Friday, September 28, 2007

Transportation Communications Newsletter

Friday, September 28, 2007 -- ISSN 1529-1057

1) Using Traffic Cameras for Amber Alerts
Proposed legislation in West Virginia would allow cameras to be used to track any vehicles linked to a child abduction.
Link to AP story:
http://www.whsv.com/westvirginiaap/headlines/10091766.html

2) Feds Give New York City $3 Million for Radiation Detectors
Detectors will be placed as far as 50 miles outside the five boroughs to identify dirty bombs and other threats on major routes into New York.
Link to story in the Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/28/2007-09-28_feds_give_city_3m_for_radiation_detector.html

3) Wisconsin to Start Experiment with Bridge-Failure Sensors While Minnesota Opts for Increased Inspections
Different approaches reflect the continuing debate over the role of high-tech devices in detecting potentially fatal problems in bridges.
Link to story in the Star Tribune:
http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1451147.html (may require free registration)

4) Vancouver Cops Probe Sabotage as Traffic Lights on the Blink
Clocks that run city traffic lights flipped to night mode.
Link to story in The Vancouver Sun:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=338f1710-2f0c-4eb6-bd70-fdbfb1a45a78

5) Smarter Cars Showcased at ‘Intelligent Technology’ Forum in Connecticut
Link to story in The News Times:
http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1186571913&source=tabbox

6) Tourists in Florida Rental Cars to Get Turnpike Toll Service
Toll tags won’t be needed. Cameras will scan license plates to collect tolls.
Link to story in The Palm Beach Post:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/south/epaper/2007/09/27/0926sunpass.html

7) Hawaii Works to Learn After Disaster
State agencies and media outlets have focused on improving internal communication, updating emergency plans and securing backup power.
Link to story in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:
http://starbulletin.com/2007/09/28/news/story11.html

8) American Samoa and FAA at Odds Over Air Traffic Control Tower
Grant of $2 million to build new tower could be lost in dispute over financing.
Link to story on Radio New Zealand International:
http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=35446

9) Don't Spare Technology in Saving Pedestrian Lives
Link to commentary in the San Francisco Chronicle:http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/27/ED8JSCAH6.DTL

10) Accident-Prone Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Now has Its Own Blog
Link to story in The Brooklyn Paper:
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/38/30_38cohnbqe.html
Link to BQE Watch blog: http://bqewatch.blogspot.com/


News Releases

1) ITS Australia to Host 10th Asia-Pacific ITS Forum – July 2009, Brisbane, Australia
http://www.its-australia.com.au/KMXServer3/Portals/0/ITSAsiaPacForumRelease19Sep.pdf


Upcoming Events
Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference – October 17-19 – Melbourne, Australia
http://www.roadsafetyconference2007.com.au/


Friday Bonus
One more reason I don’t go fishing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_qFAH2SWZs


Today in Transportation History
1994 – The ferry Estonia sinks in the Baltic Sea off Finland killing 852 people.
http://www.onnettomuustutkinta.fi/estonia/

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© 2007 Bernie Wagenblast