Atlanta Transportation Showcase Goes Totally Wireless.SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 1996--Totally Wireless has completed the delivery and installation of the wireless communication portion of a major transportation project in Atlanta. Working in conjunction with Fastline, Battelle, Motorola, and Ardis, Totally Wireless provided the personal communications hardware and airtime for Atlanta's Traveler Information Showcase. The new Traveler Information Showcase is part of a brand new integrated Intelligent Transportation System that enables travelers to receive up-to-the-minute information through several technologies. Commuters and other travelers can learn about accidents, vehicle breakdowns, road maintenance and other incidents in order to figure out alternate routes to get to where they're going instead of ending up stuck in the middle of a traffic jam. Using sensors, computerized traffic control systems and electronic navigation systems, many of the technologies developed for aviation, space and the defense program are now being deployed to make the movement of people and goods easier, safer and less polluting. The technologies comprising the Traveler Information Showcase include: -- Personal Communication Devices that receive data through wireless links -- Cars equipped with navigation/information systems -- Cable television programming offered by local cable systems -- Online services -- Interactive television "We are very pleased with Totally Wireless as a business partner. They put together solutions for both the hardware and airtime that nobody else was able to offer," said John Gianattasio, Senior Research Scientist at Battelle, the project manager. "Totally Wireless provided on-time support throughout the process, and they played a key role in getting an 18 month development project launched on time." Travelers can access a variety of services using the hand-held devices, including: -- Route guidance for automobiles, including traffic congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. and incident location and type, sites of scheduled maintenance, travel speeds and parking availability by location -- MARTA transit bus and train frequency, fares and routes; -- Schedules and locations for sporting and other events -- Wide area bus, train and airline route and fare information -- Electronic yellow pages Electronic Yellow Pages are online versions of traditional printed business directories produced by telephone companies around the world. Typical functionalities of online yellow pages include the alphabetical listings of businesses and search functionality of the business database with detailed information and locations of restaurants, hotels, theaters, shopping centers, ATMs, service stations, and emergency services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' . "The Transportation Showcase is a clear demonstration of the power and versatility of wireless communications," said Michael Merrill, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Totally Wireless. "Just a few years ago, this kind of project would have been impossible. Battelle and Fastline have done an exceptional job of taking a very complex problem and delivering a simple, convenient, and easy to use solution." There are two Personal Communication Devices included in the Showcase. The Motorola Envoy Wireless Communications, a pen-based computer using General Magic's Magic Cap operating system sends and receives information over the ARDIS packet data network using Fast Line software. The second platform is Hewlett Packard's HP200LX Palmtop palmtop or hand-held personal computer, lightweight, small, battery-powered, general-purpose programmable computer. It typically has a miniaturized full-function, typewriterlike keyboard for input and a small, full color, liquid-crystal display computer, which communicates over SkyTel's two-way paging network using ETAK software. Totally Wireless provided the Motorola hardware and Ardis airtime for the project. The Showcase demonstration of advanced traveler information technologies is sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," The Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway , the Georgia Department of Transportation The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is the government agency responsible for building and maintaining state roads in the U.S. state of Georgia. Their headquarters is located across the street from the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta. , the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, more commonly called MARTA, is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. (MARTA) and Cobb Community Transit  Cobb Community Transit or CCT . Totally Wireless, Battelle and Fastline are part of the private sector team. Totally Wireless is a leading provider of wireless communications products and services, offering an extensive array of wireless products ranging from cellular phones and pagers to personal communicators and wireless E-mail. Totally Wireless represents the leading wireless manufacturers and service providers, including: Motorola, RadioMail, ARDIS, SkyTel, Metricom, Sony, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Trimble, RCA See RCA connector and video/TV history. , Hello Direct, PageNet, IBM and Cellular One. Totally Wireless is headquartered in San Jose and is privately held. For more information or a free wireless data catalog, call 800/96-WIRELESS, E-mail: wireless6@radiomail.net, or visit: http://www.totallywireless.comon the Internet. CONTACT: Totally Wireless Elizabeth Brown, 408/366-6420 E-mail: wireless6@radiomail.net Michael Merrill, 408/366-5950 or Fastline Traffic Steve Wollenberg, 415/777-2100 or Battelle John Gianattasio, 513/258-6762 |
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