Tag: technology

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Business Development Transportation

Metro to debut real-time arrival screens at transit centers

Metro will debut real-time arrival screens at its Government Square transit center on Friday. The announcement is part of a recent series of moves by the transit agency to modernize its operations.

Since 2010, Metro has implemented a new electronic fare payment system, GPS tracking, GoogleTransit interface, articulated buses, and a new westside commuter hub.

“We’re collecting more feedback from our riders with our Way To Go initiative,” explained Metro’s Public Affairs Manager, Jill Dunne. “We have already received close to 2,000 surveys online and in person at various events this summer, and these changes are adding the types of improvements that our riders want.”

The new real-time arrival screens at Government Square cost $11,200 each and will be positioned at each of the transit center’s eight shelters, with a master information board at the front of the Government Square booth at Fifth Street and Walnut Street.

According to Metro officials, bus departure times will appear on the boards 45 minutes before a bus is scheduled to depart from Government Square. The boards will then begin a real-time countdown once the bus is within 20 minutes of its scheduled departure time.

The real-time arrival upgrades were made possible thanks to an $8.2 million American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant that funded Metro’s computer-aided dispatch and automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL) technology in 2011, in addition to the new video boards.

The implementation of the real-time arrival boards at Government Square is just the beginning. Metro officials say that they will soon install the same technology at the new Glenway Crossing Transit Center and the Uptown Transit Hub which is scheduled to begin construction later this year.

In addition to the physical upgrades, transit officials say they plan to leverage the GPS tracking data to add real-time arrival information to its website, and debut a smartphone application within the next year.

The system updates do not, however, include open-source GPS data which is increasingly being more closely studied throughout the United States. Dunne says that Metro is working with their data vendor, and is working on developing these types of interfaces in 2013 through Google Transit Real Time Feed.

Real-time arrival board photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

Categories
Up To Speed

New York City attracting more tech startups

New York City attracting more tech startups

More tech startups are choosing to locate in New York City rather than Silicon Valley. The abundance of available software engineers, many formerly employed by the finance industry, combined with smart urban planning and proximity to other tech companies make New York a desirable place to form a startup. More from Mashable:

[Brad Hargreaves, founding partner of startup co-working space General Assembly] believes that intelligent urban planning is key. One of the reasons that New York has succeeded, Hargreaves told Mashable, is that its density and public transport systems make it easy for entrepreneurs to get from meeting to meeting.

“A technology community won’t ferment if it is spread evenly over one hundred square miles of metropolitan area, especially if mass transit options are limited,” wrote Hargreaves.

Categories
Business News

Google’s new maps feature takes users inside Cincinnati businesses

Cincinnatians have been able to use Google Maps for finding directions, transit information, traffic congestion, topography and other natural features, examining aerial imagery, and getting a first-person view of street scenes around the city. Now, Cincinnatians will be able to walk right inside of businesses and get a first-person view inside buildings.

The first Cincinnati-area location to receive this enhanced Google Maps feature is Arnold’s Bar & Grill. The historic downtown establishment can be viewed in all its glory with users being able to examine bar and dining areas, along with the famous courtyard and second floor.


Google’s new Business Photos feature takes users inside businesses, like Arnold’s Bar & Grill, through their Google Maps platform.

“Instead of just passing by on Google Maps Street View, you will be able to walk right in and tour the entire place in full 360, just as you would in normal street view,” explained Arnold’s Bar & Grill general manager, Chris Breeden.

The photography work was done by Cincinnati-based Alias 360 Photos. The company, owners say, is a new offshoot from the more established Alias Imaging, and is a certified member of Google’s Trusted Photographer program.

To use Google’s new Business Photos feature, simply go to the street view in front of Arnold’s and double-click on the doorway. Once inside, you will be able to navigate the establishment in the same fashion you would a normal street view.

Google’s indoor, 360-degree views were first announced in May 2010. Any business interested in having their interiors photographed for inclusion can do so by applying online.

Categories
Up To Speed

Urban innovators to gather in Cincinnati at CEOs for Cities event

Urban innovators to gather in Cincinnati at CEOs for Cities event

A group of some of the nation’s most innovative urban minds will gather in Cincinnati on May 17 and 18. While here, they will examine the city’s ongoing urban success stories at CEOs for Cities bi-annual meeting titled, “The City as a Startup.” More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

They’ll hear innovators from San Francisco to Songdo, South Korea, share stories of building smarter technology infrastructure, training, attracting and retaining talented young workers and creating a vibrant community of entrepreneurs. The meeting also lets local organizers Eric Avner and David Ginsburg spotlight how far our region has come since the men joined the group in 2004.

Categories
Business News

UrbanCincy begins rolling out new website features, announces bi-weekly podcast

For nearly five years, UrbanCincy has strived to keep the region connected with its urban core, and we continue to develop new ways in which to accomplish this. To that end, we will be rolling out some new features to our website over the coming weeks. These features are intended to improve the usability of the site for you – the readers.

Earlier this year, we introduced the Disqus commenting system to improve functionality and interaction between readers. In addition to that, you will notice a number of additional technical enhancements intended to better connect you with our team.


Inside The UrbanCincy Podcast studio where chief technologist, Travis Estell, works to produce the first episode. Photograph by John Yung.

The first of the new features is now live and operational. “Up To Speed” is a new section providing a constant stream of all the news and discussion happening around the world that pertains to Cincinnati.

Another new feature is a bi-weekly podcast that will debut this Friday. The UrbanCincy Podcast will include in-depth debate of contemporary topics by our team. Each episode will focus on one topic and include feature commentary by a national or international expert on the topic.

This Friday, the UrbanCincy team will be joined by Natalia Gomez Rojas, an urban planner from Bogota, Colombia, to discuss the TransMilenio and what Cincinnati can learn from the world’s premier bus rapid transit system.

While we implement more of these new features, you can continue to expect the same original news content from the UrbanCincy team you have come to expect. We hope that these changes will enhance your experience with the website, and make UrbanCincy.com your urban lifestyle website destination. Thanks for reading.