(Source: Imgur via Reddit.com)

Apart from being grossly offensive and filled with egregiously flawed language, I also noticed that this mobile museum of conservative ideology is held together with a lot of  tape.  Yeah, I mean there is a lot of tape.. enough to wrap the entire planet.. Would be great to have an interview with the owner and the community that allows parking for this vehicle.  Also, I wonder aloud if there is any statute that prohibits operating a vehicle with so many offensive things slapped on it..Oh, well.  American politics never gets boring.  Thanks, Reddit.  I could not have find such artful expressions elsewhere..

The Research and Innovation Technology Administration (RITA) is looking for a highly talented Transportation Specialist with a passion for transportation data and analysis to join the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) as the Connected Vehicle Data and Weather Program Manager. This is an opportunity to w

Image via Wikipedia

ork on one of the most exciting multimodal programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT).  Located at the U.S. DOT headquarters in Washington, DC, the ITS-JPO manages, coordinates and supports research programs focused on applying advanced technologies to transform the performance of our Nation’s surface transportation system.

The vacancy announcement closes on Wednesday, March 16, 2011

We are seeking a talented transportation leader who can work with all levels of the ITS-JPO staff, high-ranking officials, and others outside the agency to explore the innovative methods of data collection and use of advanced data applications in the transportation environment.  A self-starter with expert knowledge of data capture and proven program management principles is a must.  Strong coordination and leadership capabilities are needed to be successful in this important role.  A mix of strong creativity combined with institutional and technical knowledge is a must.  Ability to identify strategic program needs and develop objectives based on Administration and U.S. DOT policy, Congressional direction, and knowledge gained through the national ITS program planning process is required.

The ITS-JPO Connected Vehicle Data and Weather Program Manager will manage multimodal programs such as congestion relief, road weather management, and data capture and data management applications to provide technical leadership for state-of-practice and state-of-the-art data collection methods for continuous improvement of our nation’s surface transportation system.

If you know someone interested in this Washington, DC based position that has the experience and proven results in the above requested areas, please encourage them to apply under the attached vacancy announcement.  We are looking for a diverse pool of qualified candidates.

Please keep in mind that the new hiring reforms recently announced by President Obama will shorten the hiring timeline and will eliminate essay-style questions during the initial application submission. Therefore please spread the word about this exciting opportunity and encourage anyone interested to apply quickly.

To review the job qualifications and to apply, please see the vacancy announcement at USAjobs, direct link:

FHWA.JPO-2011-0001 – Open to Current Federal and Former Federal Status Employees: (Federal employees are encouraged to apply under this announcement number to maximize consideration).

FHWA.JPO-2011-0002 – Open to all U.S. Citizens

Terms of Reference

US DOT is conducting a Pre-proposal Conference (“Safety Pilot Joint Bidders Conference”) for interested parties to learn about and ask questions regarding the following three current US DOT procurements/solicitations in support of the Safety Pilot Program. US DOT officials will present and discuss the procurement process and requirements for each of the following three planned procurements, as well as answer relevant questions from interested parties.

• Safety Pilot Test Conductor – Request for Proposals (RFP) DTFH61-11-R-00006 available atwww.FedBizOpps.gov
• Aftermarket Safety Devices – Request for Applications (RFA) DTFH61-11-RA-00003 available at www.Grants.gov
• Roadside Equipment – Request for Quotations (RFQ) DTFH61-11-Q-00012 available at www.FedBizOpps.gov

Safety Pilot is intended to establish a real world model deployment test site for enabling wireless communications among vehicles and with roadside equipment for use in generating data to enable driver safety warning systems.  The deployment site will encompass vehicles of various types that include a mix of integrated, retrofit, and aftermarket vehicle safety systems.  The model deployment data generated will be used for establishing safety benefits in support of future policy decisions by US DOT, as well as for use by the broader industry in developing additional connected vehicle applications.

As such, the goals of the Safety Pilot Program are to:

• Establish benefits data in support of NHTSA 2013 Agency Decision on V2V Communications with Real World Field Data
• Support real world V2V and V2I safety applications with a data rich environment
• Create public awareness & determine user acceptance

Anticipated outcomes include:

• Obtaining empirical data for determining benefits and user acceptance in support of future federal policy actions
• Establishing a public database of archived road network data for supporting development of additional safety, mobility, and environmental applications
• Establishing multiple supplier sources for safety devices and roadside infrastructure
• Develop a better understanding of the operational policy issues associated with the deployment of V2V and V2I applications

Interested parties are invited to attend in person or participate by webinar. Participants are welcome to participate in the full-day conference or any portion of the day.

Date: February 22, 2011
Location: University of California – UC Washington Center
Address: 1608 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 974 – 6200
Time: 8:30 am – 4:30pm Eastern

Registration Form Link: http://www.itsa.org/itsa/files/Safety_Pilot_Bidders_Conference_registration.doc

Questions: Interested parties are encouraged to submit questions to US DOT in advance of the Pre-proposal Conference. Please submit questions by COB Wednesday February 16 regarding solicitations to:

• daniel.confer@dot.gov for Safety Pilot Test Conductor
• sarah.tarpgaard@dot.gov for Aftermarket Safety Devices
• sarah.khan@dot.gov for Roadside Equipment

US DOT will address questions during the Conference to the extent possible.

The Real-Time Data Capture and Management Program Announces a Test Data Sets Request for Procurement (RFP) and Request for Applications (RFA), issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on 2/5/11 with the proposal due date of 4:00 PM EDT on 3/15/11.

An initial offering to “Clean-up of Existing Data Sets to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications Development,” was issued on 2/5/11 with the proposal due date of 4:00 PM EDT on 3/15/11.  As a result of this solicitation, FHWA anticipates collecting multiple “cleaned up” research-ready data sets that meet the minimum requirements of this solicitation and program objectives, within available resources.

The Request for Applications (RFA) DTFH61-11-RA-00004 can be found on www.Grants.gov at:
http://apply07.grants.gov/apply/opportunities/instructions/oppDTFH61-11-RA-00004-cfda20.200-instructions.pdf

A solicitation notice (synopsis) for a full and open competition entitled “Test Data Sets to Support Dynamic Mobility Applications Development,” was issued on 2/5/11 with the proposal due date of 4:00 PM EDT on 3/15/11.  The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) intends to make multiple awards to obtain existing well-documented, quality data sets available from recent or ongoing operations, field tests, or simulations of emerging technologies supporting mobility, environment, transit, freight, weather, and other surface transportation research. FHWA intends to award multiple contracts and/or cooperative agreements to fund the following tasks: data clean up of existing data sets, data integration, documentation of data set contents and formats, addition of meta-data to the data set, and provision of data sets in final form to FHWA.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) DTFH61-11-R-00010 can be found on http://www.FedBiz.Opps at:
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=db892596312f21e9508d6ae4f70faf31&tab=core&_cview=1

The Real-Time Data Capture and Management Program is a multimodal program of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, a program office of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA).Additional information can be found at: http://www.its.dot.gov/

(Source: Huffington Post;  Daily Mail, UK)

We continue to hear from our officials how distracting cell phones are while operating a motor vehicle. Some states and law makers along with the Secretary of transportation have mounted a very vocal campaign to educate the driving public about this growing problem.

If that is not enough of a problem caused by the proliferation of mobile devices, now we have one more form of distraction – this one involving pedestrians totally distracted by their electronic devices such as cellphones and handheld music/gaming units.  Interestingly, some of these incidents are captured by surveillance cameras fitted at the facilities where such accidents happen. Here is one such incident involving a 10-yr old boy who was playing video games on his PSP.  The boy who was accompanied by his parents fell off the platform onto the tracks at a local station in Italy but was luckily there was no oncoming train and also a police officer on duty saw the boy go off the edge and jumped on the tracks to save him.

This other widely circulated video was taken at a shopping mall, shows a young woman, Cathy Marrero, walking straight into a pool of water in a decorative fountain all the while texting her friend on a cell phone. What’s more interesting is Ms. Marrero is now suing the mall management for publicizing the video.

Grrr.. Technology can be a boon and at times like this it can be bane too. There is nothing one can do to stop such incidents unless the users of such devices realize such potential dangers and walk carefully.  Amazingly, Cathy Marrero who suffered the humiliating fall in the mall has a message for everyone, especially the younger generation, out there – HANG UP and WALK or else you could risk getting hurt/killed/humiliated.

(Source: Reddit.com)

Editor’s note: I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time. Oh, and I’m not the only one who had tears streaming down my face watching this one.  You can see plenty of folks who enjoyed this Gizmo Gone Wild video from their comments on Reddit and also on the source (YouTube) comments page.

(Source: Time.com)

(Source: Engadget)

This new documentary, produced by AT&T, one of the leading telecom services provider in the US, strings together a set of  stories told by accident victims and their  families and friends.  The documentary, at times high on the emotional quotient, offers a compelling message to any/all drivers, let alone the teenagers, to hang up their cellphones while operating the motor vehicles.  There is no blood or gory mess splashed across the windshield but the stories along with the photos of mangled metal and shattered lives is quite riveting.  Kudos to AT&T and other public and private agencies who have been actively engaged in promoting awareness among teens about the dangers of texting while driving.

Related articles

• AT&T releases dramatic anti-texting while driving documentary (engadget.com)
• AT&T Releases anti text-driving documentary (techburgh.com)
• AT&T Mini Documentary on Dangers of Text Messaging and Driving (laughingsquid.com)

(Source: Studydriving.com via Infographlove)

Interestingly, the infographic below summarizes the data into this nugget: Americans make better cars than Japanese.  No wonder GM and Ford are making a comeback.  After all, this country love a good comeback.