Now GPS Can Tell You Where the Cops Are
02-12-09, 11:41 AM
#16
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I'd like to believe you're right. Let's just hope NTSB doesn't go to congress and tell them how many orphans and nuns can be saved by GPS control of vehicle speed or San Jose doesn't figure out how much revenue there is to be gotten by using in car GPS to issue speeding tickets without the bother (or cost) of a cop car, radar, cop, retirment plan, etc. I don't think it will happen very soon either but not because of privacy laws. And it sure won't be because the technology isn't available. Maybe some clever teenager will start a company doing it privately and just sell the info to cities, counties, states?
02-12-09, 12:26 PM
#17
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or San Jose doesn't figure out how much revenue there is to be gotten by using in car GPS to issue speeding tickets without the bother (or cost) of a cop car, radar, cop, retirment plan, etc. I don't think it will happen very soon either but not because of privacy laws. And it sure won't be because the technology isn't available. Maybe some clever teenager will start a company doing it privately and just sell the info to cities, counties, states?
02-12-09, 01:43 PM
#18
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So far the precedent protecting privacy has held up in the US. Since we live in a country with the highest ratio of lawyers to general population they will be spinning their wheels for years to come (and generating fees of course
).
02-12-09, 07:25 PM
#19
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I've got the Trapster app for my Blackberry Storm. VERY cool app. Has a database of known speed traps and red-light cameras. Tracks your location on the map and sounds an audible alarm when you're nearing one. Wonderful use of technology.
And, since it's on my BB, it's always with me, no matter what car I'm in.
And, since it's on my BB, it's always with me, no matter what car I'm in.
02-13-09, 12:21 PM
#20
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I have Trapster on my Blackberry with Sprint GPS, great tool.
I noticed in my town someone (cops?) started flooding it with bogus speed traps so its pretty much worthless for that, but still good for when you are approaching red light cameras.
I noticed in my town someone (cops?) started flooding it with bogus speed traps so its pretty much worthless for that, but still good for when you are approaching red light cameras.
02-15-09, 10:59 PM
#23
Near the bottom of the page, there are direct Over-The-Air download links for the various versions for the different BlackBerry models.
They list this one... trapster.com/tm3/tm.jad as being compatible with BlackBerry Bold, Curve, Pearl, WorldPhone, etc. (8130, 8810, 8820, 8830, ...)
02-20-09, 12:10 PM
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Yep, I love that technology too. And we would never ever have to worry about any downside to our navis. Why we are just going to use them to know where the speed traps are. Right. Our current administration has a slightly different view. This is a repost of this article that I put in the Debate forum in our discussion on energy policy but for those of you who are sure that the gov isn't going to be able to either just limit the speed of your car or send you a speeding ticket based on your in car GPS, I would start thinking about "when" not "if". Oh, and buying that hybrid might save you putting gas in the car but they are going to extract a much higher tax from you that used to be generated from that gas bill.
AP Interview: LaHood eyes taxing miles driven
The Associated Press
Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (12:54 a.m.)
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he wants to consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn _ an idea that has angered drivers in some states where it has been proposed.
Gasoline taxes that for nearly half a century have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction can no longer be counted on to raise enough money to keep the nation's transportation system moving, LaHood said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled," the former Illinois Republican lawmaker said.
Most transportation experts see a vehicle miles traveled tax as a long-term solution, but Congress is being urged to move in that direction now by funding pilot projects.
The idea also is gaining ground in several states. Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island are talking about such programs, and a North Carolina panel suggested in December the state start charging motorists a quarter-cent for every mile as a substitute for the gas tax.
A tentative plan in Massachusetts to use GPS chips in vehicles to charge motorists by the mile has drawn complaints from drivers who say it's an Orwellian intrusion by government into the lives of citizens. Other motorists say it eliminates an incentive to drive more fuel-efficient cars since gas guzzlers will be taxed at the same rate as fuel sippers.
Besides a VMT tax, more tolls for highways and bridges and more government partnerships with business to finance transportation projects are other funding options, LaHood, one of two Republicans in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, said in the interview Thursday.
"What I see this administration doing is this _ thinking outside the box on how we fund our infrastructure in America," he said.
LaHood said he firmly opposes raising the federal gasoline tax in the current recession.
The program that funds the federal share of highway projects is part of a surface transportation law that expires Sept. 30. Last fall, Congress made an emergency infusion of $8 billion to make up for a shortfall between gas tax revenues and the amount of money promised to states for their projects. The gap between money raised by the gas tax and the cost of maintaining the nation's highway system and expanding it to accommodate population growth is forecast to continue to widen.
Among the reasons for the gap is a switch to more fuel-efficient cars and a decrease in driving that many transportation experts believe is related to the economic downturn. Electric cars and alternative-fuel vehicles that don't use gasoline are expected to start penetrating the market in greater numbers.
"One of the things I think everyone agrees with around reauthorization of the highway bill is that the highway trust fund is an antiquated system for funding our highways," LaHood said. "It did work to build the interstate system and it was very effective, there's no question about that. But the big question now is, We're into the 21st century and how are we going to take care of our infrastructure needs ... with a highway trust fund that had to be plused up by $8 billion by Congress last year?"
A blue-ribbon national transportation commission is expected to release a report next week recommending a VMT.
The system would require all cars and trucks be equipped with global satellite positioning technology, a transponder, a clock and other equipment to record how many miles a vehicle was driven, whether it was driven on highways or secondary roads, and even whether it was driven during peak traffic periods or off-peak hours.
The device would tally how much tax motorists owed depending upon their road use. Motorists would pay the amount owed when it was downloaded, probably at gas stations at first, but an alternative eventually would be needed.
Rob Atkinson, president of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, the agency that is developing future transportation funding options, said moving to a national VMT would take about a decade.
Privacy concerns are based more on perception than any actual risk, Atkinson said. The satellite information would be beamed one way to the car and driving information would be contained within the device on the car, with the amount of the tax due the only information that's downloaded, he said.
The devices also could be programmed to charge higher rates to vehicles that are heavier, like trucks that put more stress on roadways, Atkinson said.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009...-miles-driven/
AP Interview: LaHood eyes taxing miles driven
The Associated Press
Fri, Feb 20, 2009 (12:54 a.m.)
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he wants to consider taxing motorists based on how many miles they drive rather than how much gasoline they burn _ an idea that has angered drivers in some states where it has been proposed.
Gasoline taxes that for nearly half a century have paid for the federal share of highway and bridge construction can no longer be counted on to raise enough money to keep the nation's transportation system moving, LaHood said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"We should look at the vehicular miles program where people are actually clocked on the number of miles that they traveled," the former Illinois Republican lawmaker said.
Most transportation experts see a vehicle miles traveled tax as a long-term solution, but Congress is being urged to move in that direction now by funding pilot projects.
The idea also is gaining ground in several states. Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island are talking about such programs, and a North Carolina panel suggested in December the state start charging motorists a quarter-cent for every mile as a substitute for the gas tax.
A tentative plan in Massachusetts to use GPS chips in vehicles to charge motorists by the mile has drawn complaints from drivers who say it's an Orwellian intrusion by government into the lives of citizens. Other motorists say it eliminates an incentive to drive more fuel-efficient cars since gas guzzlers will be taxed at the same rate as fuel sippers.
Besides a VMT tax, more tolls for highways and bridges and more government partnerships with business to finance transportation projects are other funding options, LaHood, one of two Republicans in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, said in the interview Thursday.
"What I see this administration doing is this _ thinking outside the box on how we fund our infrastructure in America," he said.
LaHood said he firmly opposes raising the federal gasoline tax in the current recession.
The program that funds the federal share of highway projects is part of a surface transportation law that expires Sept. 30. Last fall, Congress made an emergency infusion of $8 billion to make up for a shortfall between gas tax revenues and the amount of money promised to states for their projects. The gap between money raised by the gas tax and the cost of maintaining the nation's highway system and expanding it to accommodate population growth is forecast to continue to widen.
Among the reasons for the gap is a switch to more fuel-efficient cars and a decrease in driving that many transportation experts believe is related to the economic downturn. Electric cars and alternative-fuel vehicles that don't use gasoline are expected to start penetrating the market in greater numbers.
"One of the things I think everyone agrees with around reauthorization of the highway bill is that the highway trust fund is an antiquated system for funding our highways," LaHood said. "It did work to build the interstate system and it was very effective, there's no question about that. But the big question now is, We're into the 21st century and how are we going to take care of our infrastructure needs ... with a highway trust fund that had to be plused up by $8 billion by Congress last year?"
A blue-ribbon national transportation commission is expected to release a report next week recommending a VMT.
The system would require all cars and trucks be equipped with global satellite positioning technology, a transponder, a clock and other equipment to record how many miles a vehicle was driven, whether it was driven on highways or secondary roads, and even whether it was driven during peak traffic periods or off-peak hours.
The device would tally how much tax motorists owed depending upon their road use. Motorists would pay the amount owed when it was downloaded, probably at gas stations at first, but an alternative eventually would be needed.
Rob Atkinson, president of the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, the agency that is developing future transportation funding options, said moving to a national VMT would take about a decade.
Privacy concerns are based more on perception than any actual risk, Atkinson said. The satellite information would be beamed one way to the car and driving information would be contained within the device on the car, with the amount of the tax due the only information that's downloaded, he said.
The devices also could be programmed to charge higher rates to vehicles that are heavier, like trucks that put more stress on roadways, Atkinson said.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009...-miles-driven/
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