GPS

Emily Badger reports on the growing importance of the cellular phone, and particularly their location tracking capabilities, as the next most essential transportation planning tool.

February 6, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Politico recaps the findings of the two federal commissions authorized by the last transportation bill. While their findings are not hopeful, they do present a better outlook for a change 'down the road' - perhaps in a future authorization bill.

November 6, 2011 - Politico

GPS data from over 30,000 Beijing cabs have provided researchers at Microsoft Research Asia glimpses into underlying causes of congestion in the city. Typically, the culprit is missing or flawed connections.

September 28, 2011 - Technology Review

Using remote sensing, GPS technology and other high-tech strategies, city traffic planners aim to clear Midtown's infamous traffic problems - from Queens. The $1.6 million investment will tackle a problem costing the city about $13 billion a year.

July 20, 2011 - New York Post

With GPS technology ubiquitous, the lighthouse perched high on a cliff may soon become a relic.

February 5, 2011 - CNN

Russia has been developing a $2 billion alternative to the American GPS system. This week, a programming error sent 3 critical satellites crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

December 7, 2010 - The Christian Science Monitor

"Indoor positioning systems" are getting closer to reality, placing products at your fingertips by tracking them down within the store.

September 26, 2010 - Directions Magazine

Ron Ringen has logged more than 1,400 animals for a roadkill project. "I'm almost a fanatic with it," he said. "You get hooked."

September 13, 2010 - The New York Times

The increase in transit ridership and carsharing isn't just due to the rise in gas prices, but also the rise in new technologies providing up-to-the-minute reports on location and ride availability.

May 11, 2010 - New Urban News email

With the brilliant help of graduates from Hoboken's Stevens Institute of Technology, our local community shuttle bus (a.k.a. The Hop, formerly known as The Downtown Crosstown Shuttle) can now be viewed live on the city's website as it cruises along narrow Hoboken city streets from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM (EST), Monday through Friday.  If you're not near the internet, try texting “crosstown” to 41411 to get a return text with the location of the bus' whereabouts whenever it's running, then run down to the corner before you miss it!

April 19, 2010 - Ian Sacs

New York City has GPS data from tens of thousands of taxis and is beginning to mine that information to improve its streets. We talked to some transportation experts for their ideas on how to use it.

April 8, 2010 - Streetsblog

Through a survey of New York City taxis with GPS tracking devices, the city has created a database of speeds and routes that gives them a clear picture of the state of traffic in the city.

March 26, 2010 - The New York Times

In a study in Europe using cellphone GPS data, researchers discovered that people rarely leave a six-mile area around where they live. GPS cellphone data is being used for a host of urban planning studies like this.

March 22, 2010 - Planning Commissioners Journal

Gigaom looks at a handful of "augmented reality" apps, both current and projected, that create an interface between the internet and the world around us.

February 3, 2010 - Gigaom

Imagine this: Replacing the sales tax on purchasing a new vehicle and annual, 'fixed' fees with a VMT fee based on size, weight, and CO2 emissions of the vehicle. This is the plan of the Dutch government to reduce congestion and greenhouse gases.

November 16, 2009 - Breitbart.com

What's better than Twitter in the city? An iPhone. With a connection to the Internet, built-in camera, location-awareness, 3-access accelerometer and colorful display, the Apple iPhone has become much more than a mobile phone: it's a sophisticated mobile computing platform. Combine this technology with a library of thousands of programs and growing ecosystem of developers, the iPhone is powerful and versatile tool to transform how people interact with their surroundings. A growing number of iPhone apps are taking advantage of the phone's functionality to allow people to navigate, measure, observe, and interact with cities in new ways. This post describes some I have come across for e-government, urban sensing and interaction, and navigation. First, a caveat: I don't actually own one of the devices myself and haven't tested the apps (yet). I've certainly missed many, so leave your favorites in the comments below.

September 7, 2009 - Robert Goodspeed

A long-help plan to install GPS-ready bus tracking equipment to New York City buses has been pushed off indefinitely.

February 3, 2009 - NY1 News

Oregon was the first state to study replacing state gas taxes with a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee in 2007. Now Gov. Kulongoski is taking the next step - introducing legislation to replace the 24-cent gas tax with a VMT fee that applies GPS technology.

January 5, 2009 - Corvallis Gazette Times

'Pay as you drive' insurance will soon be a reality in California, surviving the state senate as a voluntary program that environmental groups say will encourage people to drive less by saving them money on their car insurance.

September 2, 2008 - San Francisco Examiner

The use of geographic information systems for the public good is a rapidly growing field. The technology shows great promise for discovering unequal distribution of resources and environmental racism, writes Peter Manzo.

June 18, 2008 - Stanford Social Innovation Review