TransportGooru

Brilliant… and everything about Tesla Model S sounds better when the narrator sounds like Jason Statham (or is it Jason himself  narrating it?).  A bit of research showed that it is a part of NatGeo (UK)’s Megafactories Show, which has a ton of more such awesome things.. Check out the program’s website.

That’s a bit of surprise.. One would expect a city like Portland to top this list..Nonetheless, it is good to see the number of cities expanding their biking infrastructure.

San Francisco is the most bike-friendly city in the United States. With 5.6 miles of dedicated bike lanes, multiuse bike paths and signed bike routes per square mile (263 miles in total), the Californian metropolis offers the best biking infrastructure in the country.

You will find more statistics at Statista

There are many ways of showing dissent but here is one that should be a bit more endearing for the policemen, who are often tasked with maintaining order during such protests. The photo captures the policeman clearly in the moment, even with his visor down! Love stoned, perhaps? :) Why can’t more of this happen instead of tear gas canisters and stones!

Image Courtesy: MARCO BERTORELLO / Getty Images / AFP via TIME.com

Story behind the photo: An Agence France-Presse photographer Marco Bertorello snapped this image of a protestor during a demonstration over the construction of a high-speed rail in Susa, a tiny town in northwestern, Italy near the French-Swiss Alps. The rail line is expected to connect Milan and Paris, which critics say is too expensive and comes at great environmental cost. You can read more from the source: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/20/photo-the-best-protest-tactic-youve-ever-seen/#ixzz2lQEuETco

The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance seeks qualified applicants for the position of Director of Policy and Programs.  This is a full-time, salaried position with benefits.

Desired Start Date:  week of Jan. 6, 2014 or a.s.a.p.

The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance is a non-profit coalition of business, philanthropic, non-profit and institutional organizations.   Our commitment is to create a forward-thinking, innovative, realistic, usable transportation system.   We advocate for better transportation that will provide access and opportunity for housing, jobs, education, services, goods and recreation to all residents throughout the region.  The Transportation Alliance is an initiative of the Baltimore Community Foundation.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct research to support the Transportation Alliance’s initiatives. This includes, but is not limited to, our ‘Let’s Get to Work’ initiative to enhance service on MARC commuter rail, improving access to regional jobs via alternatives to driving alone, transit-oriented development, transportation funding, and benchmarking the region against national peers;
• Design and execute a comprehensive organizing plan that brings together hundreds of stakeholders to call for advancing the Transportation Alliance’s objectives;
• Assist with development activities including creating and executing a fundraising strategy and grantwriting;
• Develop and maintain knowledge and expertise in diverse areas of transportation including transportation planning, alternative funding methods, transit-oriented development, and related topics to inform conversations with colleagues, partners, and stakeholders;
• Cultivate meaningful collaborations with businesses, institutions, non-government organizations, and government agencies to advance the Transportation Alliance’s mission and vision;
• Assist in the preparation and delivery of presentations for audiences comprised of elected officials, economic development professionals, business leaders, other non-profit advocacy organizations, etc.;
• Assist with drafting various documents and materials such as the organization’s newsletter, social media content, letters to the editor, letters to elected officials, etc.;
• Represent the organization at meetings;
• Other duties as assigned.  In an office environment with a small staff, all personnel, including the Director of Policy and Programs, are asked to be flexible about covering various duties as they arise.

Qualifications:

• Masters degree or commensurate experience in public policy, environmental science,  geography, urban planning, or related fields;
• Familiarity with transportation and its connection with economic development, urban planning, and environmental issues;
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly with word processing and spreadsheets;
• Experience with advocacy campaigns, organizing, and coalition building is preferred;
• Experience with data and quantitative analysis, particularly reviewing and analyzing budgets, is a plus;
• Proficiency with social media such as Twitter and Facebook and web outreach is a plus.

To Apply:

The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance offers a competitive salary and benefits package.  To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume to Brian O’Malley, bomalley@cmtalliance.org.  The first review of letters and resumes will take place after Monday, December 9, 2013.

The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance is an equal opportunity employer and seeks a diverse pool of candidates in this search.

We all know our “developed” societies have way too many cars and often choke up our streets and take up valuable space, resulting in terrible congestion and chronic bottle necks.. If a lot of people chose to leave behind their cars and instead opt for public transportation, it will be a perfect anti-dote for the chronic congestion that plagues our streets. So, how do you tell this story effectively? Here is one way to do it.. I call this the mother of all sustainable transportation images (courtesy of The Atlantic)

Let me tell ya.. The amount of road space saved when a few dozen people switch from driving cars to riding the public transport is ENORMOUS.

via Mashable

• Tech startup NeXt built a product called HeadsUP!, a visual display that projects often-used cellphone features, such as texting, voice calls, and email, onto the windshield of a car. This allows users to engage with their smartphones without needing to look down, or fumbling with them while driving.
• HeadsUP! enables voice dictation and touch-free swiping to let users interact with the screen.
• NeXt is seeking a patent for the technology, and is asking donors on Indiegogo to pay $299 for the earliest version of its HeadsUP! device.

Click here to read more.

Of course, the biggest question is how much of this new tech will add to driver distraction, a hot topic that often pits tech/gadget makers against the regulators and policy-makers who fret about road safety.

Additional information about Parsons Brinckerhoff’s strategic consulting group may be found athttp://www.pbworld.com/capabilities_projects/strategic_consulting/.

Here is a link to the job posting. Candidates can also go to PB’s website (www.pbworld.com) and search job #19267.

Date & Time: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 

• Seminar 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
• Reception 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM

For the United States, Japan is the fourth largest market in bilateral passenger air services. More than ten million people fly between these two countries every year.

Unfortunately, while other Asian aviation markets, such as U.S.-China, have rapidly developed, the U.S.-Japan market experienced a downward trend during the last decade. This may reflect the difference in economic and social circumstances among the U.S.-Japan and other bilateral markets. Some might argue that the U.S.-Japan market has and will continue to exhibit relatively softer demand than in the past.

However, conditions in the U.S.-Japan market are changing. The Open Skies agreement, airport expansion in Tokyo, and recovery from the recent economic downturn in both countries and the Great East Japan Earthquake could factor in the revitalization of the market.

In this seminar, JITI’s distinguished speakers will review the current dynamics of the U.S.-Japan aviation market and discuss whether it can be reinvigorated, including what the key to an eventual resurgence might be.

Click here to see the agenda, speakers line up and registration information.

Happy to be invited as a speaker for this event.  Hope you, my readers and followers, can tune in and learn from some of the best folks in the business about the impact of social media on ITS.

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The 10th Positive Thinking webinar takes place on Wednesday 20 November at 9am Pacific, noon EST, 5pm UK, 6pm Central Europe and focuses on Social Media and ITS.

How has social media affected the way the transportation industry does business? Are we using it properly? Do we fully understand the benefits? The latest in our series of POSITIVE THINKING webinars will attempt to answer these questions (and many more) and provide some fascinating insights into this new facet of the ITS sector.

Expert panellists Andy Palanisamy (TransportGooru), Lloyd Brown (AASHTO), Larry Ehl (Transportation Issues Daily), Ayelet Gal Tzur (Technion University, Israel) and Susan Grant-Muller (University of Leeds, UK) join regular presenters Kevin Borras and Bob McQueen to consider the likely undesirable side effects, how to best harness the value of a social media network and explain how the likes of Twitter and Facebook fit within a more integrated approach to outreach and marketing for transportation agency.

Join us on Wednesday 20 November and participate in this fascinating event. If you can’t listen live then register anyway as we will send you a link to the recording and slides a couple of days after the event. We look forward to you hearing us…

Click HERE to register.

Please note that in order to join the webinar, ‘Go To Webinar’ requires users to download some software. If your firewall may prevent this, please check with your IT department.

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), the nation’s largest nonprofit association representing the transportation technology industry, is seeking an External Affairs Manager to support the organization’s communications, marketing and legislative outreach activities. ITS America’s membership includes nearly 500 public agencies, private sector companies, and research and academic institutions as well as 27 State Chapter affiliates across 40 states dedicated to advancing the research, development and deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to improve the nation’s surface transportation network. The External Affairs Manager will be responsible for the following activities:

• Plan and manage media, Congressional and stakeholder outreach events;
• Assist in maintaining relationships and managing logistics related to ITS America’s Legislative Steering Committee;
• Plan and manage monthly Smart Solution Spotlight award media events and promotional activities;
• Write and manage the distribution of ITS America’s weekly e-newsletter, the Transportation Technology News;
• Schedule and manage logistics for monthly Congressional Roundtable breakfast or lunch events between ITS America members and Members of Congress;
• Draft press releases, media statements, talking points, marketing materials, member announcements, Web content, social media content and other communications as needed;
• Perform occasional legislative and regulatory research and writing;
• Write, edit and update copy and graphics regularly on www.itsa.org;
• Assist with media outreach and marketing activities for ITS America’s quarterly regional event series;
• Manage logistics and outreach for ITS America’s annual Transportation Technology Showcase and Reception on Capitol Hill;
• Assist with media and marketing activities for major industry events including ITS America’s Annual Meetings and the ITS World Congress;
• Monitor transportation and technology-related news and compile daily press clips for distribution;
• Maintain and expand media, Congressional and stakeholders contacts and distribution lists; and
• Perform other duties as assigned.

The incumbent will report to the Senior Vice President for Government and External Affairs, with day-to-day management provided by the Director of Communications in coordination with the Vice President for Legislative Affairs. Candidates should have at least 2-5 years of relevant experience, extremely strong writing skills with a working knowledge of AP Style, the ability to manage multiple projects under tight deadlines, and attention to detail. Media relations and event marketing, Congressional relations, and transportation and/or technology policy experience are all a strong plus. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Please submit your resume and at least three writing samples to pfeenstra@itsa.org.

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability or veteran status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the application process because of a disability, it is available upon request. All applications are treated confidentially.