Gizmodo: transit

Windows Mobile And Symbian S60 Get Google Maps Upgrade With Transit Info

Matt Hickey — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:30:11 EDT

Windows Mobile and S60 users get an update to Google Maps this week that includes public transit stops as well as user star ratings for local businesses. The free upgrade shows not just where stops are for particular transit lines but also allows you to incorporate them into building your route. Blackberry users have had this functionality for a few weeks now and it's likely a feature that will be updated for most other mobile operating systems in the next few weeks. [Google Mobile Blog]

NYC Makes Buses Hijack Proof With Remote Controlled Device

Sean Fallon — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:15:00 EDT

Let's say someone put a bomb on your bus and it can't go below 50 mph or it will explode. If that were to happen on a NYC bus you would probably be incinerated because the city has installed a new GPS device in thousands of local commuter and tourist buses. If the authorities get wind of a hijacking in progress, they can slowly stop the vehicle and prevent it from restarting via remote control. It may not work for "Speed" style situations, but for conventional hijackings, it could prove to be an effective weapon.

The GPS device is attached to the bus computer system and it relays information about its speed and direction to a dispatcher. In the event of a hijacking, the dispatcher can remotely slow the bus down and prevent it from being restarted—giving cops enough time to get to the scene. Apparently, slowing the bus down gradually is intended to give terrorists extra time to rethink their position before doing something drastic.

Financing for the system has been made possible thanks to funding from the Department of Homeland Security. So far, the device is on 3000 Grey Line double-decker buses, 80 DeCamp buses and plans are currently underway to equip 3000 New Jersey Transit buses. NYC transit is currently in the pilot stage for the program, but they are expected to follow suit with their 4500 bus fleet sometime in the near future. [New York Post]

Cellphone Test Driver's Sobriety, Tattles on Them

Travis Hudson — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 13:25:13 EDT

NTT DoCoMo has introduced a system that lets mass transit companies test their drivers at any given time to see if they have been dabbling with some happy juice while on the job. A small breath-alcohol sensor is attached to one of DoCoMo's FOMA 3G phones. The driver will breathe into the sensor normally and the phone will transmit the results to a personal computer at the transit company HQ. FOMA will be able to prevent cheating by utilizing FOMA's videophone abilities. Maybe that is the problem with cab drivers nowadays. That makes perfect sense, they are all drunk! – Travis Hudson

DoCoMo cell phone can test whether drivers have been drinking [textually]