Cellphone data is helping to improve travel demand modeling

The Moore County Transportation Committee, working with the North Carolina DOT, has significantly increased the accuracy of its data collection for its long-range transportation plan thanks to the cutting edge technology of aggregated cell phone data developed by AirSage . Using the technology, the county was able to determine that a bypass would not help relieve congestion on U.S. 1.

Update: St. Louis area variable speed limits come down

Missouri DOT is removing 70 variable advisory speed limit signs on I-270 and I-255 mentioned in the October 14th edition of SSTI News. Although a recent report indicated that similar signs have been having a positive effect on congestion in the Minneapolis area despite drivers’ general disregard for the speed limits, MoDOT has decided to remove the signs to lower operating costs and reduce confusion.

Millennials & Mobility: Understanding the Millennial Mindset (APTA, 2013)

Recent news reports and studies have outlined changes in how Millenials travel and live. These have focused on the implications for all transportation modes as well as land use and economic activity. This APTA/TCRP report seeks to further understand the mindsets behind the trends and understand their implications for public transportation in the United States. This study utilizes a mixture of in-depth interviews in five cities and a survey of 1,000 people in six cities that are representative of the types of cities Millennials find attractive.

A New Way To Go: The Transportation Apps and Vehicle-Sharing Tools that Are Giving More Americans the Freedom to Drive Less (USPIRG, 2013)

Over the last 15 years, the Internet and mobile communications technologies have transformed the way Americans live and work. During that same period, growth in vehicle travel slowed and then stopped, with Americans today driving about as much on average as we did in 1996. Early evidence suggests that new innovations in technology and social networking are beginning to change America’s transportation landscape.

Mode choice? There’s an app for that

For almost a decade, per-capita VMT has shown a flat to downward trend. But don’t be fooled; people are traveling. Transit ridership is up. Biking and walking for transportation continues to increase. Car-sharing and ride-sharing services are seeing a boom. New technologies, including smart phone applications and interactive web sites, give these intrepid travelers the tools they need to decode the mysteries of public transit and investigate the growing availability of non-motorized travel options.

Reducing air pollution by targeting the most egregious emitters

New infrared cameras can identify various tailpipe emissions in real time from vehicles passing at highway speeds. By analyzing the ratios of different pollutants, the technology can also distinguish between high-emitting vehicles that are functioning normally—i.e., vehicles that are burning more fuel to carry heavier loads or more passengers—from those that have mechanical problems that need to be dealt with.

Growing public interest in walkable communities, but public sector decision-makers still lag behind

Walkscore, the first website to offer easy-to-use walkability ratings for cities, neighborhoods, and individual properties now has some competition. Walkability, a rating system released this month targets private businesses, particularly those in the marketing, social networking, and real estate sectors.

The winding road to self-driving cars

This spring, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a policy statement on automated vehicles, which offers guidance for states that are considering authorizing tests of driverless vehicles. Three states—California, Florida, and Nevada—now explicitly authorize self-driving cars to operate on public roads for testing purposes. Michigan is expected to become the fourth state by the end of the year. Although not explicitly authorized, driverless cars are not specifically prohibited anywhere in the nation and are assumed to be legal throughout the U.S.

Two lawsuits seek to rein in transit data patent troll

After suing dozens of transit agencies and hundreds of private companies, patent troll company ArrivalStar could be hitting the wall. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has drastically narrowed the patent owned by the company after the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a formal request to reexamine the patent’s legitimacy. The American Public Transit Association also filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to halt frivolous patent infringement claims against public transit systems throughout the country and claiming that ArrivalStar’s lawsuits are invalid under the 11th Amendment.