Monday, June 8, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

Siemens Traffic Solutions and Sensys Networks have formed a technology partnership to integrate Sensys wireless vehicle detectors with the Siemens SCOOT^® Adaptive Control System.  The collaboration of Siemens and Sensys has unleashed the ability for cities and municipalities to implement SCOOT^® Adaptive systems without the infrastructure and cost barriers of traditional loop detectors. Sensys wireless detectors are renowned for their ease of installation and dependability. Integration with Siemens products further facilitates their use by making it easier to implement at all levels of traffic management systems and for a variety of applications. Siemens plans further integration with additional systems beyond adaptive control. Working closely with Sensys, Siemens expects to see integration with regional, central and on-street systems. For more info on how you can simplify your SCOOT^® Adaptive Control System with Sensys wireless detectors and eliminate street trenching all together, email Ray Schreiber at ray@sensysnetworks.com or call 510 898 2251. Visit us at www.sensysnetworks.com for more info.

AVIATION

1) Paris-Miami Flight a Step Forward for Aviation

An intercontinental flight from Paris to South Florida by a US passenger jet will use new fuel-saving and satellite-based navigation procedures.

Link to story in The Miami Herald:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1086729.html

2) Airlines Expanding Self-Serve Check-In

Many passengers can now check in for a flight and even change or select a seat using their mobile phones.

Link to story in the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-briefcase6-2009jun06,0,4717445.story

3) Air France Replaces Speed Sensors

Link to BBC News story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8087573.stm

4) E-Boarding Pass Use Expands; Baggage Carousel Ads Make the Rounds

Link to story in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2009-06-07-airport-checkin-delta-american_N.htm

BICYCLES

5) Baffled About Pedaling to Work? Web Will Get You Rolling

Link to story in the Chicago Sun-Times:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/1611705,CST-NWS-ride08a.article

GPS / NAVIGATION

6) TomTom Brings Turn-by-Turn Navigation to iPhone

Link to CNET News story:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10259662-233.html

MARITIME

7) Stimulus Funds for Coastal Charts Yet to be Sighted

Link to story in The Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.mapping06jun06,0,3316044.story

OTHER

8) Human Ear Inspires Universal Radio Antenna

It may lead to electronics that can pick up any radio frequency.

Link to story from Discovery:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31172567/

RAILROADS

9) Amtrak Late to Station with Onboard Wi-Fi

Link to commentary on Reason Online:

http://reason.com/blog/show/133989.html

ROADWAYS

10) Ohio Turnpike to Let Drivers Pay Tolls with Credit, Debit Cards

Link to story in The Plain Dealer:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/06/ohio_turnpike_to_let_drivers_p.html

11) Can Twitter Help Fix San Francisco’s Potholes?

Link to story in The Christian Science Monitor:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0606/p02s01-usgn.html

12) ShakeCast: Caltrans Deploys a Tool for Rapid Postearthquake Response

Link to further information from the Transportation Research Board:

http://www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=10437

SAFETY / SECURITY

13) MBTA Expands Cell Phone Ban to Rail, Boats

Link to story on WCVB-TV:

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/19682978/detail.html

14) ‘Bluetooth’ Signals Show Airport Security-Line Waiting Times

Link to AScribe Newswire story:

http://newswire.ascribe.org/cgi-bin/behold.pl?ascribeid=20090608.103514&time=11%2058%20PDT&year=2009&public=0

TRANSIT

15) Bus Drivers Say Seattle Metro’s New Smart Card Isn’t so Smart

Link to story in the Seattle PostGlobe:

http://seattlepostglobe.org/2009/06/07/bus-drivers-say-metros-new-smart-card-isnt-so-smart

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

16) Technology Allows Sandy Springs, Georgia to do Real-Time Traffic Fixes

Link to story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2009/06/08/sandy_springs_traffic.html

17) Clear Channel Readies New Digital Apps

Link to story in MediaDailyNews:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=107418

News Releases

1) New TrafficFlow Manager Works with Traffic Signal Timing to Eliminate Traffic Congestion and Reduce Fuel Consumption

2) Despite Bankruptcy, General Motors Tops New ABI Research Global OEM Telematics Vendor Matrix Ranking

3) NOAA, US Army Corps of Engineers to Build Alaska Satellite Operations Facility

4) New Center Provides Traffic Information for Townsville, Australia Area

5) Improvements to Official UK Highways Agency Traffic Web Site Allows Coach Crews to Check Data on the Move

Upcoming Events

2^nd International Symposium on Freeway and Tollway Operations – June 21-24 – Honolulu, Hawaii

http://2isfo.eng.hawaii.edu/

Today in Transportation History

1959 **50^th anniversary** – The first and only delivery of ‘missile mail’ by the US Post Office Department took place when the USS Barbero fired a missile with some 3,000 letters to Mayport, Florida.

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/airmail/historicplanes/unusual/historicplanes_unusual_missile.html

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

To subscribe send an e-mail to:  TCNL-subscribe@googlegroups.com

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

Questions, comments about the TCN?  Please write the editor, Bernie Wagenblast ati95berniew@aol.com.

© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast

(Source: Business Standard & Green Car Congress)

Image: REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim via Boston Globe

The international airline industry is committed to achieving carbon-neutral growth by 2020, said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO in his State of the Industry address at the 65th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Two years ago we set a vision to achieve carbon-neutral growth on the way to a carbon-free future. Today we have taken a major step forward by committing to a global cap on our emissions in 2020. After this date, aviation’s emissions will not grow even as demand increases. Airlines are the first global industry to make such a bold commitment.

—Giovanni Bisignani

The commitment to carbon-neutral growth completes a set of three sequential goals for air transport: (1) a 1.5% average annual improvement in fuel efficiency from 2009 to 2020; (2) carbon-neutral growth from 2020 and (3) a 50% absolute reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.

To achieve these goals, the air transport industry is focusing on a cross-industry four-pillar strategy on climate change consisting of improved technology; effective operations; efficient infrastructure; and positive economic measures.

In 2009 the carbon footprint of air transport is expected to shrink by 7%. Of this, 5% is due to the recession and 2% is directly related to efficiency gains.

Bisignani said a cross industry four-pillar strategy on climate change focused on improved technology, effective operations, efficient infrastructure and positive economic measures was delivering results noting that in 2009 the carbon footprint of air transport was expected to shrink by 7 per cent.

Bisignani attributed 5 per cent to the recession and 2 per cent to efficiency gains from IATA’s four-pillar strategy.

“No other industry is as united and no other industry can point to such good results and progress,” Bisignani claimed.  He noted that the airlines’ commitment needed to be matched by governments. “We are ambitious, but our success will be contingent on governments acting effectively.”

“International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) must set binding carbon emissions standards on manufacturers for new aircraft. A legal and fiscal framework to support the availability of sustainable biofuels must be established.

“Governments must work with air navigation service providers to push forward major infrastructure projects such as a Single European Sky, NextGen in the US or fixing the Pearl River Delta in China,” Bisignani added.

(Source:  Foreign Policy Magazine)

Cartoon Courtesy: Slate Magazine

Outside a small group of nihilists and committed free marketeers who’d have let General Motors go under, no matter the price, few question the necessity of the Obama administration’s plan for the once great American company’s reorganization in bankruptcy. But as a U.S. taxpayer, and therefore one of GM’s brand-new owners, I have my doubts about our ability to manage this new property. Yes, GM’s previous owners proved unable to run a competitive car company in a global marketplace, but is the U.S. government really the best one to transform it? Already, the particulars of the Chapter 11 arrangement lead me to fear that the same sort of internal politics, unthinking nationalism, and generalized aversion to engineering risk that have hobbled GM for decades will continue to haunt its new incarnation.

One place where you won’t hear for-attribution criticism of the “new” General Motors these days is GM headquarters. Perforce they are obligated to display their gratitude with the unfailing enthusiasm that a $50 billion-plus investment in a failing business minimally entitles its benefactors to expect in return. Although the collegial tone of the new rapprochement comes 50 years late, it is heartening nonetheless to see American industry finally welcome Washington’s involvement in matters like safety, fuel economy, and emissions regulation.

Even Robert “Maximum Bob” Lutz, GM’s outgoing product czar and vice chairman, and a fierce critic of government meddling from the “give me back my bullets” wing of Detroit’s old school, has experienced an astonishing change of heart, at the ripe age of 77. Speaking to a gathering of journalists in Motor City the other week, Lutz unhinged every jaw in the house when he shared his thoughts on how the White House automotive task force ought to become a permanent fixture. Of the unprecedented government-industry collaboration the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies begat, Lutz, an ex-Marine attack pilot and near-libertarian known for making his daily commute in a decommissioned Czech jet fighter, quipped: “Jeez, it only took 30 years for somebody to finally figure [government-industry partnership] out.”

Er, right. Thirty years and a couple of epochal bankruptcies.

Questions about the government’s intentions for the new GM Lite already abound. Notably, what will and what should the company’s policies be, now that it is controlled (in theory) by and for the benefit of U.S. taxpayers, who own 60 percent of its shares?

Will GM be underwritten so as to lead the market in the direction of fuel saving and new technologies? Or will it trim its sails and attempt to get by on its sometimes-profitable religion of pickup trucks and SUVs, perhaps ones that get slightly better mileage? GM is still tooled up to build them.

Ever since the 1920s, when GM’s Alfred P. Sloan introduced the precepts of what came to be known as Sloanism — a car for every purse and purpose — a good day at a car dealership was one when you sold someone “more car than they need.” Automobile marketing often appeals to man’s baser emotions. Greed, lust, and envy come to mind, as do excessive horsepower and other costly and unnecessary options that have been larded on to new cars to boost profits for longer than any of us have been alive. So, you can’t help wondering, has the U.S. government entered the business of encouraging people to live out their most insane automotive dreams? Will it labor to create demand for automobiles when and where there is no need, as generations of car companies have done before it?

And where do GM’s new taxpayer/shareholders stand on the matter of outsourcing work to Mexico or South Korea or China or anywhere else, as the old GM did whenever it got the chance? Will Chevy production lines in places like Toluca and Silao, Mexico, come home to the USA? The old GM went in for cheap overseas labor. Has the government now entered the business of using taxpayer money to export jobs? Is this the change we need?

Myriad practical and philosophical quandaries aside, one vital series of questions about the “new” GM — which brands will be kept, sold, or terminated — has already been answered. Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Australia’s Holden, and South Korea’s Daewoo are to be spared. To be sold: Saturn, Hummer, and Sweden’s Saab are available outright, and operating control of GM’s German division, Opel, is to be sacrificed in a deal brokered by the German government outside U.S. bankruptcy proceedings. For the scrap heap: Pontiac, the venerable division that once claimed to “build excitement.” In limbo: Opel’s English sister brand, Vauxhall.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source:  Time)

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 230 airlines worldwide, increased its loss estimate from the $4.7 billion it forecast in March, reflecting a “rapidly deteriorating revenue environment.”

Although there has been growing signs of a bottoming out of the recession, IATA said the industry was severely hit in the first quarter with 50 major airlines reporting losses of more than $3 billion. Weak consumer confidence, high business inventories and rising oil prices pose headwinds for future recovery, the association said during a two-day global aviation conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Revenues are expected to decline by $80 billion — an unprecedented 15% from a year ago — to $448 billion this year, and the weakness will persist into 2010, it said.

“There is no modern precedent for today’s economic meltdown. The ground has shifted. Our industry has been shaken. This is the most difficult situation that the industry has faced,” said IATA Chief Executive Giovanni Bisignani. The Geneva-based association also revised its estimated loss for last year to $10.4 billion from $8.5 billion previously.

It said passenger traffic for 2009 is expected to contract by 8% from a year ago to 2.06 billion travelers. Cargo demand will decline by 17% and some 100,000 jobs worldwide are at risk, it said.

The association expects the industry fuel bill to shrink by $59 billion, or 36%, to $106 billion this year, accounting for 23% of operating costs with an average oil price of $56 a barrel. But crude oil prices have rallied in recent weeks, breaching the $70 a barrel level on Friday on hopes of economic recovery.

IATA said carriers in all regions were expected to report losses, with Asia-Pacific to be the hardest hit amid a sharp slowdown in its three key markets — Japan, China and India. The region’s carriers are expected to post losses of $3.3 billion, worse than the previous forecast of $1.7 billion but better than the $3.9 billion losses last year.

North American carriers are expected to lose $1 billion, far better than its $5.1 billion losses in 2008, thanks to early capacity cuts and limited hedging by U.S. airlines.

(Source: Time)

Image Courtesy: USDoD SouthCom - Heron UAV takes off @ Compala Airbase

For weeks, U.S. and Salvadoran counter-narcotics officials had been watching a boat which they suspected was ferrying drugs to and from El Salvador’s Pacific coast. But to be sure, they needed a plane that could stay aloft over the ocean, undetected, long enough to get detailed surveillance imaging. So last month the Defense Department’s Southern Command (Southcom) suggested this would be a good opportunity to help determine whether an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) being tested at El Salvador’s Comalapa Air Base might be the future of drug interdiction.

Click here to read the entire article.

The 81st Annual AAAE Conference and Exposition is scheduled for June 14-17, 2009, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  This historic city will be our host for the best airport industry conference around.

The AAAE annual conference always attracts more than 2,500 airport and aviation professionals, including airport executives; airport and aviation suppliers and vendors; airline personnel, and representatives from FAA, TSA and DHS. Four days of discussions revolving around the current state of affairs of the airport industry will be supplemented by an exhibit hall with over 250 vendors ready to assist the industry in meeting its challenges with their products and services.  Don’t miss this once-a-year opportunity to meet with airport colleagues from around the country!

PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE

(Source: Autoblog & Autoweek)

Americans may have the opportunity to welcome the Tata Nano to their shores in just over two years, according to a confirmation from David Good, a U.S. rep for the Indian automaker. Before it arrives, Tata assures that the ultra-cheap compact with a base price of just $2500 will be configured to meet all emission and crash standards. If successful, we could see see versions of the Indian microcars running on biofuel and diesel.  This begs the question whether the price point will continue to stay around $2500 even after meeting such stringent safety and emissions requirements? Probably not! It is safe to say that the price would be a little less than $5000  – the expected price of the Euro version.

But who will distribute the teensy Tatas? Well, that’s up in the air right now. A brand-new dealer network for the brand has been discussed. Another option would be selling the Nano through Jaguar and Land Rover dealerships — the Indian automaker owns both, after all.  But this option seems highly unlikely,  according to Stuart Schorr, a spokesman for Jaguar Land Rover, who dismissed the rumours.

A larger European version is slated to debut in 2011, and has an upgraded engine that could get 67 mpg. That car is still expected to come in at less than $5,000.  Tata would be the second Indian company with cars on U.S. streets. Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc. of suburban Atlanta plans to introduce pickups made by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. later this year.

(Source: Greenbang, Alpha Galileo & Green Car Congress)

Data: Gerbens-Leenes et al via Green Car Congress

The ‘water footprint’ of bioenergy, i.e. the amount of water required to cultivate crops for biomass, is much greater than for other forms of energy. The generation of bioelectricity is significantly more water-efficient in the end, however – by a factor of two – than the production of biofuel. By establishing the water footprint for thirteen crops, researchers at the University of Twente were able to make an informed choice of a specific crop and production region. They published their results in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of 2 June.

The researchers found, for example, that it takes an average of 14,000 litres of water to produce one litre of biodiesel from rapeseed or soya. However, the water footprint for rapeseed in Western Europe is significantly smaller than in Asia. For soya, India has a large water footprint, while the figures for countries such as Italy and Paraguay are more favourable. In the generation of bioelectricity, too, there are big differences between the crops: sugar beet has by far the smallest water footprint – jatropha is 10 times less water-efficient. For the production of bioethanol, sugar beet is again by far the favourite: one litre of bioethanol made from sugar beet takes 1,400 litres of water, as against 2,500 litres for sugarcane, which is widely cultivated  in Brazil.  A new report from Novozymes describes how Brazil could produce up to 8 billion liters (2.1 billion gallons US) of biofuel from sugarcane residues (bagasse) by 2020, representing additional export revenue for Brazil of up to US$4 billion. In Brazil, the proportion of bioethanol used in transport fuel is already at 50%; by comparison, the proportion is 7% in the US, 2% in China, and 1% in Europe, according to Novozymes.

(Source: Green Car Congress & Wired)

Toyota’s third-gen Prius is already a huge hit in Japan (topping the sales numbers for May), and the automaker plans to lease a plug-in version to corporate and municipal customers by the end of the year.

Just 200 are slated for release in Japan under a joint program with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry aimed at promoting the adoption of plug-in hybrids and EVs. Although the new Prius – like all those that came before – uses a nickel metal hydride battery, the plug-in features a lithium-ion pack.

“Toyota Motor Corp. believes that, in response to the diversification of energy sources, plug-in hybrid vehicles are currently the most suitable environmentally considerate vehicles for widespread use,” the company said in a statement. “TMC therefore intends to encourage the marketing of plug-in hybrid vehicles while introducing a total of 500 vehicles globally—primarily to fleet customers—to further use and understanding of the vehicles.”

TMC will introduce approximately 150 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States, as well as more than 150 vehicles in Europe, including 100 in France. TMC is also considering introducing plug-in hybrid vehicles in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany.

Friday, June 5, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

1) FAA Could Close 20 Weather Offices

Link to story in The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/04/AR2009060404176.html

Link to news release from the National Weather Service Employees Organization:

http://sev.prnewswire.com/airlines-aviation/20090604/DC2781704062009-1.html

2) Crash Prompts Call for Black Box Reforms

Link to story and video on the CBS Evening News:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/04/eveningnews/main5063424.shtml

3) Experts Mull Over Lessons from Brazil Plane Crash

Link to AP story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060502032.html

4) Runway Cameras Approved for Aspen, Colorado Airport

First airport to get FAA approval for cameras.

Link to story in the Aspen Daily News:

http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/134851

5) Harris to Buy Air Traffic Control Business

Link to Reuters story:

http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE5537SX20090604

Link to news release from SolaCom Technologies:

http://www.solacom.com/news/20090604.shtml

6) Switching Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Signs is No Breeze, Officials Say

Link to story in the Star Tribune:

http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/47000462.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUjc8LDyiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs

7) Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Seeks Funds to Tout Facility, Region

Link to story in The Dallas Morning News:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/industries/airlines/stories/DN-dfwmarket_05bus.ART.State.Edition1.41c6780.html

BUSES

8) Peter Pan Bus Lines to Equip Fleet with Wi-Fi

Link to story in Metro Magazine:

http://www.metro-magazine.com/News/Story/2009/06/Peter-Pan-to-equip-fleet-with-WiFi.aspx

GPS / NAVIGATION

9) Error in GPS Map Data Prompts Garmin Product Safety Recall

Link to IDG News Service story:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/166173/error_in_gps_map_data_prompts_garmin_product_safety_recall.html

MARITIME

10) Using Location Technology to Respond to Piracy

Link to interview in Directions Magazine:

http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=3153

RAILROADS

11) Cuyahoga Valley Railroad to Implement GPS Commentary System on Excursion Trains

Link to story in Progressive Railroading:

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=20576

ROADWAYS

12) Washington, DC Commuters Left in Lurch, Virginia Congressmen Say

Roadwork on parallel spans compounded by inadequate communications.

Link to column in The Washington Post:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/getthere/2009/06/virginia_congressmen.html

TELEMATICS

13) Continental System Would Let Drivers Download Telematics Appplications

Link to story in The Oakland Press:

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2009/06/03/business/doc4a264b8ba5bf3837696980.txt

News Releases

1) Telematics Awards 2009 Winners and Runners-Up Announced

2) Hughes Telematics Delivers Keynote at Telematics Detroit 2009 

3) UK Highways Agency’s New Magazine Gives Advice on Staying Safe on the Road

Upcoming Events

IBTTA 77^th Annual Meeting & Exposition – September 13-16 – Chicago

http://www.ibtta.org/Events/eventdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3859

Friday Bonus

This is not what McGruff means when he says ‘take a bite out of crime.’

http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/crime/Metro-bus-driver-takes-bite-out-of-McGruff-the-Crime-Dog-40558982.html

Today in Transportation History

1829 **180^th anniversary** – The slave ship, Voladora, was captured by the HMS Pickle off the coast of Cuba.

http://www.mariner.org/captivepassage/abolition/captions/abo001-02.html

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday. 

To subscribe send an e-mail to:  TCNL-subscribe@googlegroups.com

To unsubscribe send an e-mail to:  TCNL-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

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

Questions, comments about the TCN?  Please write the editor, Bernie Wagenblast at i95berniew@aol.com.   

© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast