable Populations: A Transportation and Emergency Management Toolkit

Link to report from the Transportation Research Board:

http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/166060.aspx

TELEMATICS

12) Telogis on Developing Next-Gen Commercial Telematics Platforms

Link to interview from Telematics Update:

http://uk.telematicsupdate.com/fc_tele_evupdatelz//lz.aspx?p1=0575795S453&CC=&p=1&cID=0

13) Privacy Concerns Hamper Spread of Telematics Programs Among Insurance Carriers

Link to article in InsuranceNewsNet:

http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=281129

TRANSIT

14) 'Town Hall to Twitter' Session Tackles Social Media Benefits, Obstacles for Transit Agencies

Link to article in Metro:

http://www.metro-magazine.com/News/Story/2011/10/Town-Hall-to-Twitter-session-tackles-social-media-benefits-obstacles.aspx

15) Razorback Transit Plans to Add Real-Time GPS Technology

Link to story on KHBS/KHOG-TV:

http://www.4029tv.com/r/29387364/detail.html

16) SMART San Francisco Muni App Designed Over a Weekend

Link to article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/04/BU7O1LCPJI.DTL

17) Tokyo Trains Go Online with Train Net

Link to article on Japan Trends:

http://www.japantrends.com/tokyo-trains-go-online-with-train-net/

Link to Train Net: http://www.yamanoteline-trainnet.jp (in Japanese)

18) New App Lets Ventura County, California Bus Riders Find Nearest Stops

Link to article in the Ventura County Star:

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/oct/04/new-app-lets-bus-riders-find-nearest-stops

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

19) Honolulu to Use Social Media to Push Alerts During APEC Week

Traffic cameras could go dark during summit.

Link to story and video on KITV-TV:

http://www.kitv.com/r/29391756/detail.html

20) Saudi Agencies Linked Electronically to Exchange Accident Information

Link to article in Arab News:

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article511682.ece

21) Navigating the Garden State: On the Web

Link to article on River Dell Patch:

http://riverdell.patch.com/blog_posts/navigating-the-garden-state-on-the-web-69817808

VEHICLES

22) Volvo Auto-Braking Spares Deer in Headlights

Link to Bloomberg article:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-04/volvo-auto-braking-means-deer-in-headlights-miss-collision-cars.html

23) The Great Online Car-Radio Race

Link to article in Fortune:

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/14/the-great-online-car-radio-race/?source=yahoo_quote

News Releases

1) American Public Transportation Association Honors Excellence in Public Transportation Marketing and Communications

2) ITT Launches New Flight-Tracking Application for Alaskan Airspace

3) Delta Launches Expanded In-Flight Wi-Fi, Entertainment on Demand Options

4) ITS for ElectroMobility – Gunter Zimmermeyer, ERTICO Chairman, Addresses European Parliament Seminar

5) New Map Shows Real-Time Traffic Conditions Over Washington's Snoqualmie Pass

6) San Francisco International Airport to Warn Rental Car Drivers About 'Hands Free' Law

7) US Air Force GPS Program Receives International Award

8) Audi Announces AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety as Official Partner for 'Driver's Pledge'

9) Toyota to Launch Global Cloud-Platform-Based Next-Generation Telematics Services in Emerging Markets

10) 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems Welcomed to Orlando by Orange County Mayor

11) TomTom Introduces Live Services and HD Traffic Service to Canada

12) Toll Free Number in South Africa to Bust Bad Drivers

13) Boeing and Lion Air Pioneer Precision Satellite-Navigation Technology

Upcoming Events

Truck Driver Social Media Convention – October 15 – Tunica, Mississippi

http://www.truckingsocialmedia.com/

Today in Transportation History

1911 **100th anniversary** The Oregon Trunk Railroad was officially opened.

http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/narratives/subtopic.cfm?subtopic_ID=395

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