Regional Traffic Signal Operations Program

FHWA just released a new document on regional traffic signal operations program – link.

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/arterial_mgmt/index.htm

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/arterial_mgmt/pubs.htm

Traffic Signal Systems Manaual

The Traffic Signal Timing Manual is available at http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop08024/index.htm.

In addition, a few more useful sites…

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/arterial_mgmt/pubs.htm

http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publications.htm

Mid-Atlantic Innovation Showcase

Link to the Mid-Atlantic Innovation Showcase is here. There are audio files for the sessions.

Fujitsu’s in-car safety technology

In-car safety sensor can recognize drowsiness of driver and react to wake the driver up. More story is here.

Fujitsu is conjuring up a sophisticated sensor system that can actually detect when a driver gets drowsy or begins to sink into a deep, dark wonder-world of sleep. Put simply, the system would detect specific changes in the motorist’s heart rate via the steering wheel, and once it determined that you weren’t exactly “with it” any longer, the car could then roll its own windows down, blast the stereo or jolt the wheel in order to get your attention. In our minds, the biggest issue here is to not cause an accident by spooking a sleepy driver out of their slumber, and we presume that’s exactly what the company is working on in its R&D labs.

Algae-based fuel

About $180 million in venture capital will be raised this year for algae research, according to industry research group Cleantech. Algae could be used as a nonfood biofuel source, once researchers crack the puzzle of growing algae on a large scale. The current cost of $10 to $100 per gallon for algae fuel would have to decrease before it becomes a cost-effective alternative to gasoline. Seattle Post-Intelligencer/The Associated Press.

Mileage based road user charge

University of Iowa is conducting a federally funded study on the mileage based road user charge. See more stody here. The homepage for the study site is here.

H1B abuse

Study finds 21 pecent of H1-B applications violate the rules. Here is the story.

Bush authorizes $13 Billion for Passenger Rail

See more story at http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/mLoYrmvonxpSwUCibSfXpIVJ?format=standard.

iPhone 3G Speed Applications

A few applications are available for displaying speeds information on the iPhone 3G. Here is the link: However, these applications have not integrated to fuel consumption or emission models, yet.

http://www.macworld.com/article/135774/2008/09/iphoneauto.html?lsrc=rss_main

Resources on disabled outdoor sports/activities

List of community where people with disabilities can access and even participate activities. http://gorp.away.com/gorp/eclectic/disabled.htm

Outdoor recreation guides – from DisabilityInfo.gov http://www.disabilityinfo.gov/digov-public/public/DisplayPage.do?parentFolderId=208

Virginia Recreational Resources for People with Disabilities:http://wwrc.virginia.gov/downloads/VaRecreationalResourceGuide.pdf