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Category Archives: Transportation

Don’t trust Google for customer service numbers. It might be a scam.

Washington Post [unpaywalled]: “Scams just keep popping up when you Google. On Monday, I found what appeared to be impostors of customer service for Delta and Coinbase, the cryptocurrency company, in the “People also ask” section high up in Google. A group of people experienced in Google’s intricacies also said this week that it took… Continue Reading

FBI Releases Motor Vehicle Theft, 2019—2023

“On August 12, 2024, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program released Motor Vehicle Theft, 2019-2023, on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer at https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov. This special report provides information concerning motor vehicle theft and trends on carjacking. Incidents of motor vehicle theft included in this report are from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Participation in… Continue Reading

Texas AG Sues GM for Unlaw­ful­ly Col­lect­ing Dri­vers’ Pri­vate Data and Sell­ing It To Sev­er­al Com­pa­nies, Includ­ing Insur­ance Companies

“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued General Motors for its false, deceptive, and misleading business practices related to its unlawful collection and sale of over 1.5 million Texans’ private driving data to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent. This action follows Attorney General Paxton’s June 2024 announcement that he opened an investigation into several car… Continue Reading

Popular flight-tracking app can now predict delays using machine learning

TechCrunch: “Flighty’s popular flight-tracking app can now predict delays using machine learning Popular flight-tracking app Flighty is releasing a new version on Tuesday that uses machine learning and aviation authority data to provide early warnings of delays and give users the exact reason behind delays.  With the launch of Flight 4.0, the app tracks the… Continue Reading

Railroad Incidents

Data is Plural: “Since last August, the Federal Railroad Administration has been rolling out a new portal for its safety data. Through it, you can find datasets on incidents and accidents involving railroad equipment, incidents at grade crossings, and reported injuries and illnesses, as well as dashboards and reports on related topics. The grade crossing… Continue Reading

The Quiet Power of Car-Free Neighborhoods

Bloomberg: Restricting or banning vehicles in congested city centers pays off with cleaner air and safer streets. “We need to talk more about the other big benefit — less noise. Although still rare in North America, car-free and car-light neighborhoods have grown common in Europe, established in cities like Paris, Brussels and Pontevedra, Spain. Boosters… Continue Reading

OpenStreetMap provides map data for thousands of websites, mobile apps, and hardware devices

OpenStreetMap is built by a community of mappers that contribute and maintain data about roads, trails, cafés, railway stations, and much more, all over the world. OpenStreetMap emphasizes local knowledge. Contributors use aerial imagery, GPS devices, and low-tech field maps to verify that OSM is accurate and up to date. OpenStreetMap’s community is diverse, passionate,… Continue Reading

New Details About Automakers’ Sharing of Driver Information with Data Brokers

“U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate and hold responsible automakers and their data broker partners, for disclosing data on millions of Americans, without consent in a letter today. An investigation by Wyden revealed new facts regarding automakers’ disclosure of driving data, such as… Continue Reading

The world’s most, and least, walkable cities

The Economist [unpaywalled]: “Cars can be a nuisance. Just ask anyone stuck on London’s M25 motorway or Houston’s Katy Freeway. More cars create more polluting traffic jams, and the amount of space needed to drive them, park them and re-fuel them could be used for more pleasant purposes, such as parks and recreational areas. It… Continue Reading

Ryanair Wins Legal Case Against Booking.Com Over Screen Scraping & Reselling Tickets

Bloomberg via MSN: “Ryanair, a major player in European aviation, has won a case in the US court against Booking.com, one of the world’s largest online travel agencies. The US court has ruled that the Dutch agency violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by accessing the Ryanair website without permission. Court documents identified that… Continue Reading