THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR

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1 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR 2011 Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Re served. VOL 25, NO 4 MAY 16, 2011 Grants to Be Is sued to Per suade Per sons to Live Close to Tran sit District of Columbia Pro gram Would Aid D.C. Traf fic Con ges tion Reduc tion Efforts The Dis trict of Colum bia Office of Plan - ning (OP) has released a Request for Appli ca tions (RFA) for up to $200,000 in match ing homeownership grants, to be admin is tered by qual i fied D.C. employ ers with the aim of per suad ing peo ple work ing in the Dis trict to live in the Dis trict near their work place and/or pub lic tran sit. With D.C. gas prices at about $4.00 per gal lon, this incen tive could induce work ers to move nearer to their place of employ - ment and/or pub lic tran sit, thereby reduc - ing the money and time they spend com mut ing. For the Dis trict, the pro gram would con trib ute to the city s efforts to revi tal ize its neigh bor hoods while reduc - ing traf fic con ges tion and air pollution. In part ner ship with the selected D.C. employ ers, the Live Near Your Work (LNYW) pilot pro gram will pro vide grants for down-pay ment and clos ing-cost assis - tance to indi vid ual employ ees. OP will match employer con tri bu tions (up to $6,000 per par tic i pat ing employee) to attract and retain D.C. res i dents, with the pri mary pur pose of encour ag ing employ - ees to live close to their place of employ - ment and/or transit. Specifically the District will provide match ing grants between $3,000 and $6,000 to employ ees of the selected employ ers who pur chase a home closer to their place of employ ment than where they were pre vi ously liv ing. The Dis trict will match: $3,000 per employee for homes pur chased in the Dis trict of Colum bia that are within ½ mile of a Metro sta tion or within ¼ mile of a high-qual ity bus cor ri dor. High-qual ity bus cor ri dors were iden ti fied based on total ridership, Progress in Pow er ing Traf fic Sig nals with Wind and Solar Energy Uni ver sity of Nebraska Pilot Aims to Reduce Energy Use, Costs Energy and trans por ta tion experts at the Uni ver sity of Nebraska-Lin coln are about to begin the sec ond stage of a pilot pro ject to develop a wind and solar hybrid power sys tem that gen er ates, stores and dis trib - utes elec tric ity to power traf fic and street lights. The pro ject is funded by a $999,000 U.S. Depart ment of Trans por ta tion grant. The goal is to cre ate energy-plus road ways that pro duce more elec tric ity fre quency of ser vice, fre quency of stops, and num ber of bus routes. Please turn to Page 4 than they con sume. The trans por ta tion indus try has exper i mented with solar power for road way infra struc ture, but com bin ing it with wind power is almost unheard of, says Jerry Hudgins, the UNL elec tri cal engi neer who leads the three-year pro ject. A hybrid sys tem could pro vide a clean, con tin u ous source of power that reduces energy con sump tion Please turn to Page 4 Inside Sur veys....page 12 Requests for Pro pos als....page 23 Confer ences...page 24 Wind generator and control system at 84th St. and Nebraska Highway 2 in Lincoln, NE. (Photo: Courtesy of Univ. of Nebraska, Electrical Engineering Dept. )

2 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25, NO. 4 Page 2 San Francisco Launches Real-Time Parking Availability for SFpark In for ma tion Avail able Via Website and iphone App San Fran cisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee joined the San Fran cisco Mu nic i pal Trans por ta - tion Agency (SFMTA) on April 21 to an - nounce the launch of real-time park ing data for SFpark. This fed er ally funded pi - lot pro ject run by the SFMTA uses smart park ing man age ment tech nol o gies and pric ing pol i cies to make it eas ier and faster to find park ing in San Fran cisco. Cit ies around the world are com bat ing park ing and traf fic con ges tion prob lems, said Mayor Lee. With SFpark, San Fran - cisco is the first city in the world to pur sue a com pre hen sive park ing-based ap proach to con ges tion man age ment and green - house gas emis sion re duc tion that will also sup port lo cal mer chants and keep San Fran cisco mov ing. Asked about the pub lic re ac tion to this ini tia tive, SFMTA spokes man Jay Pri mus told UTM that the pub lic re sponse thus far to the avail abil ity of real-time park ing in - for ma tion and lon ger park ing times at me - ters has been very pos i tive. De mand price changes in ga rages are only just be - gin ning to be im ple mented so it is too soon to gauge any response. The SFpark pro ject is com posed of three com po nents: sen sors to re cord park - ing avail abil ity, a data feed to dis trib ute in - for ma tion about park ing avail abil ity and new me ters to make it easier to pay. SFpark real-time parking availability and pric ing in for ma tion is avail able via a website ( the SFpark app for the iphone and an open data stream for out side app de vel op ers. The SFMTA has con ducted out reach with the app de vel - oper com mu nity to help en sure broad aware ness of this new data feed and has cre ated a sec tion of the SFpark.org website to make it easy for de vel op ers to ac cess and un der stand this data stream. These tools will help peo ple de cide where and when to drive, di rect ing them to blocks and ga rages with open park ing spaces. Better man age ment of park ing will re - duce con ges tion on San Fran cisco s streets and re sult in cleaner air, im proved safety and faster tran sit times. The SFpark pilot be gan in the sum mer of 2010 and will run un til sum mer Eighty per cent of the pi lot s fund ing is pro vided by a $19.8 mil - lion grant from U.S. De part ment of Trans - por ta tion s Ur ban Part ner ship Pro gram, with the re main ing 20 per cent coming from the SFMTA. This in no va tive pro ject will re duce cir - New coin and card multi-space me ters are part of the SFpark pro ject. (Photo: Cour tesy of SFMTA) cling and dou ble-park ing, help make Muni faster and more re li able, re duce con - ges tion, and cre ate safer streets for ev ery - one, said SFMTA Ex ec u tive Di rec - tor/ceo Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. The park - ing in for ma tion on the app, the website, and the real-time in for ma tion signs will allow SFpark to also make it eas ier to park and drive in San Fran cisco. The SFpark website pro vides cus tom - ers the abil ity to see park ing avail abil ity and cost be fore head ing out the door. The map ping tool on the home page shows lo - ca tion, high, low or me dium avail abil ity and rate in for ma tion for SFpark garages and on-street park ing spaces. The SFpark iphone app uses the same data feed to pro - vide a mo bile op tion. By pro vid ing a real-time data feed to the pub lic, ap pli ca - tion de vel op ers and com pa nies, such as Google, and in-ve hi cle nav i ga tion sys - tems can also dis trib ute this data to driv - ers. Later this year, the real-time park ing data will also be made avail able via the re - gion s 511 sys tem, and the SFMTA will Please turn to Page 7 The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, ISSN , is pub lished monthly, except dur ing Jan u ary and August (10 issues per year), by Law - ley Pub li ca tions, 6813 Jer e miah Ct., Fairfax Sta - tion, VA 22039, Tel: (703) , Fax: (703) , edi tors@lawleypub lications.com. Sub scrip tions $295 per year. Peri - od i cals post age paid at Fairfax, VA. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor, P.O. Box 12300, Burke, VA The Urban Trans por ta tion Mon i tor pub lishes cur rent news on all modes and aspects related to urban trans por ta tion. Law ley Pub li ca tions is an inde pend ent and pri vately owned orga ni za tion. Copy right 2011, Law ley Pub li ca tions. All Rights Reserved. Repro duc tion, includ ing pho - to copy ing and fac sim ile or elec tronic trans mis - sion, in whole or in part with out writ ten per mis sion from the Edi tor is expressly pro hib ited. Law ley Pub li ca tions assumes no respon si bil ity or lia bil ity of any kind for the accu racy or com - plete ness of the infor ma tion herein, or for addi - tional or changed infor ma tion sub se quent to the date the mate rial was received and/or pub lished. Publisher/Editor: Dan iel B. Rathbone, Ph.D., P.E. Man ag ing Edi tor: Clarissa Reeves, M.Ed. Senior Edi tor/writer: Jeanne Holden

3 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 4 Page 3 Me dian Left-Turn In ter sec tion De sign Re duces Traf fic and Crashes Mich i gan Left Turn Suc cess fully Ap plied in Plano, Texas Re de sign of an in ter sec tion in the city of Plano, Texas, to in sti tute a me dian left turn has re duced traf fic backup by 60 per cent and short ened de lays by 35 sec onds per ve - hi cle, ac cord ing to Lloyd Neal, the city s trans por ta tion en gi neer ing man ager. Ve - hi cle crashes at the in ter sec tion have also been re duced sig nif i cantly since Plano built the first me dian left-turn de - sign in Texas at the in ter sec tion of Pres ton Road and Leg acy Drive. The de sign has been so suc cess ful that it is sched uled for con struc tion dur ing 2015 at two other lo ca - tions in Plano, pend ing city coun cil ap - proval to proceed. Speak ing to the Plano City Coun cil in late April, Neal said that this in ter sec tion was re de signed be cause of the high num - ber of ac ci dents that were oc cur ring there. The Pres ton Rd/Leg acy Drive site had ex - pe ri enced ex ces sive traf fic vol umes through the in ter sec tion and sub stan tial left-turn traf fic. About 7 per cent of the traf fic at this in ter sec tion was turn ing left, but that traf fic was given over 34 per cent of the avail able time from the traf fic sig nal de sign, he added. A more ef fec tive de sign would give the time back to the through-traf fic move ment and, at the same time, im prove safety and traf fic through - put. Also the Plano City Coun cil had im - ple mented a di rec tive to con sider at-grade im prove ments be fore seek ing grade separated road modifications such as overpasses. With a me dian left-turn de sign, driv ers make a right at an in ter sec tion, fol lowed by a U-turn in a spe cially de signed lane through the me dian. In Plano, the U-turn lane is ap prox i mately 400 feet from the in - ter sec tion and built into the me dian di vid - ing north bound and south bound traf fic on Pres ton Road. Traf fic within the U-turn lane is con trolled with traf fic lights. Thus, in stead of go ing west on Leg acy Drive to make a left turn onto south bound Pres ton Road, turn right to go north on Pres ton Road for a short dis tance, then make a U-turn to go sourthbound, for ex am ple. Plano de signed the cross over me dian to ac - com mo date large trucks that are 55 feet long with a 45-foot turning radius. Ac cord ing to the city of Plano, there has been in creas ing driver ac cep tance of the in no va tive me dian left-turn de sign in Plano. The num ber of calls com plain ing about un fa mil iar ity with the de sign has fallen over time. Other is sues that had emerged fol low ing the re de sign of the in ter sec tion in cluded driver in at ten tion and driv ers mak ing il le - gal left turns from Leg acy drive. Plano re - solved these prob lems by post ing No U-Turn signs at place where these turns are not al lowed, in creas ing other sign age, and in creas ing the po lice pres ence in the area of the in ter sec tion. The city also re-striped the road to al low left turns on red and con tin ued other educational efforts. Ac cord ing to Neal, me dian left-turn de - signs are be ing used more and more through out the United States. It has been used on the East Coast in many lo ca tions in - clud ing Wash ing ton, D.C., and Mary land. It has been used Lou i si ana, and it is em - ployed so of ten in Mich i gan that the de sign is some times called a Mich i gan left turn. It has also been used in sev eral other coun - tries in clud ing Mexico and Australia. This de sign pro vides 20 to 50 per cent greater ca pac ity than di rect left turns, ac - cord ing to the city of Plano. The de sign re - duces the av er age de lay for left-turn ing ve - hi cles and through-traf fic. Re search and ex pe ri ence also have shown the me dian left-turn de sign in creases traf fic flow and safety by re duc ing the num ber and se ver ity of in ter sec tion-re lated crashes. Re search shows a 30 to 60 per cent re duc tion in over - all traf fic col li sions. The great est re duc - tions are those in volv ing left-turn ma neu - vers (rear-end, head-on and fail ure to yield to on com ing traf fic). Non-left-turn rear-end col li sions may in crease slightly. Ac cord ing to the city, an in ter nal eval u a - tion of this de sign de ter mined high per for - mance can be main tained un der cer tain conditions that prohibit left turns on one road and not the other. The use of me dian left turns also in - creases pe des trian and bi cy cle safety, ac - cord ing to the city. When us ing this de sign, non-mo tor ized us ers are able to cross the road in a two-step man ner. They cross the first half of the road, wait at the me dian and cross the sec ond half of the road when safe to do so. By elim i nat ing left-turn move - ments, more time can be given to pe des trian crossing time. For more in for ma tion, please visit ht_hlt _hlt tbm_1 _BM_2_p://plano.gov/Pages/turn.aspx and g/transportation/public%20presentation s/pages/2011.aspx, or con tact Lloyd Neal at Lloydn@plano.gov. The top city of Plano im age (graphic) in di cates traffic movement and the lower Google Earth im age shows the re de sign of the in ter sec tion un der con struc tion.

4 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 4 Page 4 Con tin ued from Page 1 Grants to Be Issued to Persuade Persons to Live Close to Transit Up to $6,000 per em ployee for homes pur chased in the Dis trict of Co lum bia that are within 2 miles of place of em - ploy ment. OP is re spon si ble for guid ing de vel op ment in the District, including the preservation and revitalization of its distinctive neigh - bor hoods. For the LNYW pi lot pro gram, OP seeks to part ner with up to three em - ploy ers. Em ploy ers would ben e fit from po ten tially im proved on-time and work per for mance; po ten tial ben e fits also in - clude greater prob a bil ity of at ten dance in ad verse or emer gency con di tions, re duced need for em ployer park ing, and po ten tial health ben e fits to em ploy ees who are able to walk or bike to work. A study con ducted by the Cen ter for Hous ing Pol icy found that em ploy ees who par tic i pated in the Au - rora Health Care Em ployer-as sisted Hous ing Pro gram in Mil wau kee, Wis con - sin received higher performance evalua - tions and had lower rates of turn over. The city would ben e fit from re vi tal ized neigh - bor hoods and an ex panded tax base, as well as re duced wear and tear on streets and lower car bon emis sions. The RFA is cur rently avail able on OP s website, and on the Dis trict Grants Clear ing house page. Em ploy ers will be se lected via a com pet i - tive ap pli ca tion pro cess based upon their ability to administer the pilot program, offer homebuyer ed u ca tion, and pro vide match ing grants for their em ploy ees. De - pend ing on the suc cess of the pi lot pro - gram, fu ture fund ing may be come avail - able to expand the LNYW program. For more in for ma tion on LNYW, con - tact Art Rodgers or Kimberly Driggens by phone at (202) or by send ing an to art.rodgers@dc.gov or kimberly.driggins@dc.gov. Con tin ued from Page 1 Pow er ing Traf fic Sig nals with Wind and So lar En ergy and costs, pro tects against elec tri cal black - outs and feeds ex cess en ergy to the power grid to help off set trans por ta tion sys tem ex penses. The team hopes to de velop a smart grid sys tem for road way in fra struc ture that will prove prac ti cal for wide spread, large-scale use. The ul ti mate goal is a smart grid sys - tem would gen er ate enough re new able en - ergy to power street lights in the city with en ergy left over to sell back to the power com pa nies. The team has cal cu lated that an ef fec tive smart grid for traf fic lights and other trans por ta tion in fra struc ture would ul ti mately save cit ies money on power costs, in crease util ity uptime, re duce pol - lu tion and re duce reliance on nonrenewable energy. Dur ing the pro ject s first phase, started in sum mer 2010, the team con ducted re - search and mon i tored a 30-foot Bergey XL 1.0 wind tur bine con nected to a traf fic light at the in ter sec tion of 84th Street and Ne - braska High way 2 in Lin coln. Hudgins told UTM that a re port on Phase I work will not be pub licly avail able un til re - viewed by the DOT/FHWA Pro gram Man ag ers. But, he noted that Phase I in - cluded: A comprehensive literature review of new tech nol o gies for gen er at ing re new - able en ergy us ing trans por ta tion in fra - struc ture as well as a com par i son of dif - fer ent bat tery stor age tech nol o gies and a com par i son of bat tery and fly wheel en - ergy stor age. An investigation of the feasibility of mount ing a wind power gen er a tor and so lar pan els onto ex ist ing traf fic sig nal pole struc tures; an ex am i na tion of ex ist - ing road traf fic sig nal, power con sump - tion, avail able com mu ni ca tion, and zon - ing or di nances; an in ves ti ga tion of site con di tions at the each of 400 in ter sec - tions in Lin coln, NE; and anal y sis of ex - ist ing na tional da ta bases of avail able wind re sources Nearly all of the 30 ft. tall poles, de signed by Valmont In dus tries, Inc. us ing city of Lin coln spec i fi ca tions, are struc tur ally strong enough to sup port a wind tur bine and two so lar pan els, Hudgins said. As the height of the poles in creases, the struc tural feasibility is reduced. Hudgins, chair and pro fes sor of the UNL Electrical Engineering Department, said that power ca pac i ties of wind tur bines and so lar pan els were de ter mined based on the wind/so lar re sources and the struc tural char ac ter is tics of the poles of traf fic sig - nals and street lights. The sec ond phase of the pro ject, which will be gin in May, in volves de vel op ing an elec tronic con trol sys tem that would al low wind and so lar power gen er a tors to in tel li - gently dis trib ute elec tric ity where it s needed. Ac cord ing to Hudgins, The main thrust of Phase 2 is to de velop a pro to type EPRTL (En ergy-plus Road ways Traf fic Sig nal Light) sys tem and test it in the lab o - ra tory. Also, he said the team will be gin to look at a case study eval u at ing im pacts of RHPS (Road way Wind/So lar Hy brid Power Gen er a tion and Dis tri bu tion Sys - tem) microgrids on trans por ta tion sys tems. The microgrid con cept is aimed at de vel - op ing a con trol strat egy whereby sev eral sig nals, lights, or warn ing lights can be co - or di nated to share en ergy lo cally from these distributed generation sources (the microgrid). Asked what the team hopes to ac com - plish in phase 3, sched uled to be gin in sum mer 2012, Hudgins said the last phase is to de velop the test ing plat form and do some anal y sis of the microgrid con cept for these linked ERPTL sys tems. A pro to - type(s) of the EPRTL will be in stalled at the se lected test bed sites. An af ter study will be con ducted to eval u ate driver, en vi - ronmental and economic efficiency impacts of in stal la tion of a pro to type of the EPRTL in the city of Lin coln. Sim u la tion and ex per i men tal stud ies will be per - formed at var i ous op er at ing con di tions over the en tire op er at ing range of the sys - tem to eval u ate and improve the proposed EPRTL and RHPS microgrid. For more in for ma tion, visit hp?section=news# or con tact Jerry Hudgins at hudgins@engr.unl.edu.

5 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 4 Page 5 IBM Un veils Smarter Planet Fac ulty In no va tion Awards Rec og nizes Cur ric ula to Im prove Trans por ta tion, Cities and Healthcare IBM is part ner ing with fac ulty around the world to de velop new cur ric ula to make the world smarter cur ric ula de signed to help stu dents learn about and ap ply the new tech nol o gies that im prove the way we live and work. Fifty pro fes sors from 40 uni ver si ties in 14 coun tries were re cently awarded IBM Smarter Planet Faculty Innovation awards, ac cord ing to a May 5 IBM press re lease. These ed u ca tors are work ing to de velop teach ing ma te ri als that dem on strate the col lab o ra tion be tween tech ni cal, busi ness, and in dus try dis ci plines to ad dress the prob lems in our cit ies, healthcare, and transportation systems. IBM cre ated the $10,000 awards to help uni ver si ties de velop in no va tive new cur - ric ula that ad dress the global chal lenges of transportation, health care, water, energy and other sys tems. The new courses, which are be ing taught in the school year, aim to pre pare stu dents for fu ture lead er ship in a va ri ety of in dus tries by ex - pos ing them to Wat son-like tech nol o gies in the class room, spark ing collaboration and innovation. Smarter Planet Fac ulty In no va tion Awards were given to three types of cur ric - u lum pro pos als those aimed at cre at ing smarter cit ies, those aimed at cre at ing smarter healthcare, and those aimed at cre - at ing smarter trans por ta tion. One trans - por ta tion award went to Pro fes sor Adel Sadek at the State Uni ver sity of New York at Buf falo, for ex am ple. Stu dents there are an a lyz ing U.S. bor der con trol data to learn how ad vanced tech nol ogy so lu tions may help im prove the sustainability of the trans por ta tion sys tem. The pro ject fo cuses on lo cal high way traf fic and re duc ing con - ges tion around the three U.S. and Canadian border crossings in the region. The Smarter Planet Fac ulty In no va tion Awards for trans por ta tion went to: Pro fes sor Eduard Babkin at State Uni - ver sity - Higher School of Eco nom ics, Nizhny Novgorod (Nizhny Novgorod, Rus sia) for cur ric u lum on Mod ern Prin ci ples of De sign and De vel op ment of In tel li gent Trans por ta tion Sys tems. Dr. Ahmet Bulut at Is tan bul Sehir Uni - ver sity (Is tan bul, Tur key) for cur ric u - lum on Ap pli ca tions of Wire less Em - bed ded Sen sor Net works. Pro fes sor Jerzy Kotowski at Wroclaw Uni ver sity of Tech nol ogy (Wroclaw, Po land) for cur ric u lum on Smarter Trans port for Smarter Planet. Pro fes sor Ken neth Kuhn at Uni ver sity of Canterbury (Canterbury, New Zealand) for cur ric u lum on Im prov ing Trans por - ta tion Sys tem Ef fi ciency and Safety through As set Op ti mi za tion. Pro fes sor Adel Sadek at State Uni ver sity of New York at Buf falo (Buf falo, NY) for cur ric u lum on Ad vanced Tech nol - ogy So lu tions for a Sus tain able Trans - por ta tion Sys tem. Pro fes sor Eli Tilevich at Vir ginia Poly - tech nic In sti tute (Blacksburg, VA) for BusTracker.edu. Dr. Julien Ugon, Uni ver sity of Ballarat at (Ballarat, Aus tra lia) for cur ric u lum on Operations Research of Smarter Trans - por ta tion. Pro fes sor Lixin Zhou at Pe king Uni ver - sity (Pe king, China) for cur ric u lum on Multi-Channel Reservation System. We need to fo cus on de vel op ing more ad - vanced skills so that stu dents around the world are equipped to tackle real-world is - sues when they en ter the workforce, said Jim Corgel, gen eral man ager of IBM Ac a - demic and De vel oper Re la tions. The work of these 50 award re cip i ents should help change the face of ed u ca tion by en abling stu dents to work on press ing is sues fac ing cit ies to day and at the same time pre pare them for lead er ship in in dus tries like healthcare and trans por ta tion. The pro ject from Pace Uni ver sity, Across Cit ies for Cit ies, in volves teams of stu dents in New York work ing with stu - dents from Phnom Penh, Cam bo dia; Delhi, In dia; and Dakar, Sen e gal, de vel op ing mo - bile and smart phone ap pli ca tions for trans - por ta tion, health care and ed u ca tion, with the so lu tions be ing im ple mented in each city for eval u a tion and im prove ment. These so lu tions will tackle prob lems such as iden - tifying the closest public transportation to a spe cific des ti na tion or find ing the near est emer gency room. City in fra struc tures that de liver vi tal ser vices can now rely on a wealth of new in for ma tion and tech nol o - gies en abling them to sense and re spond in tel li gently to the needs of their grow ing pop u la tions. RMIT Uni ver sity in Aus tra - lia is help ing stu dents ex plore how ad - vanced technology and sensors can play a role in building a smarter, interconnected city. IBM re cently an nounced the con tin u a - tion of the Smarter Planet In no va tion Awards for IBM is seek ing to part - ner with uni ver si ties who de sire to cre ate and teach in no va tive cur ric u lum that will em power and in spire the next gen er a tion of lead ers with in sights into how tech nol - ogy can help ad dress some of the world s most press ing chal lenges. The ar eas in which IBM is now re quest ing pro pos als for the de vel op ment of courseware in - clude smarter com merce, smarter communications and smarter energy. Nom i na tions for these awards will open in mid-may and re main open un til early Sep tem ber IBM will no tify the award win ners in Oc to ber 2011 For more in for ma tion, visit y/smartplanet/awards or con tact IBM at awards@u.s.ibm.com. Fordham Uni ver sity stu dents Abhishek Mehra, left, and Allison Murray, right, join Fordham Prof. R.P. Raghupathi, cen ter, win ner of an IBM Smarter Planet Fac ulty Award, to dis cuss how uni ver sity stu dents around the world are work ing on pro jects to im prove cit ies, trans por ta tion, and healthcare. (Photo: Cour tesy of IBM, pho tog ra pher: Bob Goldberg)

6 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 5 Page 6 IBM, Caltrans, and UC Berke ley Pre dic tive Mod el ing Tool Al lows Driv ers to Avoid Traf fic Jams First-of-Its-Kind Learn ing and Pre dic tive Ana lyt ics Tool to Be Used IBM has an nounced a col lab o ra tion with the Cal i for nia De part ment of Trans por ta - tion (Caltrans) and the Cal i for nia Cen ter for In no va tive Trans por ta tion (CCIT) to de velop an in tel li gent trans por ta tion so lu - tion that will help com mu ters avoid con - ges tion and en able trans por ta tion agen cies to better un der stand, pre dict and man age traf fic flow. IBM Re search has de vel oped a new pre dic tive mod el ing tool that will al low driv ers to quickly ac cess per son al ized travel rec om men da tions to help them avoid con ges tion, and save time and fuel. Using this predictive and analytic traffic tool, trans por ta tion agen cies and city plan - ners in the fu ture will be able to proactively de sign, man age and op ti mize trans por ta - tion sys tems to more seamlessly han dle the ever-in creas ing traf fic that re sults from pop u la tion growth and in creas ing ur ban - iza tion, IBM said in an April 13 press release. By join ing forces, IBM, Caltrans and the Mo bile Mil len nium team within CCIT Multiple routes for the same origin and destination are planned and shared. (Photo: Cour tesy of IBM) hope to pro vide driv ers with valu able pre - dic tive in for ma tion on what traf fic pat - terns are likely to look like even be fore they leave work or home and get in their ve hi cles rather than dis cover what has al - ready hap pened and is being reported. As the num ber of cars and driv ers in the Bay Area con tinue to grow, so too has road traf fic. How ever, it s un re al is tic to think we can solve this con ges tion prob - lem sim ply by add ing more lanes to road - ways, so we need to proactively ad dress these prob lems be fore they pile up, said Greg Larson, chief of the Of fice of Traf fic Operations Research, Caltrans. Together with part ners like CCIT and IBM we re driv ing a new age of sci ence-based, data-centric traf fic man age ment that will give com mu ters the ben e fit of know ing the fast est, most cost-ef fec tive and eco-friendly route to their destination. Span ning the San Fran cisco Bay Area re gion, the new Smarter Trav eler Re search Initiative collects and analyzes traffic data gen er ated from ex ist ing sen sors in roads, toll booths, bridges and in ter sec tions. This unique pro ject com bines that data with lo - ca tions based on GPS sen sors in cell phones of per sons who con sent to hav ing their cell phones tracked to learn their pre - ferred travel days and routes. Alerts are then automatically delivered via or text mes sage on the sta tus of the driver s typ i cal com mute be fore the trip be gins, which elim i nates po ten tial driver distraction once the trip is in progress. These alerts will en able driv ers to plan and share al ter na tive travel routes, im - prove trav eler safety and help trans por ta - tion au thor i ties better pre dict and re duce bumper-to-bumper traf fic be fore con ges - tion oc curs through im proved traf fic sig nal tim ing, ramp me ter ing and route planning. The re search ers will le ver age a first-of-its-kind learn ing and pre dic tive ana lyt ics tool called the IBM Traf fic Pre - dic tion Tool (TPT), which con tin u ously analyzes congestion data, commuter loca - tions and ex pected travel start times through out a met ro pol i tan re gion that can af fect com mu ters on high ways, rail-lines and ur ban roads. Through ini tia tive, sci en - tists could even tu ally rec om mend better ways to get to a des ti na tion, in clud ing di - rec tions to a nearby mass tran sit sta tion, whether a train is pre dicted to be on time and whether park ing is predicted to be available at the station. Traf fic de lays caused by high way in ci - dents such as work zones, crashes or sim - ply by morn ing and eve ning rush hours rou tinely cause de lays for frus trated driv - ers. Even with ad vances in GPS nav i ga - tion, real-time traf fic alerts and map ping, daily com mute times are of ten un re li able, and rel e vant up dates on how to avoid con - ges tion of ten reach com mu ters when they are al ready stuck in traf fic and it is too late to change course. This in abil ity to avoid traf fic con ges tion has led to com mu ters across the United States wast ing an av er - age of a week s worth of time, 28 gal lons of gas and $808 over the course of a year. In Silicon Valley, the problem is especially acute. In com par i son with cit ies of a sim i - lar size in pop u la tion, driv ers in the city of San Jose waste a cu mu la tive of 10 mil lion more an nual hours sit ting in traf fic jams and suffer a 15% higher commute delay per peak-time traveler. In or der for in tel li gent trans por ta tion sys tems to be truly ef fec tive, trav el ers need in for ma tion they can act upon be fore get - ting stuck in traf fic, said Stefan Nusser, func tional man ager, Almaden Ser vices Re search, IBM. By ac tively cap tur ing and an a lyz ing the mas sive amount of data al ready be ing col lected, we re blend ing the au to mated learn ing of travel routes with state-of-the-art traf fic pre dic tion of those routes to cre ate use ful in for ma tion that fo - cuses on pro vid ing timely, actionable information to the traveler. The Cal i for nia Cen ter for In no va tive Transportation is an affiliate of Institute of Trans por ta tion Stud ies at the Uni ver sity of California, Berkeley. CCIT s mission is to accelerate the implementation of research re sults and the de ploy ment of tech ni cal so - lu tions to en able a safer, cleaner, and more ef fi cient sur face trans por ta tion sys tem. IBM is work ing with cit ies, gov ern ments Please turn to Page 7

7 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 4 Page 7 Po lice Use Data Shared by TomTom GPS Us ers to Set Tar geted Speed Traps Com pa nies that ask you to al low them to col lect in for ma tion about your use of their prod uct may have good in ten tions, but some times pur chas ers of that in for ma tion may have other plans. For ex am ple, when you sign up for the TomTom GPS de vice ser vice, the com - pany asks you if it is OK if they col lect Con tin ued from Page 6 Predictive Modeling Tool Allows Driv ers to Avoid Traf fic Jams and oth ers around the world to make their transportation systems smarter. Smarter trans por ta tion systems can help traf fic and pub lic tran sit sys tems flow more smoothly, an tic i pate con ges tion and im - prove it in ad vance, re duce emis sions and increase the capacity of infrastructure. For more in for ma tion about IBM, please visit or con tact IBM spokes man Ari Entin at (408) , or by at aentin@us.ibm.com. A jour ney travel time altert. (Photo: Cour tesy of IBM) travel time in for ma tion, and most us ers agree to this. TomTom says it uses this in - for ma tion to cre ate high qual ity traf fic in - for ma tion and to route you around traf fic jams and get you to your des ti na tion as quickly and safely as pos si ble. So far, so good, right? TomTom also some times makes this in - for ma tion avail able to lo cal gov ern ments and au thor i ties so that au thor i ties can better un der stand where con ges tion takes place, where to build new roads and how to make roads safer. Again, no problem. Last week, how ever, TomTom s CEO Har old Goddijn wrote a let ter to the com - pany s cus tom ers let ting them know that, in at least some ar eas, lo cal po lice have used the data in an un fore seen way that may make TomTom us ers wish they had never agreed to share in for ma tion: to place speed cam eras where the shared TomTom data shows av er age speed is higher than the le gally al lowed speed limit. In his let - ter, Goddijn writes that TomTom fully un der stands some of cus tom ers do not like this, and we will amend the li cens ing con - di tions to stop this type of usage in near future. TomTom started sell ing traf fic data to gov ern ments ear lier this year. Af ter a Dutch news pa per re ported that Dutch po - lice were us ing the data to tar get speed traps, however, customers became upset, prompt ing Goddijn s letter. Con tin ued from Page 2 San Fran cisco Launches Real-Time Park ing Availability for SFpark make park ing avail abil ity in for ma tion for park ing ga rages ac ces si ble via a text mes - sage ser vice as well as 12 change able elec - tronic vari able mes sage signs. SFpark will also add, over the next sev eral weeks, the re main ing SFpark ga rages to the real-time data for the website and apps. Cur rently, two of the SFpark ga rages, Lombard and Moscone, have data in the real-time feed. Jay Pri mus said that the rollout of de - mand-re spon sive pric ing for park ing has started in a few garages and will continue through June. The first demand price changes at on-street me ters for au to mo biles will be im ple mented in June. The SFMTA will ad just rates based on de mand to find the low est hourly rate pos si ble in each pi lot area to achieve the right level of park ing avail abil ity to make park ing eas ier. Rates may vary by time of day and day of week, but prices will be ad justed by in cre ments of no more than $0.50 an hour, up or down, no more fre quently than once a month. The goal of these pric ing ad just ments is to have at least one open park ing space on ev ery block at most times and park ing ga rages that rarely fill up. Other el e ments of this pro gram al - ready in place or cur rently be ing im ple - mented in clude: New sin gle- and multi-space me ters that ac cept credit cards as well as coins and SFMTA park ing cards, Lon ger park ing time lim its of four hours or no limit in some ar eas, Fa cil ity up grades at city-owned ga - rages, and Pay-by-phone con ve nience at SFpark and reg u lar city and port me ters. The SFpark pilot cov ers 7,000 of San Fran cisco s 28,800 me tered spaces and 12,250 spaces in 15 of 20 SFMTA-man - aged park ing ga rages. These ga rages and spaces are lo cated in the fol low ing neigh - bor hoods: Civic Cen ter, Hayes Val ley, the Fi nan cial Dis trict, SoMa, the Mis sion, Fish er man s Wharf, the Fill more and the Marina. For more in for ma tion, visit or con tact Jay Pri mus at jay.primus@sfmta.com or Paul Rose at paul.rose@sfmta.com.

8 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 4 Page 8 Transportation Tort Liability: Case in Review Court of Ap peals Waives Im mu nity for TxDOT on Death Trap Un der pass In March, in an accelerated interlocutory ap peal, the Texas Court of Ap peals de nied the Texas De part ment of Trans port s (TxDOT s) plea to the ju ris dic tion, find ing that a con crete bar rier at a T-in ter sec tion on the Bi cen ten nial Un der pass, in McAllen, Texas, con sti tuted a spe cial de - fect which waived the de part ment s im mu - nity. It called the in ter sec tion a death trap. How ever, on other, or di nary pre mises liability claims regarding the selection and place ment of sign age and sig nals; al leged neg li gent im ple men ta tion and de fec tive con di tions; and neg li gent main te nance of ex ist ing traf fic-con trol de vices, it found ap pel lees had pro vided in suf fi cient facts to dem on strate TxDOT should be waived im - mu nity under the Texas Tort Claims Act (TTCA). The case arose from the death of a driver in No vem ber 2008, where the driver crashed into a con crete bar rier while at - tempt ing to make a left turn on the Bi cen - ten nial Un der pass, ca reened over the edge, and fell more than 20 feet to the road way beneath. The un der pass con sists of a ramp al low - ing ac cess from the west bound lanes of U.S. High way 83 to a bridge over the high - way. At the top (end) of the ramp is a T-in - ter sec tion which only al lows west bound driv ers ex it ing the high way to turn left onto Bi cen ten nial Street, al though the bridge it self makes pro vi sion for driv ers to travel north bound and south bound via two lanes in ei ther di rec tion, as well as in clud - ing space for biking and hiking. The un der pass opened on No vem ber 30, 1999, and in the al most nine years be - fore the ac ci dent in ques tion, there had been at least three other fa tal ac ci dents re - sult ing in as many as 8 fa tal i ties at the spot. (The num ber was con tested.) Plain tiffs filed suit against TxDOT and three en gi neer ing firms, al leg ing neg li - gence, gross neg li gence, and wrong ful death. (Later, claims against the firms were sev ered from the claim against TxDOT, and they were not par ties to the appeal.) This ae rial image shows the off-ramp from U.S. High way 83 (hor i zon tal, east-west high way in image) con nect ing to Bi cen ten nial Blvd. (ver ti cal, noth-south high way in image) as a T-junc tion. This off-ramp has been closed by the Texas DOT since July (Image, Google, Inc.) Re gard ing TxDOT, plain tiffs made three claims. First they as serted TxDOT s im mu nity was waived be cause their dam - ages were caused, in whole or in part, by the ab sence, con di tion, or mal func tion of a traf - fic-con trol de vice which was not cor rected by TxDOT within a rea son able time af ter it knew of the de fec tive condition. Sec ond they filed a neg li gence ac tion al - leg ing that the traf fic signs, road signs and warn ing de vices on the road ways ap - proach ing and on the Bi cen ten nial Ramp were in cor rect, im proper, im prop erly placed, con fus ing, and gen er ally failed to function as in tended. Third, they ap plied for a per ma nent in - junc tion un der the Texas Con sti tu tion, to pre vent TxDOT from re-open ing the Bi - centennial Underpass, claiming that if the in junc tion was not granted, there was likely im mi nent harm to them selves and the gen - eral mo tor ing pub lic be cause of the prior in - ju ries and deaths at the lo ca tion as a prox i - mate re sult of in ad e quate and un safe de - sign, con struc tion, sign age, and/or traf fic and road con trol de vices. Fur ther, they claimed that the harm that would re sult was likely to be irreparable serious injury, or death. In sup port of these claims they pre - sented ex pert tes ti mony by a pro fes sional en gi neer. TxDOT re sponded by fil ing a plea to the ju ris dic tion, ar gu ing it was im mune from liability for alleged negligent mainte nance be cause the law suit ad dressed de - sign de ci sions. It also claimed the trial court lacked ju ris dic tion to is sue a per ma - nent in junc tion, be cause the state high way sys tem is gov erned by the Texas High way Com mis sion, not the ju di ciary; (2) that state ac tions could not be con trolled with - out leg is la tive con sent; and (3) that the plain tiffs should rather sue an individual in authority at the state agency. TxDOT also pre sented ev i dence by the di rec tor of trans por ta tion and op er a tions of the cor rec tive ac tion taken af ter each ac ci dent to re duce the num ber of ac ci - dents, including: Af ter the first ac ci dent, add ing sup ple - men tal sign ing and strip ing, and ad di - tional ar rows on the pave ment and left-turn ar rows on the ramp warn ing driv ers they must turn left at the T-in - tersection; Please turn to Page 9

9 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 4 Page 9 Transportation Tort Liability: Case in Review (continued) Court of Ap peals Waives Im mu nity for TxDOT Af ter the sec ond ac ci dent, in stall ing rum ble strips at the bot tom of the ramp; a large flash ing warn ing sign with a 90-de gree ar row turn and an ad vi sory of 20 miles per hour speed for the turn; and mod i fy ing the mast arm of the traf fic sig nal to in clude left-turn green ar rows; Af ter the third ac ci dent, fur ther mod i fy - ing the traf fic sig nal to in clude an ad di - tional green ar row di rect ing driv ers to turn left at the in ter sec tion, and add ing a sec ond ar row board north of the ex ist ing one as an ad di tional warn ing to driv ers that they could only turn left at the in ter - section; Af ter the fi nal ac ci dent, clos ing the ramp to re pair struc tural dam age to one of the con crete bar ri ers. Not ing that all of the ac ci dents oc curred be tween 12:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., TxDOT was con sid - er ing clos ing the ramp and in ter sec tion dur ing those hours or im ple ment ing a mod i fied can ti le ver arm sim i lar to those used at rail road cross ings to pre - vent driv ers from us ing the un der pass dur ing spec i fied times. Af ter each ac ci dent, con sult ing with sev eral en gi neer ing firms to ob tain ex - pert guid ance about how to make the un - der pass less prone to ac ci dents. (Some of these were named as co-de fen dants in the first claim). It was noted the re cord did not show that the sign age in di cated the road ended at the T-intersection. In March 2010, the trial court de nied TxDOT s plea to the ju ris dic tion, re sult ing in the accelerated, interlocutory appeal. At ap peal, TxDOT ar gued that it was af - forded de sign-dis cre tion im mu nity be - cause plain tiff s claims cen tered on the se - lec tion and place ment of traf fic signs and traf fic-con trol de vices, and that they were not in breach of the Texas Man ual on Uni - form Traf fic Con trol De vices (MUTCD), which only pro vides stan dards for the de - sign and ap pli ca tion of traf fic-con trol de - vices, but does not serve as a le gal re quire - ment for their in stal la tion. There fore, vari - a tions from the rec om men da tions of the MUTCD do not create an actionable claim. The Court of Ap peals noted that Texas courts hold that when a city in stalls traf fic sig nals and sign age is no less dis cre tion ary than whether and where to in stall them. The tim ing of im ple men ta tion could be af fected by bal anc ing of fund ing pri or i ties, sched ul - ing, traf fic pat terns, or other mat ters. Therefore to impose liability for failing to implement a discretionary decision in a timely man ner could pe nal ize a gov ern - men tal unit for en gag ing in the pru dent plan ning and ex e cu tion that is pre cisely the type of dis cre tion ary act for which the TTCA retains immunity. It also re jected the ap pel lee s ex pert s con clu sions that TxDOT failed to com ply with the MUTCD in de sign ing the un der - pass and in plac ing the sign age and sig nals, be cause first, the MUTCD s pro vi sions are not man da tory and sec ond TxDOT had con sulted with sev eral en gi neer ing firms and ex er cised en gi neer ing judg ment in the placement of the signage. Re gard ing the claim that TxDOT s use of con fus ing and mis lead ing sign age and sig nals con sti tuted neg li gent im ple men ta - tion of its pol icy to op er ate the Bi cen ten nial Un der pass safely, the Court of Ap peals found that a gen eral pol icy to build safe roads does not ex pose a gov ern men tal unit to li a bil ity for ev ery conceivable safety deficiency. On the claim that the sign age and sig nals con sti tuted de fec tive con di tions, it noted the Texas Su preme Court in ter preted de - fec tive con di tion in the con text of road signs and sig nals for which it would waive im mu nity only where the sign or sig nal was ei ther (1) un able to con vey the in tended traf fic con trol in for ma tion, or (2) con veyed traf fic con trol in for ma tion other than what was intended. There fore it found that ap pel lee had not ad e quately ex plained how TxDOT s im - ple men ta tion of the sign age and sig nals was negligent. How ever, re gard ing the claim that the con crete bar rier placed at the end of the T-in ter sec tion con sti tuted a spe cial de - fect for which TxDOT s im mu nity was waived, the court found the con crete bar rier did con sti tute an ob struc tion be cause it im - peded the abil ity of ve hi cles, which must accelerate to proceed up the underpass ramp, to make a safe left turn dur ing the nor mal course of travel, es pe cially con - sid er ing the narrowness of the intersection. In deed, given the large num ber of fa tal ac ci dents that had oc curred at the in ter sec - tion dur ing the un der pass s brief ex is - tence, it called the un der pass a death trap. It found that in his ex pla na tion of why TxDOT did not im ple ment attenuators at the T-intersection, the director had implicitly ac knowl edged the in ter sec tion was too nar row and that ve hi cles of ten drive on the ramp at high rates of speed. Rather than wid en ing the bridge or plac ing attenuators which could po ten - tially lessen the im pact of a col li sion, TxDOT had cho sen to place an un for giv - ing con crete wall with out any en ergy-ab - sorp tion de vices. Four, and pos si bly eight, ve hi cles had con tacted the con crete bar - rier and plum meted more than 20 feet to the road way un der neath, re sult ing in cer - tain death rather than mi nor prop erty dam - age. All the deaths at this in ter sec tion had oc curred as a re sult of the ramp, the nar - row in ter sec tion, and the sharp left turn required. It also noted that both TxDOT s en gi - neers and en gi neers from a con sult ing firm had rec om mended that attenuators be placed at the T-in ter sec tion, but this had been re jected by the city of Allen on the grounds that they would pro trude and in - ter fere with the bik ing and hik ing ways on the bridge. The court found that TxDOT was aware of the dan ger ous road way and that the con crete bar rier at the end of the T-in - ter sec tion con sti tuted a spe cial de fect. There fore it con cluded that TxDOT s im - mu nity was waived and af firmed the trial court s rul ing to deny TxDOT s plea to the jurisdiction. With re gard to the plea for a per ma nent in junc tion, the court noted that the trial court had not en tered an or der grant ing the in junc tion; thus TxDOT s com plaint ad - dress ing the pur ported per ma nent in junc - tion was premature.

10 THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION MONITOR, MAY 16, 2011, VOL. 25 NO. 4 Page 10 Product and Industry News Chi nese Car Maker Un veils Con cept Car with Elec tric Trike in Trunk Geely, the Chi nese car maker that owns Volvo, un veiled its new ve hi cle, called the McCar, at the 2011 Shang hai Auto Show in April. This Geely con cept car is fo cused on pro vid ing driv ers with flex i ble so lu - tions to ur ban con ges tion. It is a tiny car that co mes with a fold ing scooter in its trunk. The McCar is of fered two dif fer ent ways, with a battery or with a hy brid gas o - line-elec tric en gine. The McCar s 12kWh bat tery ver sion has a range of 93 miles, a top speed of 52 mph and takes six hours to re charge. The fig ures for the 8kWh plug-in hy brid are 31 miles on elec tric power and 373 miles on gas o line and bat - tery, with a top speed of 80 mph and a re - charge time of two hours. The scooter will go about 18 mph and cover about 18 miles be fore re quir ing a two-hour charge. Geely has em pha sized that this in no va - tive car is not named in honor of a fast food ham burger. Frank Zhao, vice pres i dent of Zhejiang Geely Hold ing group, the per son in charge of Geely s R&D said, Mc stands for magic on Geely McCar. The model, per tain ing to Geely s new prod uct plat - form, has the com fort of a se dan, por ta ble traf fic tools, and con ve nience. At the same time, McCAR boasts dou ble bar rier-free accessibility. As to power system, McCAR equips a tra di tional gas en gine and hy brid power sys tem with dou ble bat ter ies in or - der to re al ize the goal of sav ing energy and reducing exhaustion. A Geely spokes per son also sug gested that the re sponse to this re search pro ject at the show has en cour aged the car maker to plan for the mass pro duc tion of elec tric and hy brid cars by the end of next year both in - side China and in their Eu ro pean counterpart. Geely International Corporation is the ex clu sive sub sid iary of Geely Hold ing Group for Geely ex port ing busi ness. Founded in July 2002, Geely In ter na tional has es tab lished a deal er ship with the more than 50 oversea dis trib u tors, reach ing the to tal oversea sales of over 100,000 ve hi cles in Lo cated in Shang hai China, Geely In ter na tional also has of fices in its stra te gic mar kets in Com mon wealth of In de pend ent States coun tries (CIS coun tries who are for - mal So viet Re pub lics), the Mid dle East, Af - rica, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. For more in for ma tion, visit Globalstar In vests in Traf fic-fore cast ing Leader TrafficCast; Con tin ues Strat egy of Pro mot ing In no va tive Ser vices, Mo bile So lu tions Globalstar, Inc., a lead ing pro vider of mo - bile sat el lite voice and data ser vices to busi - nesses, gov ern ment, and in di vid u als, has com pleted an eq uity in vest ment in TrafficCast In ter na tional, Inc., a lead ing pro vider of travel-time fore cast ing and traf - fic in for ma tion based on ad vanced dig i tal traffic data. TrafficCast pro vides busi ness and gov - ernment customers with accurate real-time and on-de mand mo bile traf fic in for ma tion and travel-time fore casts by an a lyz ing GPS-based track ing and other data from ex - press ways and ma jor ar te ri als as well as in - for ma tion from sec ond ary and ter tiary road - ways, weather con di tions, road way in ci - dents and events, con struc tion, and historical traffic patterns. TrafficCast, as a leader in the dig i tal trans por ta tion sec tor, is an ideal ad di tion to our in vest ment port fo lio," said Jay Mon roe, ex ec u tive chair man of Globalstar, Inc., in a re cent press re lease. Just over a year ago we fi nal ized our ac qui si tion of mo bile de - vice man u fac turer Axonn and with this new in vest ment we con tinue to look at ad di - tional ways of fur ther le ver ag ing the Axonn ac qui si tion and the de ploy ment of our sec - ond-gen er a tion sat el lite net work. With Globalstar, TrafficCast can now pro vide low-cost, ubiq ui tous cov er age and global sup port ser vices for their cus tom ers, even when those cus tom ers are far be yond the range of terrestrial wireless communications. Over 10 years, TrafficCast has re - searched and de vel oped the larg est traf fic data plat form in the in dus try, ref er enc ing his tor i cal and real-time traf fic for over 450,000 miles of road ways in the United States. TrafficCast spokes man Nick Kiernan told UTM that they have a range of speed data prod ucts that pro vide his - tor i cal and real-time data, in clud ing the Dinaflow speed data prod uct. They also have the road side sen sor BlueTOAD, which is a tech nol ogy plat form to mea - sure travel time and road speeds. We are de lighted to have a part ner in Globalstar and ac cess to their ex pe ri ence and ex per tise in mo bile so lu tions and lo - ca tion-based ser vices," said Al McGowan,CEO of TrafficCast. Globalstar brings unique ca pa bil i ties to our BlueTOAD prod uct fam ily and will en able us to de liver crit i cal in for ma - tion to pub lic safety agen cies and con - sum ers when it is most needed where ter - res trial data net works may not be effective. With in creas ing con ges tion fac ing an es ti mated 100 mil lion driv ers in the United States alone, TrafficCast en vi - sions an in creased de mand for ad vanced traf fic-flow data and travel in for ma tion for a range of ap pli ca tions sup port ing mo bile ser vices, nav i ga tion, web por tals, me dia, en ter prise and the pub lic sec tor. Asked if TrafficCast con sid ers TomTom and Inrex to be com pet i tors, Kiernan said that TrafficCast con sid ers Inrex to be a com pet i tor. TomTom, Kiernan said, has been a cli ent of TrafficCast and has used TrafficCast s data for map displays. With over 425,000 sub scrib ers, Globalstar is a lead ing pro vider of mo bile sat el lite voice and data ser vices. Globalstar of fers these ser vices to com - Please turn to Page 11