TransportGooru

The saying goes like this: A picture is worth a thousand words. But this picture shown above is worth all the words you ever want to write about our addiction to foreign oil. What is striking in this picture is the fact that almost everyone of these top 10 nations where we get our oil from, with the exception of Brazil & Canada, has been battling or contributing to violence in its own soil or in foreign soil through covert (at times overt) funding for terror groups & radical factions. Hope our Government as well as the citizens start thinking about ways to curb this problem. A good start would be to look at the type(s) of vehicle sitting in our driveway and ask yourself this question “Do I really need this vehicle?” If possible, downsize to something that makes sense (a v10 or v8 for a daily commute to work does not make sense). Just by doing that, you are not only contributing to a greener planet but also towards limiting the funds flowing to gunslingers and bomb makers in these hot spots.

(Source: Jalopnik & Oil and Gas News via Cool Infographics)

Read more Comments Off

IntelliDriveSM Working Group Meeting – October 29 & 30, 2009 @ Detroit, MI

September 24, 2009 at 11:07 am

The next *IntelliDrive^SM Working Group Meeting will take place October 29-30th at the Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby/Detroit Downtown Hotel. The purpose of this meeting is for the major partners and stakeholders to present future plans and focus areas of the program and to discuss stakeholder involvement in all focus areas. On the first day, each of the major partners (the states, auto industry, and USDOT) will discuss their upcoming plans, projects and focus areas. Day one will end with a facilitated discussion of the Working Group structure and stakeholder involvement to accommodate new focus areas including environmental applications, mobility applications based on various communications systems, and inclusion of aftermarket devices and applications. Day two will include breakout sessions on specific focus areas for the program, including safety, mobility, and environment.

Who should attend? The Working Group meeting will be open to members as well as other interested participants.

Date: October 29-30, 2009 Oct 29th full day; Oct 30th half day, ending by 11:30 AM.

Location: Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby/Detroit Downtown Hotel.

525 West Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, Michigan, 48226

Tel: 1-313-963-5600

Registration: Registration for this event is free. However, a registration form must be completed by October 23 and sent to Brei Whitty at bwhitty@itsa.org in order to attend.

Click here for a registration form.

Hotel Info – Link

Airport to Hotel Transportation Information – Link

*IntelliDrive is a registered service mark of the US Department of Transportation. IntelliDrive was formerly known as the Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration (VII) program. More information about the program is available at www.intellidrive.org.

Read more Comments Off

Carmakers’ Alliance endorses U.S. ban on texting & hand-held phone use while driving

September 23, 2009 at 10:26 pm

(Sources: Reuters & The Detroit News)

Major automakers today endorsed a ban on texting and using hand-held mobile phones while driving, ahead of a Transportation Department summit next week on distracted driving.

“Clearly, using a hand-held device to text or call while driving is a safety risk,” said Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “The alliance supports a ban on hand-held texting and calling while driving to accelerate the transition to more advanced, safer ways to manage many common potential distractions.”The alliance represents 11 automakers, including Detroit’s Three automakers, Toyota Motor Corp., Daimler AG and BMW AG.

McCurdy said using a mobile phone without a hands-free device or scrolling through a cellular phone’s list of phone numbers may put drivers at risk.

But the industry strongly supports allowing hands-free devices to make calls. Some states ban the use of cell phones by drivers without using a hands-free device. “You have to minimize the eyes off the road time. That’s critical,” McCurdy said.

This announcement is a boost for the Obama administration’s efforts to curb this growing problem. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood plans to hold a summit next week on distracted driving and address the issue of texting.

“If it were up to me, I would ban drivers from texting,” LaHood said in August. “But we’ve learned from our efforts to get people to wear seat belts and to persuade them not to drive drunk that laws aren’t always enough. Often, you need to combine education with enforcement to get results.”

The wireless industry — including cellphone manufacturers, carriers, and some Internet companies represented by the CTIA-Wireless Association — also believes texting “is incompatible with safe driving.”

The trade group supports state and local efforts to ban texting and driving as well as public education and aggressive enforcement.

There were more than 1 trillion text messages sent and received on wireless devices last year, including cell phones and smart phones, the association said. There are no statistics on how many people drive and text, the group said. A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study released in July said drivers of heavy vehicles using a hand-held text messaging system had 23.2 times as high a risk of a crash than drivers who weren’t.

The National Safety Council, a research group, is pushing for a full ban on cell phone use and texting while driving.

About a dozen U.S. states have passed laws banning texting while driving. A handful have made cellphone use illegal while behind the wheel, a practice that automakers do not oppose in all circumstances.

Legislation proposed by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York would withhold 25 percent of federal highway money from states that do not ban texting while driving and the provision is similar to one that enticed states to adopt a 0.08 percent blood alcohol level limit for drunken driving. A text-while-driving ban has also been proposed in the House of Representatives.

Click here or here to get more details on this story.

Read more Comments Off

Leading by example, U.N. offsets 461 Tons of Carbon Emissions Resulting from Climate Summit

September 23, 2009 at 9:33 pm

(Source: New York Times & Associated Press)

Like most large international conferences, the United Nations climate summit meeting in New York this week generated a hefty dose of greenhouse gas emissions.

Hundreds of presidents, prime ministers and officials from across the globe this week took airplanes to the United Nations meeting, some accompanied by dozens of people. Limousines and motorcades ferried the dignitaries from airports to meetings to hotels and back, often getting stuck in Midtown Manhattan gridlock.

But since the goal of this meeting was to reduce the global emissions that have been linked to global warming, the United Nations decided to try to do something about all the carbon dioxide produced by the delegates: it bought carbon offsets.

Under a new and expanding program for offsetting emissions, United Nations administrators calculated that the meeting would generate the equivalent of 461 tons of carbon dioxide, with air travel being the single largest component. They offset those emissions by directing money to a power project in rural Andhra Pradesh, India, through which agricultural leftovers like rice husks and sunflower stalks are turned into electricity for the local grid.

The offsets are intended to cancel out the carbon dioxide emissions created by airline travel or driving by financing green projects that will eliminate as much CO2 as the polluting activities create.

The United Nations first tried its hand at large-scale offsets two years ago, shortly after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who called Tuesday’s conference, took office and declared that climate issues would be a central theme of his tenure.

“The secretary general started talking about greening the U.N. and that we needed to lead by example,” said Dan Shepard, a United Nations spokesman in New York.

Of necessity, figuring out how much carbon dioxide needs to be offset for a large meeting involves choices. In calculating the potential emissions of the New York meeting, the United Nations tallied the airline emissions for the flights of each leader and one aide, even though many of the leaders who attended have larger delegations.

Ban opened the gathering on Tuesday with an appeal to leaders to set aside national interests and think about the future of the planet — and included a rebuke for their foot-dragging thus far. The summit drew more than 50 presidents, 35 prime ministers and many environment ministers.

The U.N. conference and the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh this week are believed to be an attempt to pressure wealthier nations into adopting a global climate treaty during a pivotal conference in December in Copenhagen, Denmark. The treaty would also tie in financing for poorer nations to burn less coal and preserve their forests.

Click here to read the entire article.

Read more Comments Off

Side effects of the bitter recession pill: Americans are taking steps to reduce dependence on cars; Interested in alternative transportation options

September 23, 2009 at 5:48 pm

(Source: Transportation for America; USA Today)

A yearly census survey released Monday illustrates the continuation of a trend that started well before the recession: Americans are taking steps to reduce their dependence on cars, and are looking for other options for getting around. The daily drumbeat of high unemployment, home foreclosures and plummeting retail sales drowns out a less obvious impact of the recession: its influence on America’s lifestyle. Rates of solo driving and car ownership are dropping, according to this story in the USA Today about new census data. The paper cites a census report showing drops in both Americans who drove alone to work and in overall car ownership.

Commuting. The share of workers who drove to work alone has dropped to 75.5% from 76% the past two years — a possible consequence of high gas prices and the recession.

Environmental consciousness and the appeal of living in urban centers also play a role, says David Goldberg, spokesman for Transportation for America (T4America), a national coalition that advocates reduced dependence on cars.

Car ownership. The share of households having one car or no car at all rose to 42.2% from 41.8%. Some of the decline in car ownership may be driven by younger people putting off getting their driver’s licenses or buying their first cars, Goldberg says. “We’ve seen a cultural shift.” Younger Americans are also changing their perceptions – and the behavior – surrounding automobile use.

Bernie’s Transportation Communications Newsletter (TCN) – September 23, 2009

September 23, 2009 at 5:18 pm

Wednesday, September 23, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

AVIATION

1) Europe Orders Checks on More Airbus Speed Sensors

Link to Reuters article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSWEA199720090923

2) FAA System Helps Controllers Track Planes Out of Radar’s Reach in Colorado Mountains

Link to AP article:

http://www.kjct8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11178299

GPS / NAVIGATION

3) Navteq Q&A: The Road Ahead

Link to interview in Mobile Entertainment:

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/features/200/Navteq-QA-The-road-ahead

OTHER

4) Tracking Stimulus Dollars: Dot-Com vs. Dot-Gov

Link to story and audio report on NPR’s Morning Edition:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112893572&ps=cprs

SAFETY / SECURITY

5) Idle Chatter Clogs Wireless System for Chennai Traffic Police

Link to article in The Times of India:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/chennai/Idle-chatter-clogs-wireless-system-of-traffic-police/articleshow/5045113.cms

6) Utah Tackles Texting and Driving Problem Head-On

Link to story and audio on NPR’s All Things Considered:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113035255

7) Emergency Evacuation: Get a Road of This

New technique monitors Bluetooth signals from commuter cell phones to derive travel times, road speeds and vehicle movements.

Link to article in Law Enforcement Technology:

http://www.officer.com/print/Law-Enforcement-Technology/Emergency-Evacuation–Get-a-road-of-this/1$48418

TRANSIT

8) National Transportation Safety Board Urges Transit Agencies to Address ‘Safety Glitches’

Link to article in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-09-22-ntsb_N.htm

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

9) To Help Slow Traffic, San Francisco Planners Pick Beige

Link to article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/22/BARQ19QUGI.DTL

10) Speeding Up Interstate 15

Utah DOT to begin construction of electronic monitoring system.

Link to article in the Standard-Examiner:

http://www.standard.net/topics/news/2009/09/23/speeding-interstate-15

VEHICLES

11) The Deadly Silence of the Electric Car

Automakers propose adding some artificial vroom to alert pedestrians.

Link to article in The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/22/AR2009092204290.html

News Releases

1) New Study Reveals Benefits of the Parking Guidance System at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa

2) Volvo Cars Takes on Safety Challenges Involving Electric Cars

3) I-95 Corridor Coalition Launches I-95 Corridor Travel Information Time Web Site

4) DC Metro Already Taking Steps to Improve Track Circuit Reliability

5) BART Tests On-Demand Info by SMS Text Messaging

6) Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems Awards Presented

7) Boeing Completes Ground Tests to Prepare for 1^st GPS IIF Satellite Launch

8) New IBM Research Reveals Critical Gap for Managing Congestion Problems in Cities Worldwide

9) IBM Brings 50% Reduction in Waiting Time to the Morning Commute in Sweden’s Capital

10) Michigan DOT Asks for Public’s Feedback on Mi Drive Traffic Web Site

11) ITS America, IBM, Spencer Trask & Partners Announce the Winner in Challenge for Traffic Congestion Solutions

Upcoming Events

8^th Annual Maritime Security Expo – October 20-21 – Long Beach, California

http://www.maritimesecurityexpo.com/

Today in Transportation History

1959 **50^th anniversary** – The M/S Princess of Tasmania, Australia’s first roll-on/roll-off ferry, began service.

http://users.nex.net.au/~reidgck/shipping.htm#new-era

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

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.

Read more Comments Off

Ready for another round of “Legislative Chicken”? With only 8 days left in the life of SAFETEA-LU Legislation, Oberstar proposes a three month extension

September 22, 2009 at 11:06 pm

(Sources Contributing to this Hybrid Report: Streetsblog; PBS -The Dig; Journal of Commerce)

Every six years the law authorizing national transportation policy and funding needs renewal. The current law expires Sept. 30 — in nine days.The House will consider a three-month extension of the current highway bill rather than the 18-month extension the administration and Senate want. The extension will avoid a collapse of highway spending on Oct. 1, according to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee press secretary James Berard.

Rep. James Oberstar (D., Minn.), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is staunchly against an 18-month delay. As a result, it is likely he will propose a three-month extension later this week.

Without some kind of action, legislation to extend the current transportation law by 18 months — already in place in the Senate and endorsed by the Obama administration — would almost certainly have to pass in order ensure transportation funding past the end of the month.

The 18-month extension is favored by the Senate and White House. A Senate spokesman said that the four committees with jurisdiction over the highway bill have reported legislation to the floor, but the bills have not been up for debate before the full body.

The House’s decision to press onward with a three-month delay sets up a game of legislative chicken similar to the one that developed in late July, when Oberstar was still standing firm on his vow to produce a new transportation bill before September 30. That impasse ended with the Senate and White House prevailing and the nation’s highway trust fund receiving a $7 billion infusion to keep it solvent until the end of this month.

Will this month’s version end with the House again bowing to the Obama administration’s preference that a new transport bill not be considered until early 2011? Now, as in July, the deck is stacked against the lower chamber of Congress. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business interests are behindOberstar’s three-month plan, but their lobbying in favor of a gas tax increase has not yet succeeded in rousing a reluctant Congress.

Meanwhile, State highway officials warn that unless Congress acts, they will lose $8.7 billion in money allocated for projects ranging from interstate highway maintenance to safe routes for school buses on Oct. 1.

The Federal Highway Administration announced that it will rescind funds that have been budgeted but not obligated for highway contracts on Sept. 30. The action will not be affected by congressional legislation to extend the highway law known as SAFETEA-LU. Tony Dorsey, spokesman for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), said preventing the loss will require separate legislation.

An AASHTO press release on this subject notes that all 535 members of the House and Senate received an urgent letter from AASHTO yesterday, requesting that Congress repeal an $8.7 billion rescission of highway contract authority. The rescission was written into SAFETEA-LU, the highway and transit authorization bill passed by Congress in 2005.

In his letter, AASHTO executive director John Horsley contends “…an additional $8.7 billion rescission will result in substantial, real program cuts, not merely a reduction of unused dollars on the books. Provisions in section 1132 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which require that the states apply the rescission proportionately across all programs, will exacerbate the problem by further reducing state discretion to make reductions according to priorities. The letter also states that the rescission must be repealed or “it will nullify the benefits from economic recovery efforts.”

Read more Comments Off

Bernie’s Transportation Communications Newsletter (TCN) – September 22, 2009

September 22, 2009 at 9:56 pm

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

GPS / NAVIGATION

1) Garmin Tries to Find Ways Around Smartphone Threat

Link to Dow Jones Newswire article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090921-703769.html

SAFETY / SECURITY

2) Patrol Vessels Make Waves with High-Tech Equipment

Link to article in the Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/article/20090922/NEWS05/909220309/1001/News/Patrol-vessels-make-waves-with-high-tech-equipment

Link to further information from US Customs and Border Protection:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/may_2009/05122009_4.xml

3) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is Increasing Use of GPS Logs for Hours of Service Audits, Qualcomm Exec Says

Link to article in Transport Topics:

http://www.ttnews.com/articles/basetemplate.aspx?storyid=22773

TELEMATICS

4) Ford Brings In-Dash Computers to the Next Level

Link to article from Driving Today:

http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=11176876

TRANSIT

5) Evaluation of Smart Video for Transit Event Detection

Link to report from the Florida Department of Transportation:

http://www.nctr.usf.edu/pdf/77807.pdf

6) Intercoms Coming to New York City Subway Platforms at All Future Station Rehabs

Link to article in the Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/09/22/2009-09-22_intercoms_coming_to_subway_platforms_at_all_future_station_rehabs_5_brighton_lin.html

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

7) Westwood One’s Metro Traffic Launches Smartphone Service

Link to article in Radio Online:

http://news.radio-online.com/cgi-bin/rol.exe/headline_id=n19766

Link to news release from Westwood One:

http://images.WestwoodOne.com/images/pdf/pressreleases/PressReleaseTrafficontheGoFINAL9-22-09.pdf

8) Waze Rolls Out Crowdsourced Traffic Data App

Link to CNET News article:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10357196-52.html

Link to further information on Waze: http://www.waze.com

9) Group to ‘Tweet’ G-20 Traffic Updates

Link to story on KDKA-TV:

http://kdka.com/local/g20/twitter.traffic.updates.2.1200100.html

VEHICLES

10) Chrysler to Put Owner’s Manuals on DVD

Link to article in The Detroit News:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090922/AUTO01/909220326/1148/Chrysler-to-put-manuals-on-DVD

11) Ford Promotes Taurus with Microsoft Tags

Link to blog in The Wall Street Journal:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/09/22/ford-and-microsoft-team-up-to-promote-the-new-taurus/

12) In-Car Tech Sales to Top $9.3 Billion

Link to article in the Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909220328

13) Defensive Driving with Cop-Alert Device

Link to article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/22/MN7E19O36G.DTL

News Releases

1) Orange County Transportation Authority Launches Redesigned Web Site

2) TrafficTalk Announces Voice-Based Traffic Information Service at DEMOfall 09

3) Intelligent Transport Systems and Services to Improve Our Daily Lives

4) Cellular M2M Connections to Triple by 2014

5) Houston TranStar Adds Weather Radar to Traffic Map

6) New FAA System Improves Safety in Remote, Non-Radar Regions

Upcoming Events

Satellite and Content Deliver Conference & Expo – October 14-15 – New York

http://www.satconexpo.com/

Today in Transportation History

1909 **100^th anniversary** – Ferdinand Ferber, a French Army captain, became the fourth person and the second pilot to die in a powered aircraft crash.

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/ferber.html

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

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

Read more Comments Off

The Price You Pay…Market-based Road Pricing in the United States

September 21, 2009 at 10:56 pm

TransportGooru.com is proud to share this insightful presentation on market-based road pricing in the U.S. prepared by Mr. Glenn Havinoviski, a long time supporter of TransportGooru.com, for his recent discussion with the Public Policy program students at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

When Glenn updated his status message on LinkedIn after the classroom discussion, TransportGooru jumped on the opportunity to get a glimpse of his briefing material prepared for the class and wrote to him seeking permission to publish the briefing materials. Glenn graciously agreed to share this excellent presentation and sent along a PDF version (shown in the PDF viewer below). Please feel free to leave your comments/questions in the “Comments” section below and they will be brought to Glenn’s attention right away. Thanks for sharing the presentation, Glenn.

About Glenn Havinoviski: Glenn currently serves as an Associate Vice President (Transportation Systems) at Iteris in Sterling, VA and is a registered PE. Until recently, he was an Associate Vice President and ITS Group Director for HNTB Corporation in the Arlington, Virginia office. His 27 years of experience (25 in consulting, 2 in the public sector) include serving as both a practice builder and a practice leader, providing project management and technical leadership for ITS and traffic management projects in the US and abroad.Glenn N. Havinoviski, PE joined Iteris in Sterling, VA on July 6 as Associate VP, Transportation Systems, after serving as Associate Vice President and ITS Group Director for HNTB Corporation in the Arlington, Virginia office. His 27 years of experience (25 in consulting, 2 in the public sector) include serving as both a practice builder and a practice leader, providing project management and technical leadership for ITS and traffic management projects in the US and abroad.

Read more Comments Off

Bernie’s Transportation Communications Newsletter (TCN) – September 24, 2009

Source(s) of trouble! A graphical depiction of sources that feed America’s insatiable apetite for foreign oil

IntelliDriveSM Working Group Meeting – October 29 & 30, 2009 @ Detroit, MI

Carmakers’ Alliance endorses U.S. ban on texting & hand-held phone use while driving

Leading by example, U.N. offsets 461 Tons of Carbon Emissions Resulting from Climate Summit

Side effects of the bitter recession pill: Americans are taking steps to reduce dependence on cars; Interested in alternative transportation options

Bernie’s Transportation Communications Newsletter (TCN) – September 23, 2009

Ready for another round of “Legislative Chicken”? With only 8 days left in the life of SAFETEA-LU Legislation, Oberstar proposes a three month extension

Bernie’s Transportation Communications Newsletter (TCN) – September 22, 2009

The Price You Pay…Market-based Road Pricing in the United States

Recent Posts

Archives

Trending For @Transportgooru

Favorite Blogs

Favorite Podcasts

Links

Meta