July 2010
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June 2010
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May 2010
4 posts
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The danger of rural roads
Blake Eckert, an 18-year-old graduate of Winona Area Learning Center, was killed and two passengers were injured when the car Eckert was driving swerved off a Winona County road and rolled. Eckert, who was wearing a seat belt, was text-messaging seconds before the crash, Brand said.
“He went into the curve and when he looked up, he overcorrected,” the sheriff said. “He tried to...
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April 2010
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Funny Nicaraguan speed bump signs →
Zach Sellands writes on his personal blog:
Whenever I travel, whether to different states or entirely different countries, one of my favorite things to do is look at road signs. Public service signage in general is sort of fascinating to me, as it’s meant to be universally understandable, a true “lowest common denominator” form of communication. Also, it can often be quite funny.
Click through...
March 2010
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February 2010
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HSR vs. Airlines in China
Interesting article in Business Week on the competition in China between high-speed rail (HSR) and traditional airlines.
From the article:
“There’s no doubt that high-speed rail will defeat airlines on all the routes of less than 800 kilometers,” said Citigroup Inc. analyst Ally Ma. “The airlines must get themselves in shape, increase their profitability and improve the network.”
She’s talking...
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NASA High School Challenge
NASA is hosting an essay contest and design challenge for high school students interested in the importance of rotorcraft in rescue operations and civil applications. The focus is on inventing a successful amphibious tiltrotor craft. The entry deadline is March 15, 2010. Cash prizes are up to $1,000 for individuals and $1,500 for teams.
Learn more about the Amphibious Tiltrotor for Rescue...
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Why teens don't use twitter
This is probably old news for many of you, but:
Just 8% of kids age 12 to 17 use Twitter. (via Teen blogging replaced by Facebook status updates).
High-school-age girls are particularly likely to use Twitter. 13% of online girls ages 14-17 use Twitter, compared with 7% of boys that age. (via Grown Ups Obsess Over Facebook While Teens Are Sick of Blogging And Twitter).
For an insightful...
January 2010
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L.A. high school offers academy for careers in... →
The Los Angeles Unified School District unveiled a $1 million state-of-the-art Transportation Careers Academy at Wilson High School in March 2009. The students and teachers of the 72 year-old high school now attend classes in newly renovated classrooms.
“Students will learn first-hand what it takes to work in the transportation industry and this is an excellent added benefit to their...
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CITY internship program →
COMTO’s Careers In Transportation for Youth (CITY) Internship Program was created to attract the best and brightest minority, youth talent to the public transportation industry. This internship program supports the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) initiative to promote public transportation career opportunities among minority college students. This initiative will orient students...
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Harrison County's High Schoolers Can Try... →
The EdVenture Group and the Harrison County School board are bringing the 2010 Transportation Technology Internship Experience to students and teachers around the county.
“This gives them the opportunity to look at that beforehand and make a determination that, ‘Oh, I could get this job, and I could stay in this area,’” said Jennifer Wotering, spokeswoman for the EdVenture...
The Fake Freeway Sign that Became a Real Public... →
In 2001, artist Robert Ankron sewed his own CalTrans suit, made his own freeway sign, and installed it to help drivers prepare for freeway 5’s poorly marked, hairpin exit. Alissa Walker writes about his ‘art’ and the lives he likely saved. (via GOOD)
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“After traveling internationally in the summer of 2005, Bibiana McHugh, an IT...”
– Matthew Roth of San Francisco Streetsblog in his article “How Google and Portland’s TriMet Set the Standard for Open Transit Data”
December 2009
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What does it take to be a good transportation...
Love.
You have to love transportation. Care for it, be dedicated, loyal, and spend lots of time with transportation.
What I mean is that I’ve come to realize that, to be an excellent transportation writer, its really important to be passionate about transportation and have a good knowledge-base about the discussions going on out there in the industry.
I’ve had to develop an interest...
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Should we team up to spread the engineering...
The folks at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) started eGFI (Engineering, Go For It!), an engineering magazine for teens. ASEE has this to say of the 2008 launch of eGFI:
“ASEE announces new eGFI brand platform - Creative Education Publication, Web Site and E-newsletter to Inspire America’s Engineers of Tomorrow. The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)...
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Social media marketing efforts
The best advice I’ve read about social media is that you don’t have to be using the current “Web 2.0” social media service to do social media marketing. The important thing is having content to share and finding a place to start a dialogue related to that content. Dialogue is key though. Social media is about developing a community through active discussion. So how is Go!...
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Career fairs at Perry and Iowa Youth Congress
Katie and I went to Perry High School on Wednesday, November 4 to participate in their annual career fair. We setup at a booth in the gymnasium and spent most of the morning and afternoon speaking with students and discussing the magazine and their career interests. We took our computers so they could look at the magazine. We also encouraged them to guess the Mystery photo for a chance to win a...
November 2009
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Hopeful Teen POV contribution by Danny Moraff
I ran across the story “Tech savvy teenager takes Lexington transit in new directions” (March 2009) on the Boston Globe. Danny Moraff is 17 years old and he joined the Lexington trans service advisory board and worked with them to gather and input bus route data into Google Transit. It’s an excellent story.
I’d love to have Danny contribute a Teen POV column. I’ll be...
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Go! is attending career fairs at Iowa High...
We recently participated in the Perry High School (Perry, Iowa) career fair on November 4 from 9 a.m. - 1:25 p.m. Go! editorial assistants Katie Greenwood and Stewart McCoy set up an exhibitors booth in the gymnasium. Stewart also gave a 30-minute presentation to about 25 students in a breakout session from 9:55 a.m - 10:25 a.m.
Last Friday, November 13, Editor Rebekah Bovenmyer and Stewart...
October 2009
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WatchIf solar roadways are all they’re touted to be, can actually be manufactured, and then implemented with the help of bureaucratic organizations like the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Transportation, then they will revolutionize the transportation and energy industries. Oh, the places we could Go!
September 2009
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Seatbelt physics →
A great resource with info graphics demonstrating and explaining the physics of seatbelt safety!
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Using social media to engage target audience(s) →
“These days it is all about Twitter profiles, Facebook pages, life streams, and real-time feeds, but how many do you really need?
While our media landscape has definitely changed over the last 5 years, the underlying concept is still pretty much the same. The key to being successful is:
Create amazing content, that is highly valuable and useful.
Get it out to where people are, using the...
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I’ve been developing an instructional video for the September-October 2009 issue of Go! I’m working in Adobe Flash, and have had to learn the ends and outs of motion tweening and video encoding. It’s a lot of work, but I’m really enjoying it. I’ll post a link to the video on Go!’s YouTube channel when the issue is published next week.
August 2009
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Grusome Short Film Targets Teens Who Text And... →
Thanks to infrastructurist.com:
“According to research in Britain, 50 percent of drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 send text messages while they’re behind the wheel. For anyone who’s seen the studies showing that texting drivers are about as safe as those who’ve just lost (or won) a Wild Turkey drink-off, that’s fairly terrifying.
So, authorities in a town in Wales decided to...
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Crowdsourcing Public Participation in Transit... →
Who gives a second thought to bus stops? Well, you might turn heads with your creative bus stop design if you win the contest at www.nextstopdesign.com. Anybody can submit a design, and there is a nice inspirational gallery of unique bus stops around the world.
The contest is part of a a research project called “Crowdsourcing Public Participation in Transit Planning,” hosted by the Utah...
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A provactive, brutal PSA about seatbelt safety →
I ran across the video on Tom Vanderbilt’s How We Drive blog. The video is part of the U.K.’s Think! series and contains a graphic reminder of the urgent importance of buckling up.
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Teaching advanced physics to ages 16-19 →
From IOP’s website:
“This website contains detailed ideas and resources for teaching physics to students aged 16-19. The site aims to help those new to teaching this age group, and assumes only a limited access to equipment, to resources, and to advice from experienced colleagues. It is not intended to constrain the development of other equally valid approaches.
To find resources...
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The advanced stop line or "bike box" →
John S. Allen’s article “A look into the ‘bike box’” is an excellent primer on the variety of bike boxes and how they’re used around the world, as well as design-related safety issues.
I’ve also found that Jennifer Dill, Director of the Center for Transportation Studies at Portland State University is conducting a study that evaluates bikes boxes at...
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L.A. freeways set to get futuristic 'smart studs'... →
Caltrans has contracted with a New Zealand company to pilot the “dynamic-lane” system on the 110 Freeway where traffic backs up in a tunnel at the single-lane connector to northbound Interstate 5. At peak hours, the “smart studs” would illuminate to automatically open a second connector lane on the 110, easing the long lines.
July 2009
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FIRST Lego League highlight reel →
I’ve been researching FIRST’s (Foundation for the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League for potential stories and came across this neat video on YouTube that demonstrates the LUNACY game for the 2009 FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC). Competitors build robots that are designed to move on a low-friction surface. The robots have a cart in tow, and to score...
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Editorial board meeting this Thursday @ 1 p.m.
The board meeting will introduce new staff (Michele will have hired a second grad assistant by Thursday) including the new editor (Rebekah Bovenmyer). We will discuss expectations of the editorial board. We’ll also report of the requirements of the IMSEP grant and how we plan to address those requirements. Content, in terms of themes, stories, and hands-on activities, will also be addressed...
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Go! is now on Flickr →
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Central Link light rail
The Seattle light rail is having its grand opening this Saturday and rides are free all weekend. I’m going to ride the rail to its terminal points, interview riders about their thoughts on the new system, take video and pictures, and read about the planning and development of the system. I’m also going to try and see if I can contact a Central Link light rail representative to get...
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Conn. man modifies pickup to run on wood, waste →
Ever since he saw “Doc” Brown fuel his car with garbage in the movie “Back to the Future,” Dave Nichols has wanted to create a car that runs on garbage. Well, he’s done it.
You can read my related article in the Sept-Oct 2008 issue of Go! at http://www.go-explore-trans.org/2008/sep-oct/biofuels.cfm
June 2009
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the Society for Automotive Engineering's "A World... →
Each of the AWIM activities incorporates the laws of physics, motion, flight and electronics into age-appropriate hands-on activities that reinforce classroom STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum.
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Student-produced safe driving PSAs →
The Iowa DOT held a contest to promote safe driving habits. Students procuced 30-second public service announcements.
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ITE Recruitment Toolbox →
“To make it easier for transportation professionals to participate in local recruitment events and activities, the ITE Transportation Education Council, in cooperation with the Southwest Region University Transportation Center (SWUTC), has developed a “Recruitment Toolbox” that assimilates the best ideas from around the country into an easily accessible, electronic database of proven...