TransportGooru

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

From June 1-3, join U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, members of Congress, and other transportation, technology, business and policy leaders at ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting & Exposition – located just 15 minutes away from the nation’s capitol. If you are in the transportation industry, you cannot afford to miss this event.  ITS America has put together an exciting program of nearly 100 educational and Congressional fact-finding sessions, opportunities to interact with members of Congress and senior government officials, 150,000 square feet of exhibits, tours of local ITS facilities and projects, a “City Streets” technology demonstration staged right outside of the convention center, and a closing reception and technology showcase in the new Capitol Hill Visitors Center.  For more information on the program and to register, visit http://www.itsa.org/amregistration.html.

CAMERAS

1) Internet Accelerating Speed Camera Foes in Maryland

Link to story in The Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/25/AR2009052501975.html

2) Man Unhappy as Traffic CCTV Films His Home

Link to story on Get Surrey:

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/s/2051346_man_unhappy_as_traffic_cctv_films_his_home

GPS / NAVIGATION

3) The GAO, the Media, and GPS

Link to commentary in The Space Review:

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1381/1

OTHER

4) Four States Adopt ‘No Smiles’ Policy for Driver’s Licenses

Link to story in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-05-25-licenses_N.htm

PEDESTRIANS

5) Indonesian Law Will Make Disabled Wear Signs in Traffic

Link to story in The Jakarta Globe:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/law-will-make-disabled-wear-signs-in-traffic/277469

ROADWAYS

6) Illinois Tollway Hopes New Signs Pay Off

Link to Chicago Breaking News story:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/illinois-tollway-signs.html

7) Growth Means Signs Can’t Keep Up with Times

As communities spread ever outward, traffic signage estimates are frequently miles off the mark.

Link to story in The Ledger:

http://www.theledger.com/article/20090525/NEWS/905255031/1410?Title=Growth-Means-Signs-Can-t-Keep-Up-With-Times

TELEMATICS

8) Ford Takes on OnStar with 911 Assist

Link to story in Wired:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/05/ford-takes-on-onstar-with-911-assist/

TRANSIT

9) Trolley Anticrash Technology Put Off in Boston

Link to story in The Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/05/25/trolley_safety_system_put_off/

TRAVELER INFORMATION / TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT

10) Digital Transport Project to be Rolled Out in Birmingham, UK

Link to story in the Birmingham Post:

http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/creative-industries-news/2009/05/27/digital-transport-project-to-be-rolled-out-in-birmingham-65233-23719905/

11) Upstate New York is Not Yet in 511 NY Real-Time Traffic Alert Loop

Link to column in the Times Union:

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=803479

Upcoming Events

ITS International Best Practices Workshop: Wireless Communications – July 13-14 – Charlotte, North Carolina

http://www.apta.com/conferences_calendar/itsbest/

Today in Transportation History

1889 **120^th anniversary** – The first passenger elevator opened in the Eiffel Tower.

http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/

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

The Transportation Communications Newsletter is published electronically Monday through Friday.

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

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TCN archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications

Questions, comments about the TCN?  Please write the editor, Bernie Wagenblast ati95berniew@aol.com.

© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast

(Source: The Infrastructurist)

Our friends at The Infrastructurist compiled the national results from that study and compare them with the demographics of transit systems in three U.S. cities: Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco (well, the Bay Area). The snapshot offers an intriguing insight into which Americans choose not to drive to work.

If FTA can spend a bunch of money on such a compilation for the entire US,  that would greatly benefit many of our professionals engaged in transportation planning & policy research.  An analysis on the issue of social equity and its underpinning to transportation alternatives would be very helpful to say the least as the country’s demographics has undergone a signficiant shift in the past decade or two.

(Source: earth2tech via Reuters)

Cities have thrown down the gauntlet for electric car charging in recent months, and utilities are increasingly eager to tout infrastructure efforts. Among automakers, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has been out in front working to coordinate governments, utilities and charge station companies to develop regional networks of hardware and services that drivers will need to make the automakers’ upcoming electric cars practical for daily use. But what steps follow a big partnership announcement, after a utility, a vendor or an automaker says it’s done a deal to ready the power grid for an EV rollout?

For at least one of the 26 partners that the Renault-Nissan Alliance has lined up so far — utility San Diego Gas & Electric — the vision for how to support plug-in vehicles at even a pilot scale is just beginning to take shape. In an interview last week, SDG&E’s Clean Transportation manager, Bill Zobel, gave us a glimpse of what the utility has accomplished so far, and what it has in the works.

At this point, Zobel said, the company is still in the process of assembling its internal team for the project. When that group is fully established next month, it will help develop milestones and oversee outreach to customers and “integration across the broader utility.” By September, SDG&E aims to have commitments from fleet operators in the San Diego area to trial at least 100 electric cars coming from Nissan next year. Zobel said the University of California, San Diego is “ecstatic” about the program. The city and county of San Diego, several nearby cities and the U.S. military may also sign up to try the vehicles. SDG&E plans to have at least 15 of the cars in its own fleet.

Monday, May 25, 2009 – ISSN 1529-1057

RTIMIS is a software product from Open Roads Consulting that generates comprehensive real-time transportation information by fusing system information gleaned from existing stakeholder systems.  By collecting data from 911 CAD systems, traffic signal systems, freeway management systems, and others, RTIMIS creates a common operational picture of transportation across a region, a state, or a multi-state corridor.  This common operational picture enables improved incident response, increased responder and traveler safety, enhanced mobility, and represents a cost-effective means of achieving compliance with the requirements stated in section 1201 of the SAFETEA-LU legislation.    Open Roads will be demonstrating RTIMIS at ITS America at booth #840.  For appointments and customized demos, please call 757-546-3401 or email Steve Beckwith at slbeckwith@openroadsconsulting.com.  You can also visit us online at www.openroadsconsulting.com.

AVIATION

1) Can Airport Technology Halt a Pandemic?

Link to story in New Scientist:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227095.900-can-airport-technology-halt-a-pandemic.html

2) New Web Program Aims to Reduce Fatigue-Related Aviation Accidents

Link to American Forces Press Service story:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54456

SAFETY / SECURITY

3) New York City Goes Wireless

Wireless network supports transfers of large files, such as fingerprints, maps and full-motion streaming video.

Link to story in Government Computer News:

http://gcn.com/articles/2009/05/21/nyc-mobile-data-network.aspx

TRANSIT

4) New York City Transit Authority Feeling the Pain from a Crippled Advertising Market

Link to story in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/nyregion/25ads.html?_r=1&ref=media

Upcoming Events

Low Cost Airlines World Americas – June 29-July 1 – Coral Gables, Florida

http://www.terrapinn.com/2009/americas

Today in Transportation History

1979 **30^th anniversary** – American Airlines Flight 191 crashed on takeoff in Chicago, killing 273 people.  It is deadliest single plane crash on US soil.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790525-2

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

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 ati95berniew@aol.com.

© 2009 Bernie Wagenblast

(Source:  Stateline.org via Planetizen)

States are hoping to use federal stimulus money to add technological advancements to their streets and highways to create “smart” roads.

Not all the highway improvement projects states plan to pay for with federal stimulus money involve widening roads, fixing bridges or repaving highways. Nearly half the states plan to use some of their new funds to pay for high-tech gadgets that will reduce congestion, help the environment and create jobs quickly.

At least 22 states have told the federal government they want to make their roads “smarter” by installing traffic cameras, creating express toll lanes, improving traffic signals and alerting drivers about accidents or delays ahead, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.Such projects are “quick, they can move forward very fast, they create jobs and they’re effective in the short and long term,” said Jaime Rall, an NCSL analyst.States are under the gun to tell the federal government how they plan to use $26.7 billion in federal stimulus money for transportation. They have until June 29 to commit half of that money to specific projects, so states are focusing on projects that can get started quickly.Three-quarters of the money committed by states so far will pave or re-pave roads. Some of the money can go to passenger and freight rail efforts, too.

The Obama administration announced earlier this week that another $1.5 billion in transportation stimulus money can be used for innovative road projects.But included in the mix already are dozens of efforts to use technology to make roads function better. The “smart road” improvements include signals for on-ramps in Colorado, new E-Z Pass toll booths to allow drivers to pay without stopping in Delaware and traffic lights connected to fiber optic cable to reduce bottlenecks in Utah.

Technology improvements, in particular, have a bigger bang for the buck for the economy, the federal government points out, because more of the money goes straight to workers’ salaries. Only 20 percent of material-intense projects such as laying roads or fixing bridges typically goes to payroll, according to a January analysis by the U.S. Department of Transportation. For technology upgrades, about 50 percent goes to paychecks.

(Source: Autobloggreen)

With rising gas prices and often limited mass transit options in the United States, car pooling is often an excellent option for many urban commuters. However, finding people to car pool with can be problematic as can sharing costs fairly. The “creepiness” factor has often played against the willingness of many interested commuters to consider this as a viable option, at least until now.

Image Courtesy: Carbuddy

That’s where CarBuddy.com comes into play. When you sign up with CarBuddy, you enter information about your start and end points and whether you prefer to ride, drive or both. CarBuddy matches you up with ride partners that you can select from.

Participants also provide information about the car being driven and CarBuddy calculates fair costs for the trip being taken. The costs are updated weekly and based on more than fuel prices. CarBuddy also factors in wear and tear and depreciation on the car being driven. Based on distance traveled, a cost is calculated for each participant and passengers are charged each week and drivers reimbursed. CarBuddy takes 8 percent off the top of the transaction to pay for its services. Users can cancel at anytime or even switch car pool partners if they want.

The company will also pay for a cab service up to four times a year in the event a passenger gets stranded.

Blueprint America: Road to the Future, an original documentary part of a PBS multi-platform series on the country’s aging and changing infrastructure, goes to three very different American cities – Denver, New York and Portland, and their surrounding suburbs – to look at each as a microcosm of the challenges and possibilities the country faces as citizens, local and federal officials, and planners struggle to manage a growing America with innovative transportation and sustainable land use policies.

Over the next 40 years, America’s population will grow by more than an estimated 130 million people – most will settle in or near the country’s major population centers. At the same time, an unprecedented multi-billion dollar public works investment has just been made by the federal government to rebuild both the weakened economy and stressed national infrastructure. And, Congress is about to consider a transportation bill that will determine the course of the nation’s highways and transit for years to come.

(Source: Wheels Blog – NY Times & Autoblog)

Asia’s premier auto exhibition, the Tokyo Motor Show, held every other fall at the sprawling Makuhari Messe convention center, is still scheduled to take place Oct. 23-Nov. 4, but the cast of characters shrinks almost daily.  The exhibition has suffered in recent years with sales declines in the Japanese domestic market. Now, automakers around the world are experiencing sales and production slowdowns and are canceling plans for many new models.

Image Courtesy: Tokyo Motor Show

In fact, the display area for the 2009 show will be less than half of what it was in 2007, the last time the show was held. That show, in turn, was substantially smaller than the one in 2005. This year, the show is also being shortened by four days. Canceling the show entirely, J.A.M.A. said, would complicate its ability to revive it in future years.

(Source:  Autobloggreen)

Before you think we’ve gone crazy, let’s make clear that this is a post about a serious report published in Nature Geoscience. According to this report, lead that was expelled to the atmosphere through exhaust gases stimulated the growth of clouds. Larger clouds imply less solar radiation, which has a definitive cool effect. In this EU funded study, investigators from Switzerland, Germany and the U.S. “captured” clouds on some mountains and compared them to artificial ones created in laboratories. Their conclusion: if the air has some lead suspended in it, temperature and humidity didn’t pay as significant a role in cloud formation.

The Notre-Planete observed “the major part of atmospheric lead comes from human activities, the main sources are coal combustion, gasoline lead, small aircraft flying at the altitude where the clouds form and construction that release lead from ground.

Emissions of greenhouse gases are the main cause of global warming, but the emission of small particles of substances such as lead may have the opposite effect by interacting with water vapor in the atmosphere to trigger the formation of clouds. Depending on their altitude and the thickness of the clouds can reflect sunlight into space or trap the heat radiated by the Earth.

What’s interesting is that their models show that between 1970 and 1980, before unleaded gasoline became common, most dust on the Earth’s suface had lead particles in it. This might have helped more clouds get created, and that reduced the impact of greenhouse gases accumulation in the atmosphere.  Though research has proved time and again the ill effects of lead on human health, it is surprising to see the “side effect” that has helpedin guarding the environment.

(Source: Autobloggreen & Gizmag) & Mc24.no)

It’s been a little while since we last heard from Suzuki regarding its planned hydrogen fuel cell motorcycle, Crosscage, but apparently the Japanese company has been hard at work getting the machine ready for production. According to Ivar Kvadsheim over at MC24.no, teams from both Suzuki and Intelligent Energy were present at the EVS24 event in Stavanger, Norway, with their fuel cell-powered machines.

Image Courtesy: Autobloggreen

In the ENV and Cross Cage used tl cell to produce electricity to recharge the batteries, which in turn drive electric motor. On the prototype cell gives a power of 1 kW and delivers power to a motor that gives 8 horsepower. The new cell will be used in the production models are lighter and more efficient and delivers 1.8 kW, almost double the output. 

Over the last few years, Intelligent Energy has reportedly managed to increase the output of its fuel cell from 1 kW to 1.8 kW, and both its ENV bike and Suzuki Crosscage will use this same power source. That’s great, but the real issue holding up production is the bike’s hydrogen storage tank. It seems the two companies were planning to use a tank from BMW, but later found out that unit was only approved for automotive use and couldn’t be legally used in a motorcycle.  So we have to go through the entire process to create and get approved a new container, “explains Dennis Hayter of Intelligent Energy. 

This process will probably take about four months. Then both Suzuki and Intelligent Energy to run a few months of testing with an approved container, before they can be put into regular production.

It is expected that both ENV and Cross Cage arrive for sale in the course of next year, probably already in the spring. Bikes will have a range of 160 miles and Hayter estimates a price of around 8000 Euro.

According to Gizmag, Suzuki’s Crosscage will feature a single-sided suspension front AND rear. The brushless electric motor’s mounted inline with the rear wheel, and looks-wise it’s so far out there that it’s on its way back again. It was rumoured that Bridgestone’s even developed a special futuristic-looking tyre to match the bike’s oddly tesselated discs.