Update: GPS Tidbits
Now it appears the alleged scamming by NYC taxi drivers suggesting $8.3 million in overpayments may have been exaggerated. It seems that many cabbies switched to the higher rate (perhaps by accident when trying to stop the meter) only after the taxi stopped at its destination. Thus, no “higher cost” miles were added. Thus, overpayments may have been very few.
That information comes from Taxi and Limousine Commission chair Matthew W. Daus, who testified at a City Council hearing on Monday,
—- original post 3/19/10——
The GPS devices required in New York City cabs since 2007 have done their job. Investigators from the Taxi and Limousine Commission found that 3000 drivers routinely charge patrons the out of borough rate, one twice as high as rides in the five boroughs. That adds up to $8.3 million in overages. The commission wants to require drivers to let passengers know what rate they are charging perhaps via video screens in the backseat.
- NY Times
The Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors will kick off National Surveyors Week, March 21 to 27, with a project to survey the state in a day on March 20. Members and non-members will simultaneously locate points to within 1 cm. The goal? Be in the Guinness Book of World Records for “The Largest Single Day Land Survey.”
- details
- Wausau Daily Herald
The Army Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Mass., has per Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb, commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, developed the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS), a paragrlider with GPS for guidance to deliver cargo deliver cargo to troops working in rough terrain in Afghanistan. It delivered more than 3 million pounds of cargo in 2009.
JPADS uses an onboard GPS system to help guide a parafoil—a steerable canopy parachute—to deliver supplies that can weigh as much as 30,000 pounds, according to a briefing that Maj. Erin Staine-Pyne presented in 2009. The system has improved the accuracy of airdrops by 60 percent.
- NextGov
