Technology Briefs - June 28 - July 5
The Latest Headlines:
- Senate Confirms Director of DOT's Technology Agency
- Germany Successfully Tests GPS Toll Technology
- ATRI Seeks Information From Tech Vendors
- Germany Successfully Tests GPS Toll Technology
Senate Confirms Director of DOT's Technology Agency
The Senate on Thursday confirmed Ashok Kaveeshwar as the first administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration, a newly created agency within the Department of Transportation, DOT said.President Bush nominated Kaveeshwar to the position on May 24.
By forming innovative partnerships with transportation-related industries, government agencies and other public and private stakeholders, RITA will be more effective in coordinating research to more efficiently address the transportation needs of the 21st century" said DOT Secretary Norman Mineta. Transport Topics
Germany Successfully Tests GPS Toll Technology
German officials expressed satisfaction with the performance of a high-tech satellite truck toll system, which took in nearly $1.7 billion in its first six months of operation, the Associated Press reported.The system, which got off to a rocky start on January 1 after a series of technical troubles, has already beat government expectations for income, German officials said.
Authorities plan to expand the system, which is installed on the nation's highways, to several major arteries that run parallel to them, to prevent truckers from escaping the tolls, one official said, AP reported.
The system uses a Global Positioning System satellite to track the distance trucks travel on toll roads, charging an average of the equivalent to 26 cents a mile, with mobile phone equipment used to automatically transmit billing data. Transport Topics
ATRI Seeks Information From Tech Vendors
The American Transportation Research Institute said it was seeking information from vendors of security technologies to update two of its directories.ATRI, part of American Trucking Associations, said in a release the “COTS Compendium” contains information about commercially available products. The “ET Compendium” identifies emerging technologies that are likely to enter the marketplace in the next 14 months.
ATRI also said it was updating the directories in support of a similar effort by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which was requesting information from companies in order to updates its “HM Tech Compendium.”
The FMCSA directory “is a compilation of security technologies that attempts to identify security solutions similar to those tested in the National Hazmat Transportation Security field test,” ATRI said. Transport Topics
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