TransportGooru

Thursday, October 15, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

---

Register for IBTTA’s Toll Road Summit of the Americas — November 15-17, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil

Join the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association at the Toll Road Summit of the Americas and examine an array of methods to design, finance, operate and maintain user financed surface transportation facilities. The second day of this meeting will be held in conjunction with TranspoQuip 2009, Latin America’s biggest event for the transportation infrastructure industries in Latin America. Featured speakers include Cesar Queiroz, Consultant, Roads and Transport Infrastructure, World Bank, and Roberto Lucas, Jr., Author and Urban Planning Consultant. Meeting hosted by ABCR and CCR. For registration, hotel, travel and visa information, or to view the preliminary agenda, visit www.IBTTA.org.

AVIATION

1) Federal Investigators Issue First Recommendations Following Hudson River Crash

Link to CNN story:

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/14/federal-investigators-issue-first-re1-following-hudson-crash

BICYCLES

2) Google Bike Routes – Almost Here?

Link to blog on Streetsblog New York:

http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/10/14/google-bike-routes-almost-here/

CAMERAS

3) Laws for Traffic Cameras Debated in Tennessee

Link to article in the Knoxville News Sentinel:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/oct/15/laws-for-traffic-cameras-debated/

4) Crash Demonstrates Value of Cameras on Boston T Buses

Link to article and video in The Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/10/15/holbrook_crash_demonstrates_value_of_cameras_on_t_buses/

OTHER

5) TSA Still Keeps Wraps on Congressman’s Airport Video

Utah lawmaker says he was singled out for additional screening.

Link to article in The Salt Lake Tribune:

http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_13560661

6) Dallas Company Working on Tomorrow’s Technology

Link to story on WTVT-TV:

http://cbs11tv.com/local/technology.next.generation.2.1248956.html

RAILROADS

7) Indian Railways Could Soon Have Its Own Dedicated TV Channel

Link to Press Trust of India article:

http://www.ptinews.com/news/331964_Rlys-could-soon-have-its-own-dedicated-TV-channel

ROADWAYS

8) Ambassador Bridge Owner Loses Bid to Keep Inspection Secret

Link to article in the Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/article/20091013/NEWS05/91013058/1319/Ambassador-Bridge-owner-loses-bid-to-keep-inspection-secret

SAFETY / SECURITY

9) More Driver Distractions Ahead

Link to commentary in RCR Wireless News:

http://www.rcrwireless.com/article/20091015/FRONTPAGE/910159996/opinion-more-driver-distractions-ahead

TRANSIT

10) Cleveland RTA to Install Audible System on Buses to Warn Pedestrians at Crosswalks

Link to article in The Plain Dealer:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/10/rta_to_install_an_audible_syst.html

11) Cell Phone Service Expands on DC Metro

Link to article in The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101502124.html

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

12) Watching Traffic with Navteq

Link to CNET News article:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10375450-48.html

News Releases

) Airports Survey Finds Atlanta Top of the Table in Passenger Self-Service

) ATX Teams with Peugeot to Offer In-Vehicle Alerts on Speed Camera Locations

) City of San Jose’s New Intelligent Transportation Network Uses Ethernet Over Copper Solutions from Actelis Networks

) TripTimes.ca Debuts in Toronto to Ease Daily Commutes

) National and State Efforts Draw Attention to Teen Driver Safety

) Governor Honors Missouri DOT for Technology, Customer Service

Upcoming Events

2010 International Airport Security Conference – February 15-17 – Queenstown, New Zealand

http://events.aaae.org/sites/100202/

Today in Transportation History

1939 **70^th anniversary** – New York Municipal Airport, later renamed LaGuardia Airport, was dedicated.

http://newdeal.feri.org/images/ac16.gif

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

To subscribe send an e-mail to:  i95berniew@aol.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

One of my favorite websites for all things Social Media, Mashable.com, got my attention today with their blog post about the Blog Action Day.  Today (October 15, 2009) is the third annual Blog Action Day, a yearly event in which thousands of blogs around the web pledge to write about a single global issue in an effort to focus global attention.

Two years ago, the inaugural Blog Action Day tackled the environment, last year blogs across the world wrote about poverty, and this year over 8,800 blogs from 148 countries are uniting today to write about an issue of global importance: climate change.

You may ask what difference does it make by simply dropping a blog post on Climate Change? The possibilities are endless..Your one post can inspire someone else to write about this issue..The more people write about, the more people will get to read, and thus we create an awareness about the on going problem.. In the cacophony of today’s world, too many people have no time to even stop and think about this very important issue that threatens our very existence on this planet.  If your blog can divert the attention of someone – a friend on Facebook, or a random reader from Timbuktu who has subscribed to your blog’s RSS – even for a moment and make them think how they have contributed to this generations effort to save the planet, you have done your bit.  Trust me — that’s how we all make a difference in this world – in our own little ways.

For me there is a bit more close to heart on this issue.  Being a transportation engineer/nerd/nut/practitioner/wonk, etc, etc, I’ve first hand knowledge about the impact of fossil fuels on our planet.  In 2006, the world used 3.9 billion tons of oil. Fossil fuel usage in 2005 produced 7.6 billion tons of carbon emissions, and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide reached 380 parts per million.  These numbers have continued to rise over the years and is expected to grow rapidly unless we curb the use of fossil fuels.

So what have I done personally towards mitigating this growing threat of Climate Change?

• First, I made some lifestyle choices that have immensely reduced my carbon footprint.  It all started with moving to a house that’s closer to a train station.  Now I take transit (trains and buses) to work and walk a lot when I don’t have these options.
• These days I drive a maximum of 20 miles in a whole week (primarily for groceries & other routine errands  that I need to do on weekends).  Just by doing that, I not only reduced my fuel consumption (which directly contributes to the reduction in Green House Gases which other wise may have come from my driving) but also saved a bunch of money on car insurance.  Now seriously thinking about going the “ZipCar” way, which means no insurance charges at all.
• I started making it a habit to car pool if I know I am going to be in a place with some of my friends.
• Starting to schedule my networking events (Happy Hours, Meetings, etc) at locations that are closer to the Metro rail stations.  (Hey, that way I can have an extra drink without having to worry about getting a DUI or DWI).
• I encourage people in my network to think about leaving their darned cars at home at least for a day at work.
• I recycle like crazy these days.
• Stopped buying bottled water. PERIOD.
• Stopped using plastic spoons, knives and forks as much as I can.
• Buying products that are environmentally friendly (biodegradable).   I’m very determined to not buy products from companies that are not supportive of environmental initiatives (Here I must applaud Apple & Nike for sticking to their stands on the going green initiatives and walking away from the US Chamber of Commerce).
• Hmmm..What else? Ah,   I encourage myself to publish more articles that talk about the various environmental initiatives related to transportation here on Transportgooru.com.

I already hear some of you growling that all these are possible because I live in an urban area or because I have a choice to do so due to my socio-economic status.  I agree with you – only to a degree.  Location matters only on issues such as transportation.  For the rest of the stuff to happen, I have to personally feel the need to do them.  I feel the urgency to act NOW and not tomorrow or the day after.  We already have a lot of  grim news about how fast we are spiraling downwards into a horrible environmental mess, thanks to the mainstream media and the  awesome social media networks.  For example, today there was a report on the possibility of no ice cover in the Arctic region by 2030.

Every generation had its challenge and they stood up to address them issues when they were called into action (World Wars, Pandemic Diseases, Natural Disasters, etc).  For our generation, I consider the Climate Change as the biggest challenge and truly believe that we will stand together and fight this battle to save this planet.  Someday in the future I do not want to hear the children and grandchildren tell us “Your generation screwed us royally by plundering the earth and ignored all the warning signs”.  Here I am doing my little bit, trying to make a difference and I hope you will join me in this fight to preserve the Earth that we all call HOME.   Now, you can go blog about your little bit if you already have a blog or a website.  If you don’t have one, I encourage you to start one and start talking about how you want to save this planet.  If you can’t do that, at least go change your light bulbs to something that is more energy efficient or recycle that trash that you have piled up in the corner of your basement.  Oh, if you are a US citizen, write to your congressman/congresswoman/Sentor telling them how you want the US to contribute towards the Climate Change efforts during the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (December 2009) . Just do your little bit, that’s all.

Click here to read more and Click here to Take Action.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

---

AVIATION

1) FAA Approves Helicopter-Warning System

Link to AP article:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/33296212

Link to news release from Honeywell:

http://www51.honeywell.com/honeywell/news-events/press-releases-details/10.13.09HelicopSafetySys.html?c=31

2) Garmin: Innovating Through Tough Times

Link to article in Flying:

http://www.flyingmag.com/avionics/1785/garmin-innovating-through-tough-times.html

OTHER

3) Some States Forgo Road Signs on Stimulus Program

Link to article in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/us/14sign.html

ROADWAYS

4) New York: Tougher Penalties for Truckers Who Hit Bridges

Measure would require trucks to use GPS specifically meant for commercial vehicles, noting where those vehicles are not permitted.

Link to article in The Journal News:

http://www.lohud.com/article/20091014/NEWS05/910140366/-1/newsfront/Tougher%20penalties%20for%20truckers%20who%20hit%20bridges

5) Should Radar-Detecting Phone Apps be Illegal?

Link to article in The New York Times:

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/should-radar-detecting-phone-apps-be-illegal

SAFETY / SECURITY

6) Support in US Senate for Cell Phone Driving Ban

Link to article in the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-distracted-driving14-2009oct14,0,4546212.story

7) Boston to Pilot Solar-Powered Evacuation System

Link to article in Government Technology:

http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/731062?elq=588c165c8ff74307b58de2a30d295e8c

Link to news release from the Boston Mayor’s Office:

http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/Default.aspx?id=4388

8) How Dow Chemical Trains Towns to Handle Hazmat Situations

Link to IDG News Service interview:

http://news.idg.no/cw/art.cfm?id=53BDECAB-1A64-6A71-CEB00C6BC8F5CC9F

TELEMATICS

9) European Regulators Seek to Harmonize M2M-Based Projects

Link to article in Telecommunications:

http://www.telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_5772

TRANSIT

10) NJ Transit Upgrades Web Site

Link to article in The Daily Journal:

http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20091014/NEWS01/910140357

Link to site: http://www.njtransit.com

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

11) Roads and Traffic Authority ‘Did All It Could’ for Crash

Link to article in The Coffs Coast Advocate:

http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/story/2009/10/14/rta-says-it-did-all-that-it-could/

12) Interview with Head of Product Management for BMW Group’s Telematics Program ‘ConnectedDrive’

Link to interview in Telematics Update:

http://social.telematicsupdate.com/content/exclusive-interview-bmw

VEHICLES

13) Hybrid Cars May Include Fake Vroom for Safety

Link to article in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/automobiles/14hybrid.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Upcoming Events

Polis Conference 2009 – December 10-11 – Brussels

http://www.polis-online.org/index.php?id=487

Today in Transportation History

1939 **70^th anniversary** – The British battleship, HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a German U-boat with a loss of 833 lives.

http://www.hmsroyaloak.co.uk/

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

To subscribe send an e-mail to:  i95berniew@aol.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

(Source: Esquire)

In a brilliant article, Esquire’s Brian Mockenhaupt goes deep into the world of UAVs (aka Drones) and those who operate them for the US military.   Here are some interesting excerpts from this lengthy, 5-page article, which is a MUST READ material if you are a tech junkie or an aviation nut..

At this very moment, at any given moment, three dozen armed, unmanned American airplanes are flying lazy loops over Afghanistan and Iraq. They linger there, all day and all night. When one lands to refuel or rearm, another replaces it. They guard soldiers on patrol, spy on Al Qaeda leaders, and send missiles shrieking down on insurgents massing in the night. Add to those the hundreds of smaller, unarmed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles being flown over the two countries by the Army, the Marines, and coalition countries, and a handful of missile-laden planes owned by the Central Intelligence Agency circling above Pakistan. Efficient and effective, the planes have fast become indispensable assets, transforming today’s battlefields just as profoundly as the first airplanes transformed warfare during World War I.

Every so often in history, something profound happens that changes warfare forever. Next year, for the first time ever, the Pentagon will buy more unmanned aircraft than manned, line-item proof that we are in a new age of fighting machines, in which war will be ever more abstract, ever more distant, and ruthlessly efficient.

The Air Force now has 138 Predators and 36 Reapers. The military’s overall UAV inventory has swollen to seven thousand, from hand-launched Ravens to jet-powered Global Hawks, which can fly twelve miles high and monitor a swath the size of Kentucky in a day. And the revolution has just begun. Within the next twenty years, the Air Force envisions unmanned planes launching tiny missiles in hypertargeted strikes, swarms of bug-sized UAVs, and squadrons of networked unmanned fighters, bombers, and tankers, many of which will fly autonomously. And the enemy will have unmanned planes, too. More than forty countries currently fly them. In February, an American F-16 shot down an Iranian drone flying over Iraq. And Hezbollah has used them to spy on Israel and attack a ship during fighting in 2006. They can be built cheaply, with off-the-shelf software and hardware, a natural progression for insurgents who have been building increasingly sophisticated bombs.

Much of the U.S. Air Force Predator and Reaper fleet for Afghanistan is maintained out of a small cluster of buildings and tents next to the runway at Kandahar Airfield. It is here that I saw the planes up close for the first time. Where fighter jets are at once sleek and muscled, these planes look emaciated. Rap a knuckle on a rib cage and hear the hollow reply. It’s hard to see how this is the plane that’s revolutionizing warfare. Perched on twiggy landing gear, it looks less like a piece of deadly, cutting-edge military hardware than an oversized version of the windup balsa-wood planes boys build from kits. Twenty-seven feet long, with a forty-nine-foot wingspan, the Predator weighs just twelve hundred pounds without fuel or missiles. A four-cycle snowmobile engine mounted in the rear propels it with a high-pitched whine. The Reaper, a third bigger than the Predator, seems far sturdier, and with a larger engine it flies at three hundred miles per hour, three times faster. The next generation will be jet-powered with a three-thousand-pound payload. Yet even the wispy Predator has a menacing quality. Glass-bubbled cockpits remind us that man controls the killing machine.

The planes are also much cheaper to buy and fly. A Predator costs about $4 million and a Reaper $11 million, half as much as an F-16, one of the Air Force’s workhorses. In Iraq and Afghanistan, jets and UAVs are often called on for similar missions that support ground troops. The drones can’t do strafing runs or intimidate with a low, fast, ear-splitting flyover, but they use a fraction of the resources, a moped instead of a monster truck. F-16’s, which fly in pairs for safety, burn about a thousand gallons of fuel an hour. At that rate, they can stay over a target for about an hour before they must swap out with other planes or fill up at an aerial tanker. A Predator carries a hundred gallons of fuel with which it can stay aloft for twenty-four hours. As the Air Force likes to point out, a bomb from an F-16 killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but the final strike against the Iraqi insurgent leader came after Predators had gathered six hundred hours of surveillance footage in the hunt for him and his associates. Keeping two F-16’s in the air that long would require about 120 tanker trucks’ worth of fuel.

Although they have never set foot in Afghanistan, Nelson and Anderson make effective counterinsurgents. They have spent hours watching the same roads, the same villages, the same people. “You gradually gain a better understanding of who they are and how they live,” Nelson says. He felt the same during his Mormon mission to the Dominican Republic, after his sophomore year at the Air Force Academy. For two years he walked or rode his bike on unpaved roads through villages and talked to people twelve hours a day. There he saw homes made of coffee cans and palm fronds. Now he gazes at houses made of mud bricks. To balance out the lack of human interaction, he has taken Afghanistan-familiarization courses offered by the Air Force. “You can picture them more as a people and a civilization,” he says.

Indeed, they see many things meant to be secret, like men having sex with sheep and goats in the deep of night. I first heard this from infantry soldiers and took it as rumor, but at Bagram I met a civilian contractor who works in UAV operations. “All the time,” he said. “They just don’t think we can see them.” Which sums up a major allure of UAVs: Though they should know better by now, many insurgents still feel safe working in darkness or in the shelter of distant mountains and valleys, so they are exposed again and again. The unmanned planes have eroded their freedom of movement and simple early-warning systems, two of their few assets when outmatched in weapons, technology, and resources. Helicopters can be heard a mile or more away. Spotters watch vehicles leave bases and follow the slow advance of dismounted patrols. Surprise is a rarity for U. S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The insurgents almost always know they’re coming, with at least several minutes’ notice. So they toss weapons behind a rock and become, in an instant, civilians. But with a camera parked three miles overhead, last-minute subterfuge doesn’t work.

Enter the Betas, the future armchair fighter jocks. The Air Force is now training a first-ever test group brought straight into the Predator program. After six months of screening and basic flight instruction, the Betas started a nine-week initial qualification course at Creech, the same taken by pilots, which includes forty hours in a simulator and nine or more actual flights. The eight Beta students were still in the academics phase when I visited Creech, but the nonpilots, who came from jobs like military police, civil engineering, and acquisitions, had so far performed as well as trained pilots, Gersten says. For this type of work, how they grew up might be more important than whether they’ve logged a thousand hours flying supersonic. “This generation, where were they when 9/11 started? They were in junior high and high school,” Gersten says. “And they grew up with the very technology that we fly with here.” Those who dreamed of being fighter pilots might never get the chance as the skies unman, but America’s pool of gamers, texters, and TV watchers is certainly vast and deep. The Betas’ progress is being closely tracked by the Pentagon, which can build plenty of planes if it has the people to fly them.

Click here to read more.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

---

AVIATION

1) Lufthansa to Launch In-flight Web, Phone System

Link to AP article:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-10-12-lufthansa-in-flight-phone-interenet_N.htm

CARTOGRAPHY

2) Google Uses Own Database for Google Maps in the US

Link to article on TheWhereBusiness:

http://social.thewherebusiness.com/content/google-uses-own-database-google-maps-us

ELECTRONIC TOLLING

3) Slovakia’s Electronic Toll Collection Devices to be Compatible with New EU System

Link to article in The Slovak Spectator:

http://www.spectator.sk/articles/view/36800/10/slovakias_electronic_toll_collection_devices_to_be_compatible_with_new_eu_system.html

4) Another Upside to E-ZPass: Healthier Babies

Link to article in The Wall Street Journal:

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/10/13/another-upside-to-e-zpass-healthier-babies/

GPS / NAVIGATION

5) Red Light GPS Device Lacks GPS Navigation

Link to review in Mobile Magazine:

http://www.mobilemag.com/2009/10/13/red-light-gps-device-lacks-gps-navigation/

RAILROADS

6) Saving the Union (Pacific)

Communication upgrades will improve safety and fuel efficiency.

Link to article in Forbes:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/11/union-pacific-railroad-business-logistics-union-pacific.html

ROADWAYS

7) Wider London Road-User Charges Denied

Link to article in the Financial Times:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32c956f8-b763-11de-9812-00144feab49a.html

SAFETY / SECURITY

8) Are Wii Balance Boards the Future of Airport Security?

Link article in Popular Science:

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-10/do-wii-balance-boards-represent-future-airport-security

9) Tickets Might be Helping DC Cell Phone Law Sink In

Link to article in The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/12/AR2009101202965.html

TELEMATICS

10) Ford Seeks High-Tech Solutions from University Partnership

Link to article in The Detroit News:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910130327

Link to news release from Ford:

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS165766+13-Oct-2009+PRN20091013

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

11) Seattle Looks to Technology to Serve Its Citizens

Link to article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/411090_citytech13.html

12) Cities Turn to High-Tech for Curbing Traffic, Crime

Link to article on EurActiv:

http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/cities-turn-high-tech-curbing-traffic-crime/article-186296

13) Not so Up-to-the-Minute Traffic Updates

Highway advisory radio station in Las Vegas area broadcasts information several months out-of-date.

Link to story and video report on KVBC-TV:

http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=11304060

14) Company to Provide Statewide Traffic Data to South Carolina Department of Transportation

Contract with Inrix part of I-95 Corridor Coalition’s Vehicle Probe Project.

Link to article in the Charleston Regional Business Journal:

http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/29844-company-to-provide-statewide-traffic-data-to-s-c-department-of-transportation

Link to news release from Inrix:

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS90610+13-Oct-2009+PRN20091013

15) West Virginia Firm Helps Build Mobile Weather-Data System

Vehicle would collect weather data near critical transportation infrastructure.

Link to AP article:

http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11304599

VEHICLES

16) Who Needs a Key? IPhone App Unlocks and Starts Car

Link to article in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2009-10-12-iphone-app-unlocks-car_N.htm

17) E-Car R&D Drives Chip Sales, Infineon’s CEO Says

Link to article in EE Times Deutschland:

http://eetimes.eu/germany/220600567

News Releases

1) FlightView Advances Airport Web Sites

2) ERTICO and ITS Russia at Stockholm

Upcoming Events

3^rd Annual Future of Business Jets Conference – November 4-5 – London

http://www.quaynote.com/ankiti/www/?code=Jets09&f=home&conf=9c9211372d9410be07402a4be8db0302

Today in Transportation History

1884 **125^th anniversary** – During an international conference, Greenwich, England was chosen as the Prime Meridian.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/10/dayintech_1013

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

To subscribe send an e-mail to:  i95berniew@aol.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

As the U.S. looks to improve passenger transportation, join us for a live Webinar where industry experts will share experiences, examine challenges and present various approaches of successful high-speed rail projects.

Panelists include:
•Rick Harnish, Executive Director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association
•Peter Gertler, Vice President of HNTB
•Chuck Pineda, Rail Division Manager – US for OHL
•Antonio Pérez, CEO of TALGO America
•Susana Mate, Assistant Director of Industry and Technology for the Trade Commission of Spain in Chicago

The panel will discuss the elements of a high-speed rail system, as well as the similarities and differences of projects in Spain, the U.S. and around the world; from how they are planned and engineered to how they are built and operated.

Hosted by the Trade Commission of Spain in Chicago, www.spaintechnology/rail.

Register at: www.masstransitmag.com/hi-speedrail

(Source: Jalopnik)

Kudos to our awesome folks at Jalopnik who have a knack for finding such news.    The $1.5M Dartz Prombron Monaco Red Diamond Edition features, apart from the Whale Penis Leather, diamond-encrusted white gold gauges and gold-plated bulletproof windows.  Also to be noted is the wildly over-the-top 8.1 liter GM V8-powered Dartz Kombat T98, which is getting a name change to Prombron and along with it will come a complete and brain-maimingly bourgeoisie upgrade with the Monaco Red Diamond Edition. The world’s most expensive ultra-luxury SUV will debut at the 2010 Top Marques Monaco show with luxe features crazy enough to make a Maybach blush.  Prombron built armored cars from the late 1910 period for Czar’s and Communist dictators so it’s a fitting modern day re-incarnation.

For your $1.5 million you get the following features:

• Ruby Red matte paint
• Gold-plated bulletproof windows
• 22″ Kremlin Red Star bulletproof wheels
• Whale Penis Leather interior
• Tungsten exhaust
• Tungsten and white gold gauges with diamonds and rubies
• White gold diamond and ruby encrusted badges – grill, side and dashboard
• Special edition Vertu mobile phone with “alert” button
• Additional outside kevlar coating
• Rogue Acoustic Audio System.

Wait, wait, Wait.. That’s not all.  To stick to the Russian tradition, the makers have also thrown in THREE BOTTLES OF World Most Expensive Vodka – RussoBaltique Vodka, drink edition, same as in the RussoBaltique car when it visited Monaco at 1912.

Click here to read more.

Monday, October 12, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

---

AVIATION

1) Non-Radar Air-Traffic System Debuts

Link to article in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-10-12-air-traffic_N.htm

2) Low-Cost Airlines All a-Twitter with Customers

Link to AP article:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Lowcost-airlines-all-aTwitter-apf-629994216.html?x=0&.v=2

3) EU-US Air Traffic Management Talks

Hope to ensure interoperability between the European air traffic management program SESAR and its American equivalent NextGen.

Link to article on Europolitics:

http://www.europolitics.info/external-policies/eu-us-air-traffic-managment-talks-art250850-44.html

ROADWAYS

4) Shanghai Roads Renamed as Part of Nationwide Initiative to Create a Unified Naming System for Highways

Link to article in the Shanghai Daily:

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200910/20091012/article_416026.htm

SAFETY / SECURITY

5) In the Lab, Cooking Up Bomb Detectors

Link to article in the Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bomb-lab12-2009oct12,0,1662647.story

6) Seeking Criminals, FBI Scanning Driver-License Photos

Link to AP article:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iCDKSGZjGw3GMFUml4LQLlWzNOuQD9B9O5B80

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

7) Colorado DOT: Technology Key to Managing I-70 Traffic

Link to article in the Summit Daily News:

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20091012/NEWS/910119988/1078&ParentProfile=1055

News Releases

1) Smart Phone Apps Battle Spreads to Car Market

2) Norfolk Southern E-commerce Offers ‘Railcar Event – Text Message Alerts’  and Live Chat Support

3) All New Toyota Genuine FollowMe Makes In-Car Navigation Portable

4) Berg Insight Says 3.5 Million Cars in Europe have a Telematics Device

5) Know Before You Go with ‘Traffic Text’ from O2 and iTraffic

6) Study to Examine Vehicle Safety Warnings Aimed at Detecting Distracted Drivers

Upcoming Events

Telematics @ China 2009 – December 8-9 – Shanghai

http://www.telematics-china.com.cn/

Today in Transportation History

1964 **45^th anniversary** – Voskhod 1, the first spacecraft to carry more than one person, was launched.

http://www.astronautix.com/flights/voskhod1.htm

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

To subscribe send an e-mail to:  i95berniew@aol.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

(Source: Wired; Bikeportland)

The Hopworksfiets party bike was built in, where else, bike- and beer-mad Portland, Oregon, by the bike builders Metrofiets. All you really need to know in order to fall in love with this bike is that it carries not one, but two beer kegs along with a pair of taps to serve the suds.

The mobile bar, a custom build for Portland-based Hopworks Urban Brewery, is a long-wheelbase cargo bike with the load bed up front, which we guess means that pedestrians can’t sneak a quick pint when you’re stopped at the lights. There’s a “sound pannier” at the back, containing an amp and a speaker, and the rear rack is just the right size to carry a stack of pizza boxes.

This party is entirely human-powered, with the help of nine gears — any more would allow a rider to go faster than would be entirely wise, explained Ross. Sturdy looking disc brakes and chunky tires with full fenders adorn both wheels.

When fully loaded with pizza, beer, and ice, the bike should just about meet Metrofiets’ 400lb weight limit. Still, Ross is recommending that the bike be transported with pony kegs, and refilled with full-sized kegs on the scene.

The bike is a group effort. Ross and Nichols designed and built the bike. Damon Eckhoff inspired the sound system and did much of the wiring. Metropolis Cycles (2249 N Williams) built the wheels and provided general bike shop support. Michael Moscarelli of local brewing supply company F.H. Steinbarts did the beer plumbing; local high school biology teacher, homebrewer, and woodworker Gregg Heppner created the bar top and sound system shell. The bike’s components (including the tap handles) were donated by Chris King Components and Shimano.

Click here to read more and here to see the slideshow of the bike in action.

(Source: PeopleofWalmart.com)

The picture(s) below gives you a glimpse of what you can expect to see in the parking lot of a neighborhood Walmart..

Seriously, who drives around the town in something that looks like this..?? The answer is: Someone who shops at Walmart.. Yet another gem of a capture from the parking lot of a Walmart store in Indiana..

Looks like some customers of Walmart do prefer to hire this vehicle for that very special day..Please tune your vision to see the object on the trunk of this super-sophisticated limo..

Peopleofwalmart.com has become one my “must visit everyday” websites.  Trust me, you will be a regular visitor the moment you get to see the home page..Very special people!