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 Only one month remains until ITS America's 20th Annual Meeting and Exposition begins on Monday, May 3, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff are the latest additions to an all-star lineup of top-level speakers from across the country! With nearly all of the modal administrators at the U.S. Department of Transportation attending, this promises to be our biggest event yet.
Houston TranStar receives Smart Solution Spotlight Award for Web-based evacuation map ITS America Share    
Houston TranStar was presented an ITS America Smart Solution Spotlight award for its innovative use of intelligent transportation systems to develop a Web-based Evacuation Status Map to coordinate the emergency evacuation of the Gulf region's 5.9 million people during major hurricanes. ITS America President and CEO Scott Belcher presented the award at a press conference in Houston on April 6, to Mike Marcotte, Chair of the Houston TranStar Executive Committee, and David Fink, Transportation Operations Engineer for TxDOT TranStar. Houston TranStar also received a Congressional resolution from Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Emergency Response. As the 2010 hurricane season approaches, Houston TranStar's Web-based Evacuation Status Map will allow law enforcement, emergency medical services and other first responders to use real-time information to coordinate and monitor traffic flow, personnel deployment, weather and other conditions during large-scale evacuations. The map was featured in several major news broadcasts in Houston - see an example from KRIV-TV. More 
ITS America welcomed 14 new members in March 2010 ITS America Share
In the past month, 14 new companies and organizations from around the country have joined the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the nation's leading voice for the use of smart technology to address transportation challenges. Our new members include the City of Portland, Cubic, DBI, E-ViEWS Safety Systems, Gettaround, Graybar Electric, HD Protech, LeddarTech, Mobile Traffic Network, Sendza, SQLstream, Telcordia, Traffic Safety Corporation, and Ver-Mac. More Take an online survey for Traffic Management Centers and Statewide Operations Centers ITS America Share
The Traffic Management Center Pooled Funds Study, a consortium of 28 state DOTs, FHWA, and other stakeholders, is conducting a nationwide survey of Traffic Management Centers and Statewide Operations Centers. The online survey is short and very easy to complete. The TMCPFS is partnering with ITS America on the project, and focuses on issues facing traffic signal control systems and freeway management systems. The TMC Pooled Fund Study is intended to provide a forum for participants to identify and address operational and human centered issues that are common among agencies that manage and operate Traffic Management Centers and Statewide Operations Centers. Survey results will be developed into a national map showing TMCs and Statewide Operations Centers as well as a contact list. For more information on the survey, contact Jim McGee at 402-610-0074, or Jim.McGee@nebraska.gov.
ITS workshop for University Researchers at USDOT headquarters, April 28-29 U.S. Department of Transportation Share
The ITS Joint Program Office of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration of the U.S. DOT is holding a Workshop for University Researchers April 28-29, in Washington, D.C. at U.S. DOT Headquarters. The ITS JPO is looking for ways that they can work collaboratively with universities as the new ITS Strategic Research Plan is implemented in the 2010-2014 time frame. The ITS Strategic Research Plan is designed to achieve a vision of a national, multi-modal surface transportation system that features a connected transportation environment among vehicles, the infrastructure and passengers' portable devices. This connected environment will leverage technology to maximize safety, mobility and environmental performance. View the ITS Strategic Plan and related documentation. Workshop topics to be discussed include: Technical Areas of the Research Program and Application Development; Data Usage as it applies to the Strategic Plan; Environmental Applications; IntelliDrive℠ Policies; Safety Applications; and Road Weather Applications. In addition to attending the workshop in person, there will be an option to attend via webinar. In person registration is limited and will be confirmed on a first come basis. Please register at http://www.pcb.its.dot.gov/workshops/april28-10.asp to attend in person or via webinar. Please contact Mac Lister at 202-366-0375 or mac.lister@dot.gov if you have any questions. National Summit for Rural Traffic Safety Culture in Montana, July 11-13 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety Share
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety will hold its second annual National Summit for Rural Traffic Safety Culture on July 11-13, in Big Sky, Mont. Last year's Summit was an overwhelming success as traffic safety researchers, practitioners, and policy makers from across the country addressed the role of traffic safety culture in decreasing crash risk as well as overcoming the cultural barriers for public and organizational acceptance of safety interventions. The second Summit will go a step further, helping the audience see real connections between theory and practice. For more information, go to http://www.ruraltscsummit.org.
Snowstorms cost big bucks, group says CNN Share
The blizzards that battered the Northeast and mid-Atlantic in February likely cost states hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a new report from the American Highway Users Alliance. The alliance is a nonprofit group that, among other things, urges state and local governments to set aside more money in their annual budgets for snow removal. More
New poll: Americans want more transit, and most would pay more for it The Dallas Morning News Share
Americans want more money spend on public transportation, says a poll commissioned by transportation advocacy group Transportation For America. The group wants to link transportation policy with energy and climate goals, and find new ways to pay for roads, bridges and rail than the old gasoline tax. More Banning texting in trucks raises other questions The New York Times Share
The U.S. Department of Transportation proposed to make permanent a rule prohibiting cross-country truckers from sending text messages while driving. But safety advocates say they hope to see further rules that restrict the truckers from using in-vehicle dispatch terminals and other devices that could take hands from the wheel and eyes from the road. More Hail a New York City cab with your Apple iPhone or Android device via location analytics SmartPlanet Share
You will soon be able to find and hail a cab with your smartphone. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission and Sense Networks have released an app for the iPhone and Android devices that uses taxi location data to allow New Yorkers to catch cabs. The app, dubbed Cabsense, uses data and an algorithm to point New Yorkers to corners where they have the highest chance of finding a cab. More Moscow subway attack: Five ways to make mass transit safer The Christian Science Monitor Share
Mass-transit systems across the world responded to the Moscow subway attack by heightening security. But such knee-jerk reactions only expose the weakness of subway security, experts say. Security on mass-transit systems should be a daily priority, like in airports, they add, suggesting that subway stations do not have to be soft terrorist targets. More Ford, Microsoft to work on electric-car charging The Associated Press via The Seattle Times Share
Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft Corp. have signed a deal to work together on a computerized link between houses, electric cars and utility companies to help manage energy use. The companies said at the New York International Auto Show that this is the beginning of a smart system that will help utilities and customers manage energy costs and electrical generating capacity. More Speeding 'cushion' may dwindle due to recession USA Today Share
The recession may be claiming a new victim: the 5-10-mph "cushion" police and state troopers across the USA have routinely given motorists exceeding the speed limit. More Tennessee DOT debuts enhanced TN511 Motorist Information System TN.gov Share
The Tennessee Department of Transportation unveiled a new enhanced 511 travel information system. Motorists who dial 5-1-1 can now access information about rest areas, public transportation, airports, and tourism as well as the standard features such as incidents, construction projects and weather forecasts from the National Weather Service. TN511 debuted in August 2006 and has provided information to more than 2.5 million callers. More Solar powered pods bring privacy to public transportation WIRED Share
A new design study aims to shield riders of public transportation from what's often their biggest complaint: the public. In a nod to a culture obsessed with personal space, designer Dave Owsen has drawn up a vision he somewhat ironically calls Community Transit. While it's a mass transit system open to the public, riders have all the privacy of a trip in a car. More |
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