Deputy Transportation Secretary Downey Inaugurates New Advanced Technology Travel Service |
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Topics: Mortimer L. Downey
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Federal Highway Administration
July 21, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 21, 1998
Contact: Virginia Miller
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
FHWA 31-98
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Mortimer L. Downey today inaugurated new services as part of San Antonio’s TransGuide, one of the most advanced travel technology systems in the world. TransGuide, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation under a special pilot program, will integrate a series of safety, traffic management, and travel information services.
"Safety is President Clinton’s highest transportation priority," Downey said, "and TransGuide will make travel safer while reducing congestion and giving commuters the information they need to make good travel choices. TransGuide brings the future to San Antonio today."
San Antonio’s TransGuide is part of the Clinton-Gore Administration’s Model Deployment Initiative, which provides federal funding to showcase integrated intelligent transportation systems technologies. The other cities leading the nation in the Model Deployment Initiative are New York, Seattle, and Phoenix.
Several new TransGuide services are directed at travelers, including a pilot in-vehicle navigation unit network, interactive traveler information kiosks, an Internet site, and a service to warn motorists of potential delays caused by railroad operations. All of these will be based on the real-time information on current traffic conditions made possible by state and local partnerships already in place.
Other TransGuide services include LifeLink, which enables two-way videoconferencing between ambulances and emergency rooms, and a Bus Incident Monitoring System to track the location of buses and monitor onboard security.
Downey was joined by representatives of the service’s partners, including San Antonio Mayor Howard Peak, Texas Department of Transportation Executive Director Charles Heald, and the Reverend Richard Tankerson, VIA Metropolitan Transit Chair.