Gotta love the Japanese Hooligansfans for their incredible politeness. Amazing how well behaved and orderly they are even celebrating their national’ team’s success on a global stage. Hmmm.. if only the Canadians, Americans and British behaved like this!!!
Seen below is an old video clip from June 201o that surfaced again on Reddit. Shot in Tokyo during the early morning hours (video owner says 6AM) on June 24, the Japanese soccer fans went crazy after their national team won a soccer game against Denmark during the 2010 World Cup. They poured into the streets, jumping around with unbridled excitement in the middle of a street. But wait! Why are they retreat to the sidewalk from the middle of the street every few minutes? Every time the traffic light turned green for cars, they politely went back to the sidewalk, but once the traffic light turned red, they made a run for the middle of the road crossing. I’m yet to see such a euphoric celebration by the Japanese folk in person. Would be a sight to behold!
Note: I spotted a fan holding a beer bottle in this video. Drinking at 6AM? Damn, son! What the heck.. It is after all a Friday and your national team has earned a glorious win in a World Cup soccer game. Celebrate the heck out! Oh, anyone notice how friendly the traffic policemen were interacting with the fans. That would be unimaginable sight in the continental United States.
An interesting infograph on Urban travel patterns.
HopStop, the leading provider of pedestrian navigation and mobile transit routing, has developed its first Urban Travel Patterns infographic to shed light on these activities. Based on more than 400 million HopStop routes and 2.25 billion miles traveled, the new data showcases major travel trends in several large cities, as well as how consumers are using HopStop’s online and mobileservices to get around town.
Image Courtesy: HopStop - HopStop Data Reveals Top Urban Travel Trends
Someone at Virginia Department of Transportation is in trouble for messing up the signage at Sycamore Street exit along I-66 above the newly opened auxiliary lane..It is going to cost a few thousand $$$ to fix this inadvertent error. Interestingly, the old signage (still visible on Google Maps), shows the correct spelling.
Aahh.. The highway hackers have struck again. This time in a suburban Washington, DC neighborhood and they hit (a private sign and not one owned by the local government) with a funnier & slightly smutty message. The hackers tweaked the portable VMS (for the uninitiated VMS = Variable Message Sign) signage and made it read: “Honk if you are wearing a thong”. The local FOX news reporter covering the scene reported hearing a lot of honking. Hmmm.. The not so enthused county officials have reportedly shut down the sign. LOL. You can check out the signage for yourself in the video below (H/T to Jalopnik for the awesome scoop).
If you crib about American politicians breaking the rule of law, you have to meet Mr. Najot Sidhu, a colorful politician in India and a current Member of Parliament. He was also one of the celebrated cricketers from a decade ago. Though he has been involved in a series of egregious violations over his colorful career, he somehow managed to get away. Until now. But what he did today deserves serious jail punishment. Let’s see what he did.
Today, Mr. Sidhu kidnapped a security guard at a Toll Plaza! Yep. You heard me right. According to reports seen on leading Indian newspaper Times of India, it all began when the guard, Chenchu Ramaiah, allegedly hurled a stick at Sidhu’s car which whizzed past the Venkatachalam toll plaza at Tallampadu village in Doravarisatram mandal without showing any ID proof or payment of toll fee. This led to a crack in the windshield. An enraged Sidhu came back to the plaza, overpowered Ramaiah and another guard and bundled them into his vehicle. If that is not enough, Mr. Sidhu and his entourage drove to a meeting with the two kidnapped toll plaza staff. Local police who were alerted about the situation, intervened and tried to pacify the politician. Click here to read the entire article.
Wait a minute! Did I hear the word pacify? Is this how police in India are now expected to treat a kidnapper? Isn’t the role of police to arrest such offenders and take them to court? I may be wrong here but I see the actions of Mr. Sidhu are plain breach of law and it can be summarized as a kidnapping and he should be dealt with accordingly. Would the police be “pacifying” a kidnapper had the roles been reversed here – i.e., if the toll plaza guards kidnapped Sidhu and drove him away, and held him against his will for a couple of hours? Would the police be treating the Toll Plaza guards the same way they did with Mr. Sidhu? Arrest his ass and throw him in JAIL! Let him stand in-front of a judge and explain his actions (oh, also don’t forget to prosecute the guards for damaging the vehicle too). If I’m a multinational firm interested in investing in India’s infrastructure such a situation would make me think twice. Incidents of this kind simply undermine investor confidence and erode any faith in the rule of law for citizens and foreigners alike.
For one, this is not what people expect from their elected leadership. India’s Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh and the opposition party leader (BJP party, to which Mr. Sidhu belongs), should come out strongly and condemn this action publicly If anything, reprimand Mr. Sidhu for his actions and set an example. What’s more appalling are the actions of his party man, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, who is another prominent opposition politician. Mr. Naidu, knowing all well what Sidhu did, intervened to broker peace between the police and Mr. Sidhu instead of letting the police carry out their duty. Press reports say that Mr. Naidu requested the police not to register case against anyone, including Mr. Sidhu. Whattt! Mr. Naidu should apologize to the people of his state for his actions and offer all assistance to the police to investigate this case. That is the least these politicians and government officials can do to show the citizens of India that the law is the same for everyone – be it a minister or a commoner on the street. Anyone who breaches the law should/will be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. Failure to prosecute Mr. Sidhu would only reinforce the current sentiment among the public – if an offender is powerful or a wealthy politician he can get away with anything.
Note to Sidhu: Mr. Sidhu, you are not definitely the type of leader that India deserves. Your actions are shameful and your theatrics are even more offensive. Stop behaving like a petulant child and behave like a political leader that people want. After all, there are many young kids who grow up aspiring to be you and I hope you don’t lead them astray with such questionable behavior. Next time you approach a toll plaza, make sure to slow down and pay your toll. I’m positive the Indian taxpayers are paying you a handsome salary for your services as a Member of Parliament and you can definitely afford to pay a couple of hundred rupees for a service that everyone else pays. If you do not like slowing down or paying tolls, try catching a bus or even better a train. Oh, and above all don’t forget to render an apology to the poor workers at the Toll Plaza who toil in the baking hot weather all day long just to make ends meet.
Note to the Toll Plaza operators: For crying out loud, install barricades or some other measures to prevent such toll booth violations. If anything, use electronic surveillance equipment to capture the offenders and collect the money electronically. But don’t encourage your staff to throw a stick or a stone at a fast moving vehicle. It’s not only dangerous to the occupants of the vehicle but can also result in such situations where the offenders can get into a quarrel with the enforcers. Work with the police to resolve such violations and please do not encourage your staff to take matters in their own hands.
Just an awesome photo of French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy riding a suburban train. That’s all. Photo reportedly taken after his visit to the New Technology and Industry Centre.
Image Courtesy: AFP/Getty Images via The Daily Beast
The first thought that came into my mind : “Is he trying to show the way for rest of Europe that riding a subway is far cheaper than traveling in a huge convoy of cars?” The next thought: “Is it his election time stunt to show the voters that he is just like them, riding the rails to get around?” Whatever it is, I’m a big fan of such simple things that go a long way in making personalities like Sarkozy look just like the rest of us. It is more Presidential to ride a subway than in a crazy convoy of cars.
That said, I wonder if the Secret Service would ever allow the U.S. President to ride a transit system, let alone Washington’s WMATA during his time in Washington. It will be nice to see Pres. Obama rubbing shoulders with daily commuters on the Red Line in DC one of these days. Maybe that will convince the POTUS that our nation’s transit systems are falling apart and they do need some additional funding to serve the citizens who ride them everyday. That would be one good way to relate to the plight of commoners and no better way to make a statement to the voting public that you are indeed serious about cutting costs. Are you up for it Mr. President? Oh wait, his doesn’t really have a commute . It is just walking a flight of stairs down from his home to the Oval office in the White House and it definitely does not require a train.
Thinking Highways and Activu would like to invite you to register for a live, free, TMC webinar on Wednesday, December 14th, entitled Full Situational Awareness – A Must For Informed Decision Making.
Three-car accident on Highway 123; major congestion on Route 11 exits 3-10 North Bound because of construction; 2 feet of snow expected over the weekend; 10 inches of rain coming our way…If these are the issues you deal with it on a daily basis, then needless to say, being able to prepare and react to these situations is paramount. In order to make the most informed decisions you need to access crucial real-time information that affects operational decisions, i.e. Optimal Situational Awareness.
Join us on Wednesday, December 14th at 1pm Eastern Time (US) and find out first-hand how Baltimore TMC, one of the nation’s most sophisticated traffic management centers, solved an important part of their situational awareness requirements and reduced their response times for dealing with known and unknown events.
TJ Bathras, Manager of Baltimore TMC and Jason Jaworski, National Solutions Manager at Activu, will discuss the importance of “intelligent visualization” of information that drives optimal situational awareness and how to make the most informed decision at all times. What Will You Learn?
• What steps did Baltimore TMC take to address their requirements and increase their TMC readiness?
• What results have they seen since implementing this solution?
• What is “Intelligent Visualization” and how does it work?
• How it can help you collaborate with others agencies?
• How you can achieve full situational awareness and make better informed decisions?
We look forward to welcoming you on the 14th!
About Your Speakers
TJ Bathras, TMC manager at Baltimore City Department of Transportation, Traffic Division, is responsible for supervising daily traffic signal operations, point control and the monitoring of traffic through CCTV cameras in their Control Room.
Jason Jaworski is National Solutions Manager at Activu. He has assisted in the design and implementation of visualization solutions for some of the nation’s most critical command centers, transforming organizational methods and procedures.
Thinking Highways’ editor-in-chief, Kevin Borras, will be your host for this hour-long program
An interesting graphic. Hopefully the share of Transit rises in the years ahead along with other non-car options. What is most appalling is that biking has only 0.99% share of the pie. LA needs to go a long way in moving its people away from cars.
This awesome infographic published on the Foursquare blog, gives you a snapshot of the “checkins” across U.S. transportation facilities during last year. I can see a glimmer of hope for High-Speed Rail by looking at this graphic, at least in the Northeast corridor. I’m hoping the proliferation of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc) and the widespread acceptance/use of Foursquare app on these smart devices during this year will result in a much more intense mapping when the next edition of this graphic is published. Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe on the road, everyone! Oh, and don’t forget to check-in when you arrive at a Transportation facility.
Image Courtesy: FourSquare on Flickr - Click Image to Enlarge
