Audi helps DC drivers catch the “green wave”
Audi of America announced major expansions in its U.S. vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology in DC and Northern Virginia. The brand is the first automotive manufacturer to launch Green Light Optimization Speed Advisory (GLOSA), which provides speed recommendations to minimize stops at red lights, and also uses Traffic Light Information (TLI) to enable the cars to communicate with infrastructure, letting drivers know how much time remains before a traffic light turns green. TLI is now available in five new areas, of which DC/Northern Virginia is one.
Blocking bike lanes brings new consequences for delivery, passenger vehicles
Delivery trucks transporting goods — as well as taxi and ride share vehicles picking up or dropping off passengers — are explicitly barred from blocking bike lanes under new District Department of Transportation (DDOT) rules. The rule change comes about as part of the city’s Vision Zero traffic safety program.
Kennedy Center announces new Education Artist-In-Residence
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced that Mo Willems— author and illustrator best known as the award-winning creator of The Pigeon series, Knuffle Bunny, and Elephant & Piggie—will serve as its first Education Artist-in-Residence. Throughout the two-year residency, Willems and the Kennedy Center will develop new works for children, former children, and their families; curate collaborative experiences across artistic genres that spark creativity and invite hands-on, multigenerational audience engagement; and consult with the Center’s Education division, which serves students, adults, and communities nationwide.
DC uses new tech to help 911 responders get location data from wireless phones
The District is using new technology to pinpoint a more precise location 911 calls coming in from wireless devices. RapidSOS is now helping the District, as it has helped police and fire departments across the country, to overcome a critical gap in responding to calls. More than 80 percent of 911 emergency calls come in from cell phones, yet modern smartphones don’t communicate location data to 911 systems built when people talked only over wires. This new tech should help to get first responders to emergencies as quickly as possible.
