The Chicago Transit Authority (IL) received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for electrified vehicle stalls that will reduce emissions from parked buses. The stalls will deliver electricity to about 80 vehicles, powering the heating and air-conditioning units on buses that would otherwise be left to idle during overnight cleaning. Link to full story in Chicago Sun-Times.
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The University of Delaware launched a web-based application that allows students to track the location of the campus shuttle. “When the weather is bad, like it’s been, that’s when these things come in handy,” said Bill Fitzpatrick, director of supporting services. “You don’t have to stand out at the stop.” Students can use the UD Shuttle website to track vehicle location along the route in real time or access predicted arrival times. Arrival information is also available by telephone. Link to full story in The News Journal.
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File this under low-tech. As of yesterday, New York City Transit began adjusting the 250 clocks in its subway system for daylight savings time. Why spring ahead almost a week early? According to NY1, the agency wants to reset the clocks during normal working hours. Link to full story in NY1.
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School buses in North Wales will show movies to address behavioral problems like bullying. The hope is that entertaining secondary school students with movies and concerts on the trip home will reduce rowdy behavior and allow drivers to concentrate on the road. The 12-month pilot was introduced by the Zoom Project, which is supported by the Welsh Assembly Government. Link to full story in Coach Broker News.
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The University of South Florida introduced a bus tracker system for its Bull Runner campus shuttle. The tracking system, which can be downloaded or accessed online, provides arrival predictions for all bus stops and allows passengers to view the bus locations in real time. In addition, starting in April, passengers will be able to find out how full the bus is before it arrives, thanks to an automatic passenger counting system. Link to USF press release.
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India’s Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has added route, schedule, and fare information to Google Maps. “This will help commuters better manage their travel time, transfers, and make more informed decisions,” Metro managing director E Sreedharan in a statement. Link to full story in Hindustan Times.
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US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is looking for a few good ideas. DHS is soliciting suggestions from the IT security community on the best ways to discuss cyber-security with the American public. Individuals and industry representatives are encouraged to submit their proposals to the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign Challenge. Winners will be invited to an event in Washington (DC) in late spring and partner with DHS on planning the campaign. Deadline is April 30, 2010. Link to full story in Government Technology.
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They may not have the resources of a New York City or San Francisco, but some smaller cities and towns are finding innovative ways to benefit from new media. For example, the City of Manor (TX), with a municipal staff of 35, launched Manor Labs, the city’s “official research and development division.” The crowdsourcing application allows residents to review city proposals and to submit their own ideas. On the day we looked, the most popular idea was to convert all city GIS maps to Google Earth format. Link to full story in Next American City.
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Starting this week, YouTube will automatically add captions to uploaded videos using Google’s speech recognition service. From Gizmodo:
There are many reasons for captions on every video: ESL viewers, people in other countries, searchability, not wanting to disturb others, loud locations and automatic translations to other countries.
And, of course, captions make videos accessible to hearing-impaired users. If Google’s captions aren’t quite right, users can download the captions in plain text and make corrections. Link to full story in Gizmodo.
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With Amtrak offering wireless Internet on its Acela Express trains and VIA Rail Canada planning to upgrade its Wi-Fi later this year, one writer wonders if North American rail is making a comeback. Bert Archer writes in The Globe and Mail:
With downtown-to-downtown service making train rides as short as or shorter than air travel for short-haul trips, the addition of Wi-Fi is one big step toward rail travel becoming the preference of business travellers in the region.
While it’s too soon to tell if Amtrak’s Wi-Fi will prove successful, VIA has had problems with speed and reliability since introducing the service in 2004. And now, Archer writes, “If you need to work en route, the service has been practically useless.” Link to full story in The Globe and Mail.
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