More details transportation and technology

Regarding the pursuit of intelligent traffic systems, from Automotive Engineering:

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation System office is expanding its scope, looking beyond freeways and passenger cars. The ITS Strategic Research Plan released earlier this year also details a greater focus on fuel conservation and emissions reduction.

The new ITS outlook sets a number of research goals for the years 2010-2014. Along with its expanded scope, the plan underscores its primary technology: Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) will be used to gather and transmit data.

“DSRC operating at the 5.9-GHz spectrum remains the only communications technology to meet the rigorous requirements of active safety applications, such as the Vehicle-to-Vehicle [V2V] and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure [V2I] safety applications,” said Shelley Row, Director of the DOT’s ITS Joint Program Office.

“These applications require very high-speed, secure communications to enable warnings to drivers in imminent crash situations, as vehicles are traveling at high speeds,” she added.

And this:

Sprint and Walsh Wireless Launch M2M Device to Drive Usage-Based Insurance for Vehicles

Source: Sprint

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — March 10, 2010 — Increasingly automobile insurance companies are adapting the way they charge customers, basing rates more on individual vehicle use and driving behavior. This is known as Usage-based Insurance (UBI). Sprint and Walsh Wireless today announced the certification and availability of a solution developed to meet this unique and growing market – the Walsh Wireless Data Logger, powered exclusively by Sprint 3G Mobile Broadband.

The UBI model helps insurance companies be more innovative and competitive in their approach by improving their risk assessment process, reducing customer churn and ultimately reducing the claims received. Drivers could see a reduction in their premiums by being rewarded for low mileage and/or safe driving habits. The Walsh Data Logger provides the ability to wirelessly monitor in real-time the performance of a vehicle, its location and the driver’s driving pattern through an easy-to-use, self-installed device. It can also benefit government entities and businesses that need to better manage large fleets of vehicles.

I will get the details of Walsh Wireless if they are listed, always check the investment pile for updates.

Here is one on short range payments systems, of which congestion pricing is part of. They call it near field communications:

Near Field Communications (2010-2015), the future of retail-payments from a technological and market perspective

One next generation technology that has enjoyed extensive recent exposure in the press is Near Field Communications. Presenting an excerpt from the media to indicate the development of the new technology:

"iPhone owners lamenting the lack of NFC capability can now plug in the iCarte from Wireless Dynamics, providing short-range wireless at the cost of a little extra length." The Register report

Such is the craze around the implications of this technology that numerous trials have been ongoing for more than three years now. The applicability of the technology has been assessed and the technology has reached commercial feasibility ultimately.

In assessing NFC from the commercial and technological perspectives, a comprehensive view of other contactless payment technologies has been taken into account. NFC has been compared against RFID, Bluetooth and other wireless technologies in terms of technological advantages NFC provides. In order to provide a comprehensive view of the domain of use for NFC technology, its feasible use in transportation, retail and couponing system has been analysed.

The advent of NFC technology will have profound effects on end-users, chipset manufacturers, handset manufacturers and component and tag manufacturers. These effects have been outlined in detail in the report. NFC will significantly impact the payment card and mobile communications industries, as shown in a forecast taking 2015 as the future point.

Basically they are calling for boom times in technology and major productivity enhancements in retail.

The International Telecommunications Union just finished their symposium on the fully networked car. Who are they? The industry standard bigshots.

ITU’s role as creator of the world’s most universally-recognized infocommunications standards dates back as far as the organization itself. Since its inception in 1865, the Union has been brokering industry consensus on the technologies and services that form the backbone of the world’s largest, most interconnected man-made system.

Vendors are in a rush to get through some standards work on intelligent traffic.