NJ TRANSIT wants to add wireless Internet connections for its 12 rail lines and 165 train stations. Vendors would be expected to provide the service at no cost to the agency. NJ TRANSIT hopes to award a contract by the end of the year and have service in place next year. A meeting for potential bidders is scheduled for September 9. Link to full story in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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More than a year ago, the French government announced plans for an automated rapid-transit line to circumscribe Paris, providing suburb-to-suburb connections. While the project is far from a sure thing, The Transport Politic reports some signs of progress:
This week, the government opened public debate on the project, revealing the extensive studies it has completed on potential alignments for the rail corridors, including proposed station sites. And the Sarkozy Administration has committed to €4 billion to the Société du Grand Paris, the semi-autonomous organization that will build the project and invest in eight major development sites that will have prime access to the network.
The 96-mile project will incorporate three routes and be designed to support transfers to and from the existing rail network. The government will encourage construction around the 40 or so planned stations and use development revenues to help cover project costs. Link to full story in The Transport Politic.
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The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (OH) is receiving $950,000 in federal funds to purchase two new hybrid buses. “Dayton is home to one of the greenest full-service transit centers in the region,” said U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown in a statement. “Dayton residents are setting the pace and these funds help ensure they have the resources to keep residents in the Miami Valley moving forward.” The RTA rolled out 10 hybrids earlier this year; the grant will support an order of 10 additional buses to arrive this fall. Link to full story in Dayton Business Journal.
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What charges faster than your cell phone? Foothill Transit’s new Ecoliner buses. The southern California agency will place three all-electric buses in passenger service next week after a successful trial. Manufactured by Proterra, the Ecoliners can run up to three hours and recharge their battery in less than 10 minutes. “Recent rapid advancement in battery and vehicle technology has made this leading edge project possible,” said Roger Chandler, chair of Foothill Transit’s executive board, in a statement. “Excited doesn’t begin to describe how we feel. This is history.” The project was funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Link to full story in Denver Business Journal.
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A school district outside Chicago became the second system in Illinois to use technology to track the location of students on school buses. The Palos Heights School District 128 distributed RFID-equipped identification cards to 400 students in preschool through fifth grade. The ID cards tell officials which students are on the bus; a GPS system tells them where each bus is. From the Chicago Tribune:
It is the newest technological advance in the effort to ease parents’ nerves and keep students safe. Today’s parents, torn between wanting to give their kids more independence while also keeping them from harm, can now send them off knowing they can call the school to make sure their child arrived or to check if the child is late returning from school.
Installing the RFID system on 10 buses cost $16,000, including the ID cards. Link to full story in Chicago Tribune.
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Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, launched a field test designed to compare the impacts of real-time traffic, bus, and Caltrain information on mode choice. Commuters in the US 101 corridor between San Jose and San Francisco were invited to participate in the Networked Traveler study by accessing an online trip planner that selects the best commute option based on personalized priorities of cost-efficiency, time-efficiency or a low carbon footprint. The California Department of Transportation is sponsoring the project, with a goal of developing tools that will reduce traffic congestion and alleviate traveler stress. “Broadcasting information about the options travelers have available to them empowers them to decide on the best route, mode and time of travel, which also helps to balance demand across these three dimensions,” said Greg Larson, the Networked Traveler project manager at the Caltrans Division of Research and Innovation, in a press release.
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It isn’t often that The Transit Wire gets to post a story about technology coming to the aid of a lost cat; this one comes from the Los Angeles Times. It seems that Lilou boarded a Dublin-bound train without knowledge of her owner. A passenger turned the cat over to Irish Rail officials, who used the train’s surveillance video to figure out where the feline boarded. The railroad then distributed a photo of the cat via Twitter, which was widely retweeted and came to the attention of the owner within a few hours. To help Lilou out the next time she wanders, Irish Rail issued her a personalized (felinized?) rail pass, complete with photo ID. Link to full story in Los Angeles Times.
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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (DC) customers can now access real-time train arrival information by telephone. Customers can dial Metro’s customer information line, say “Next Train,” and follow a series of prompts to get automated information. “Up-to-the-minute information is key to the convenience of transit,” said board member Chris Zimmerman in a press release. “The easier it is to know when your train is coming, the easier it is to manage your schedule.” Next-train information is also available on Metro’s website. Metro also posted a YouTube video describing how to use the voice system that seems to target people who don’t have “fancy phones with all those apps and things.”
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (NY) is purchasing 340 new cars that will be equipped with surveillance cameras. The camera feeds will not be monitored in real time, but will be available to support investigations. The new cars, at a cost of $750 million, will replace the aging A line fleet by 2015. Link to full story in NY1.
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Planners at King County Metro Transit (WA) will compare two technologies for replacing its aging fleet of trolleybuses: updated electric trolleybuses or diesel-electric hybrids. According to a Metro press release, the Trolley Bus System Evaluation will compare costs, network and system considerations, environmental impacts, funding opportunities, and legal issues. “We want these new vehicles to do a lot for us in the future,” said general manager Kevin Desmond in a statement. “They need to be able to climb and descend steep hills day in and day out, operate quietly, have low or no emissions, maneuver around blockages, and improve our operating efficiency. We expect to pursue the best available technology to achieve our aggressive program objectives.” Metro has set up website for tracking the study progress.
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