Wednesday, May 26, 2010 – ISSN 1529-1057

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Initiated in 2009, the first National Summit for Rural Traffic Safety Culture met with overwhelming success. Building on this success, the Summit has become an annual event with the second Summit to be held July 11-13, 2010 in Big Sky, Montana.  Why Traffic Safety Culture? Traffic crashes represent the largest cause of fatal injury for nearly all age groups, especially in rural America.  Rural states have the misfortune of having the highest traffic fatality rates both in terms of exposure (VMT) and population risk (per capita) while driver behavior represents the single largest causal factor for these traffic crashes. Specifically, most crashes result from poor decision making rather than misperceiving information or not having the requisite skills to act correctly. Consequently, unless we can focus our research and intervention efforts on understanding how culture influences driver attitudes and decision-making processes, we cannot expect to engineer a fundamental and enduring change in driver behavior in our transportation systems.  The early registration deadline for this event is June 11, 2010.  Register before this date and save $60.00.  Information and registration materials can be found athttp://www.ruraltscsummit.org.

GPS / NAVIGATION

1) Eco-friendly Navigation

Link to article in M2M:

http://www.m2mmag.com/news/articles/article.aspx?ID=8430

RAILROADS

2) Network Rail on Track for IT Transformation

Link to article in Computer Weekly:

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2010/05/26/241355/CIO-interview-Network-Rail-on-track-for-IT-transformation.htm

ROADWAYS

3) Feds to Expand Freight Congestion Tracking

Link to article in The Journal of Commerce:

http://joc.com/trucking/tracking-device-650000-trucks-helps-fight-congestion

Link to news release from US DOT:

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2010/fhwa1410.htm

4) More than Half of British Drivers ‘Color Blind’ to Red Traffic Lights

Fifty-two percent unaware of traffic light sequence.

Link to article in the Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7765332/More-than-half-of-British-drivers-colour-blind-to-red-traffic-lights.html

5) Ohio Senate Approves Bill to Ban Road Signs Touting Stimulus Spending

Link to AP article:

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9FUL3K01

6) How Virginia HOT Lanes Will Work

Link to column in The Washington Post:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/getthere/2010/05/how_hot_lane_tolls_will_work.html

SAFETY / SECURITY

7) Texas City Tests Two-Way Emergency Communications Platform

Link to article in Government Computer News:

http://gcn.com/articles/2010/05/26/city-of-manor-emergency-comm.aspx

8) Distracted by the Light: Police Lights Play Role in Officer Safety

The types of lights used on patrol cars may have an impact.

Link to story and video on WBOY-TV:

http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=80407

VEHICLES

9) US House Committee OKs Auto Safety Package

Bill would require audible alerts on ‘quiet’ cars and event recorders for crash data.

Link to article in The Detroit News:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100526/AUTO01/5260422/1361/House-committee-OKs-auto-safety-package

10) Why Car Safety Features Can be Dangerous

All those warning lights, chimes and vibrations can overwhelm drivers.

Link to article in Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/25/ford-general-motors-technology-security-cars.html

11) The Connected Car: Motown Gets in Sync with Its Drivers

Link to blog on TelecomTV:

http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=46345&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10#

News Releases

1) FAA Awards NextGen Engineering Contracts Worth Up to $4.4 Billion

2) Intelligent Transport Worth €2.9 Billion to European Communications Services by 2020, Forecasts innovITS

3) Nearly 150 Real-Time Traffic Cameras Added to New Jersey Turnpike Authority Web Site

4) i95travelinfo.net Spells Relief for Holiday Travelers on the East Coast

5) Trafficmaster Secures Deal with Jaguar and Becomes Its Approved Tracking Partner

6) Waze Announces Official Launch in Los Angeles

7) Minnesota DOT Marks MnPASS Express Lanes Five-Year Anniversary

Upcoming Events

2010 NASTO (Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials) Annual Meeting – June 13-15 – Wilmington, Delaware

https://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal/nasto/2010conference

Today in Transportation History

1940 **70^th anniversary** The evacuation of Dunkirk began.  Over 300,000 Allied troops were transported by large and small vessels to England.

http://www.dynamo-dunkerque.com/

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© 2010 Bernie Wagenblast  www.bwcommunications.net