March 2001
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March 2001 |
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Industry Snippets:
March 2001 |
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US
Infrastructure Consortium Maps
Out Three-Year Program The US Infrastructure Consortium (IC) met earlier this year to forward its agenda to define and test a set of crash countermeasures that involve cooperative interaction between vehicles and roadside infrastructure. The IC consists of the states of California, Minnesota, and Virginia, along with support from the Federal Highway Administration. The meeting's aim was to determine actions needed to develop a research agenda that incorporates information received from workshops held last fall, including feedback from ITS America's Light Vehicle Steering Group. The IC decided to construct a three-year program that culminates in decisions to build one or more prototype intersection collision warning systems, possibly in each of the three member states, by the end of the fourth year. The program will be structured into three phases that will essentially be executed concurrently:
According to Caltrans engineer and IC Chairman Pete Hansra, university partners are now developing proposals for this work, which are expected to be finished in early April. Research projects could be underway as soon as in early fiscal 2002. [Top] Bush
Names Deputy Secretary of Transportation President George W. Bush named Michael P. Jackson as his pick for Deputy Secretary of Transportation, which was subsequently approved by the US Senate. Jackson was previously Vice President and General Manager for Business Development at Lockheed Martin IMS, Transportation Systems and Services. Before that, he was Senior Vice President and Counselor to the President at the American Trucking Association. He is no stranger to Washington, having served in a variety of prior positions within the Executive Branch including Chief of Staff at the Department of Transportation from 1992 to 1993 and Special Assistant to the President and Executive Secretary for Cabinet Liaison during the George H. W. Bush administration. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Houston and his doctorate degree in government from Georgetown University. Coming from Lockheed Martin IMS, Mr. Jackson was a close working associate of now-Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who was also at Lockheed Martin. [Top] Irisbus
and Las Vegas Make It Official for Guided Bus Project John Marino, President of Irisbus North America, tells IVsource that the company has recently signed a contract with the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Southern Nevada to implement the CIVIS guided bus system for North Las Vegas. This will mark the first actual implementation of guided buses in North America using non-contact, electronic technology. The RTC purchased 5 CIVIS rubber tire rapid transit systems with optical guidance and will exercise an option to purchase 5 additional systems in Oct. 2001. The systems will initially run on a 2 mile, 17 station route on N. Las Vegas Boulevard, which will be extended by 4 miles in a follow-on phase. The first bus prototype delivery is expected in May 2002, to be followed by serial delivery of the 10 vehicles starting in 2003. [Top] Johnson
Joins FMCSA to Support Intelligent Vehicle Activities Tim Johnson has moved over from the Federal Transit Administration to join the ITS Division of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Johnson is an electronic engineer by training who participated in various magnetic levitation and bus technology projects at FTA. Within FMCSA, Johnson has taken over project management responsibility for the Mack Trucks IVI project and expects to become involved in numerous other related activities. [Top] Serafin
Joins Johnson Controls Colleen Serafin, previously a human factors expert for Visteon, has taken her talents to Johnson Controls, Inc. Serafin is currently chair of the SAE ITS Standards Committee and participates on the US Working Advisory Group 14 (WAG 14) to the International Standards Organization. [Top] The US Federal Highway Administration plans to begin a study of Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) as applied to safety systems, according to informal reports at the ITS America Advanced Vehicle Control and Safety Systems Committee. The study, to be managed by Bob Ferlis of FHWA, would begin in Fall 2001. In order to retain frequency spectrum allocations for ITS DSRC applications in the US, industry and government players agree that it will be essential to develop and promulgate a number of safety applications -- especially since the original granting of the spectrum in 1998 was justified largely on the grounds that such safety systems would be enabled. [Top] Minnesota
Plans Major Vehicle Demonstration for 2003 According to Dr. Max Donath of the University of Minnesota, the University and MnDOT plan to sponsor a national intelligent vehicles demonstration in May 2003. The demo would include all types of vehicles and all levels of driver assistance. Potentially, the demo would be scheduled in conjunction with the ITS America annual meeting that year. You can bet IVsource will be keeping an eye on this one...! [Top] NIST
Stepping Up to Industrial IV Applications The US National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), active for many years in developing intelligent vehicle applications primarily for military purposes, has initiated a program to take this technology to the industrial sector. This is a great fit, as NIST has historically worked with industry to optimize the use of robotics; this step simply expands the focus to wheeled vehicles. [Top] |
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Copyright 2001: IVsource.net and Richard Bishop Consulting (RBC). All Rights Reserved. |
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March 2001 |