Why you should stop talking to your car
June 17, 2013
By Clifford Nass, Special to CNN
(Commuters move slowly in Los Angeles. Studies show that talking to your car’s voice technology impairs driving.)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Clifford Nass: More of our brain is devoted to speech than anything else; we love to talk
- Nass: Talking to technology in your car is not natural and it confuses your brain
- He says even with hands on wheel and eyes on road, talking to your car impairs driving
- Nass: Your brain works to fill in the blanks talking to an entity you can’t see and doesn’t listen
Editor’s note: Clifford Nass is the Thomas M. Storke Professor at Stanford University and director of the Communication between Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe) Lab. He is the author of “The Man Who Lied to his Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships,” “Wired for Speech” and “The Media Equation.”(CNN) — Speaking is profoundly human: More of the human brain is devoted to speech than any other activity. People can have an IQ of 50, or a brain that is only one-third the normal size and have difficulties with many simple tasks, but they can speak.Humans are so tuned to words that from about the age of 18 months, children learn about eight to 10 new words a day, a rate that continues until adolescence.Humans love to speak: When two hearing people encounter each other, they will speak, despite having other means of communication such as gesturing or drawing. Even when people speak different languages or come from different cultures, they will try to find common words and phrases.One-day-old infants can distinguish speech from any other sounds and 4-day-olds can distinguish between their native language and other languages. Even in the womb, a fetus can distinguish her or his mother’s voice from all other female voices. Adults can distinguish speech sounds at twice the rate of any other sounds, aided by special hair cells in the outer right ear.
Curbing distracted driving
NTSB: No cell phones while driving
Among all animals, only humans have the necessary breathing apparatus and musculature to be able to speak: despite the “Planet of the Apes,” no primate could speak like a person, even if their brains grew. Even human ancestors such as the Neanderthal could not possibly speak: speech is a new and remarkably impressive ability.
So, there is nothing so human as speech — at least until modern technologies came along. Through striking advances in a computer’s ability to understand and produce speech, it is common to use your telephone to make airline reservations, answer questions and search the Web.
Because of the shrinking size and increasing speed of computers, it is also possible to speak directly to your automobile.
From putting up with the car intoning, “Your door is ajar,” we have moved to navigation systems that can tell you where to find a latte and car interfaces that understand spoken commands and even allow drivers to dictate e-mails, texts and make phone calls.
What could be more simple and natural than talking, even to a technology? And speaking to cars seems particularly desirable. We don’t have to take our eyes from the road or our hands from the wheel to select buttons or make choices: Why not let our mouths and our ears do all the work?
Unfortunately, it’s not so simple or so desirable.
Recent research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, conducted by David Strayer at the University of Utah, finds that the new technology can be so distracting it impairs the ability to drive. Studies found that while driving, our attention becomes overloaded by speaking. It basically takes our minds, if not our eyes, off the road.
Here are three reasons why talking while driving is so distracting, and not as safe and effective as you might think:
People like to picture who they are talking with. When you speak with someone face-to-face, you “hear lips and see voices”: Your brain automatically and easily focuses on the person.
When you speak on the telephone, you use brainpower to create a mental image of the person you are talking with: The less you know the person, the more mental workload it takes. When you talk to a car, use a phone in a car or dictate a text message, your brain has to do a great deal of work to picture with whom you are communicating. When you’re thinking that hard, it’s very difficult to pay attention to the road.
That’s why talking on a cell phone — hands free or not — is much more dangerous than talking to a passenger. The need to imagine steals from attention to the road.
People want to be understood. Although people love to speak, there are few more frustrating things than someone not listening. Listeners puts a great deal of energy into showing that they are listening: They nod their head, say “uh huh,” open their eyes and change their posture. People are built to expect these signals of attention, but cars refuse to provide them.
As a result, drivers become overly concerned with whether the car understands or is even listening, and their attention is again drawn away from the road. In addition, the voice of the car does not have the rich vocal cues that indicate engagement and emotion, providing further evidence that the car isn’t understanding.
Cars are not native speakers. When you encounter someone who isn’t facile in your language, you have to put a great deal of time into selecting the right words, avoiding idioms and speaking slowly and clearly. Speech is no longer an easy and natural means of communication in these instances.
While it is remarkable that cars can understand something that took billions of years of human evolution, the typical car recognition rate of 85% to 95% makes it a mediocre second-language speaker. As a result, speech becomes effortful and demanding, stealing attention from the road.
Because of these problems, my laboratory and laboratories around the world are trying to find ways to support the driver in creating mental images, in showing that the car wants to understand and enabling the car to understand at levels equal to or even better than a person.
And soon cars will be driving themselves, so that people can ignore the road and multitask their way to fighting for attention from each other, just as they do outside the car.
Source-http://edition.cnn.com
Road trips take a toll on drivers
June 17, 2013
Koride Mahesh, TNN |
Except the Karimnagar highway, where toll collection is yet to begin, motorists on all other highways, including the Hyderabad-Vijayawada NH 65, Hyderabad-Nagpur NH 44, Hyderabad-Bangalore, Hyderabad-Warangal NH 202 and Miyapur-Sangareddy highway have to pay taxes. Apart from that, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has been collecting toll on the completed stretches of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and on the road to the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad.
The toll being collected on the highways ranges from Rs 1.20 to Rs 2 per kilometre depending on the cost of the project. For example, motorists have to shell out Rs 75 at the toll plaza at Gudur village near Bibinagar for a mere 35 km stretch from Hyderabad to Yadagiri.
The developers are also increasing the toll every six months citing conditions in the agreement. For instance, the Hyderabad-Yadagiri Tollways Pvt Ltd started collecting tax on the NH 202 to Warangal barely six months ago in December 2012. But the developer decided to increase the toll amount from June 11 midnight without even waiting for clearance from the NHAI.
“The hike in toll has not been cleared by the NHAI but the developer decided to increase the tax anyway. We will ask them to wait till it is cleared by the authority,” P Ramesh Reddy, project director of Hyderabad Project Implementation Unit of NHAI, told STOI.
Even APSRTC buses are being subjected to the tax ranging from Rs 4 to Rs 6 per km. With the increasing burden, the corporation recently decided to pass on the toll burden to the passengers. “Both the state and Centre have given up on road development works and have handed them over to private developers under the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) mode. But the burden is being borne by the general public,” lamented B Giridhar, a software employee and resident of Madhuranagar.
Experts emphasise role of telematics in road safety
May 29, 2013
Dileep Athavale, TNN
Road traffic safety is a global concern, not only for public health and injury prevention, but also to improve efficiencies in traffic management. A lot is being done in the area of Intelligent Transport Systems, ensuring driver safety that utilises a combination of computers, communications, positioning and automation technologies. It also includes in-car radars for collision avoidance, developing standards for safe user interfaces and communication systems in vehicles as well as optimising driving performance by eliminating unsafe technology-related distractions while driving.
The paper said tracking the wind speed, moisture on the surface due to oil spills and speed of vehicles, providing emergency call services and wide-angle cameras can be integrated into one highway management system in the near future. “A driver can receive this information through a pre-registered SIM card. Applications can send warning signals to drivers when a car’s oil or tyre pressure needs checking. Apps can also beam trip plans to the car’s navigation system,” the paper said.
Milind Pande, project director, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, said that mobile-to-machine or machine-to-mobile (M2M) communication was an emerging area in the field of telecom technologies. “It is possible to develop solutions for traffic congestion, accidents and emergency services that will change the way we look at infrastructure like expressways and can make it much safer,” he said.
In Asia, traditionally the market is driven by navigation and its associated services. The M2M market in India has now started evolving. The average age of car buyers is decreasing to 26 and with the country becoming more and more tech-savvy, a 3G and 4G-ready India is one of the fastest growing as well as the second largest telecom markets in the world.
Pande added, however, that there are certain challenges while implementing telecommunication systems on the highways in India. The sheer volume of vehicles makes it challenging for any organisation to capture and analyse high-speed data, integrate data coming from different devices and manage the system. There is no parameter of standardisation as far as these systems are concerned in India. Also, a major challenge is that even the high-end smartphone users are unaware of many useful applications, he said.
Elevated road to connect West with Central Delhi
May 23, 2013
HT Correspondent , Hindustan Times New Delhi, May 22, 2013
West Delhi will come a little closer to central Delhi, with the Delhi traffic police mulling over a proposal to construct a 5-km elevated corridor to connect Brar Square on Ring Road with Rajendra Nagar.
The move, traffic police officers believe, will provide an alternative route for hundreds of motorists who commute daily between several West Delhi locations, including Dwarka and central Delhi, and reduce traffic congestion on existing roads connecting the two districts. The Delhi traffic police have recently drawn up a proposal in this regard and submitted it to the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure (Planning and Engineering) Centre (UTTIPEC) for clearance.
According to officials, the four-lane elevated corridor has been proposed along an existing un-tarred road presently is used as a horse track by the Army and not for any vehicular movement.
“We have submitted the proposal to the UTTIPEC and hope to get its approval soon,” said additional commissioner of police (traffic), Anil Shukla. The final go ahead, however, would require permission from the Ridge Management Board and Army authorities.
Traffic police claim that if the elevated corridor is constructed, it would significantly reduce travel time between places such as Dwarka and Janakpuri in west Delhi and Karol Bagh in Central Delhi. The corridor will also help decongest several other arterial roads such as station road, NH-8, Sardar Patel Marg, Upper Ridge Road, Loha Mandi road and Patel road among others, which are currently used by commuters for travelling between west and central Delhi and vice-versa.
Shukla said the traffic police made the proposal based on a survey conducted on the stretch. The survey found that 30% of the traffic on station road would be diverted to the proposed corridor while traffic on NH-8 would reduce by another 10 -12% if it is implemented.
The traffic police have also proposed to construct a flyover or an underpass at Brar Square in a bid to prevent conflict of traffic on Ring Road, Shukla said.
Traffic police, civic bodies must be more responsible
May 8, 2013
New Delhi, May 08, 2013
We need to limit the number of vehicles, or else the consequences will be grim. No development is possible if mobility is zero. Decongesting roads is of utmost importance and strengthening public transport is the
Parking rates hikes are meant to discourage people from using cars. A person needs parking spots at three places – home, roads and markets. If parking becomes more expensive, people will think of alternative options. Use of cars needs to be controlled.
A number of pavements are being used to park vehicles even inside colonies. Not only does it affect traffic movement, but it also makes pedestrians’ life difficult.
This is being done in gross violation of traffic rules. The Delhi Police is also discouraging this and the violators should be fined heavily. We should take a lesson from the Pune Municipality that fined Rs. 2,000 for any vehicle found parked on a footpath.
The parking mafia has been encroaching upon the city’s prime public land in the garb of parking lots. Why has no action been taken against them yet?
Once such a parking site is identified, we inform the traffic police and the civic bodies about them. We have constantly been directing them to take action against these people. Land is scarce and if we allow the land mafia to take over, what will happen to the city? The traffic police and civic agencies need to be more responsible.
Source- http://www.hindustantimes.com/
Road Ministry asks NHAI to resolve row with road developers
April 29, 2013
Since its inception earlier this year, the committee has taken up seven cases of pending claims but is yet to resolve any of them, said ministry officials. At present, about 227 cases with 10,963 crore of developer dues are stuck under arbitration or are pending in court.
“We have asked them to meet more frequently and would like them to sit each week, so that they can resolve multiple cases swiftly,” said a highways ministry official, who didn’t wish to be named. Many of these claims are due to delays in land acquisition, change in scope, officials’ reluctance to sign off on deviations and cost escalations permitted under the contract, restricting the ability of developers to bid for new projects.
In November 2012, the NHAI board had approved a three-stage system to resolve disputes under which pending claims and cases are first referred to a committee of chief general managers from NHAI. Then it is taken to the three-member independent settlement advisory committee ( ISAC), which reviews the recommendations and can communicate and negotiate with contractors. Their recommendations are then taken to the board for approval. The seven pending claims are currently stuck at the second level. The ministry hopes to fast-track settlement of claims, some of which go back to projects awarded as far back as 1997-98, and release the much-needed capital – stuck in financial disputes – back into the funds-starved sector.
Pedestrian safety at transit areas
April 22, 2013
Prof. P.K. Sarkar & Satyajit Ganguli
Prof. P.K. Sarkar, who is engaged in teaching, research and consulting work in transport planning, traffic engineering, road safety and transport feasibility studies at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and Satyajit Ganguli, his student, discuss a case study on Pedestrian Safety at Transit Areas in Delhi Urban Area.
Pedestrians are extremely exposed and vulnerable even within the transit areas due to the presence of vehicular traffic in most of the Indian cities. Transit areas include right from the bus stop, bus station, bus terminal to railway terminal, inland water transport terminal and airport terminal. Even at the interchange where both a central bus station and a metro station coexist, the dispersal of pedestrian traffic is of paramount importance. Walkways have a very important role to play in linking the interchange points of different transport systems – bus, trains, metro to allow easy and comfortable dispersal. This distance should be the shortest and the most direct route which should be walkable and safe. From this perspective, the integration of the bus station with the metro stations through a walkway that allows people easy access with minimal conflict ensures pedestrian friendly environment.
As per the household survey in the study area conducted in 2001 by RITES Ltd, a total of 17.6 million trips are being performed per day. The per capita trip rate in the study area has been estimated at 1.27 (PCTR of 1.1 in 1993-94). Survey at 43 railway stations in Delhi revealed that about 1.0 million trips were performed by rail per day. Out of these about 9 per cent trips were moving within the city while the rest 91 per cent were intercity trips.
Nearly one-third of daily travel trips in Delhi are walk trips. Yet, the walkers remain invisible in the maze of motorised traffic that chokes our roads. Pedestrians walk in extremely unsafe and hostile conditions, in constant conflict with motorised traffic, and are easy victims to crashes and accidents. Countless people walk over potholes, slip on sludge, or are grievously hurt by bumping into numerous obstacles strewn along the footpaths. Getting good walkways is only the first step towards creating non-motorised space in our cities. This is possible only if the urban transport policy as stipulated in NUTP can be pursued to making the environment safe and friendly.
Nizamuddin transit area
A study carried out at the Nizamuddin transit area highlights the problems and risks associated with pedestrian traffic. From the analysis of attitudinal characteristics of the users, it shows that the intra-region and intra-city passengers give more priority to integrated ticketing because they are daily commuters while inter-city passengers give more priority to information system and availability of modes for dispersal. The lack of signages creates problems for inter-city passengers.
44 per cent pedestrians feel that the reason for walking on road instead of sidewalks is lack of appropriate footpath width while 15 per cent pedestrians feel the obstructions created by tree, light pole or a garbage bin as other major reasons.
18 per cent pedestrians feel the absence of signages causing another inconvenience and impediment in regard to poor information system.
80 per cent pedestrian prefer zebra crossings while 9 per cent preferring foot over-bridges.
70 per cent pedestrians feel that the reason behind fatalities of pedestrians is the lack of pedestrian facilities while 15 per cent pedestrian feel that the fatalities are due to carelessness of drivers.
Apart from Nizamuddin Railway Terminal transit area, ISBT and Kashmiri Gate were also studied in order to appreciate pedestrian behaviour. The responses of pedestrian traffic were not also positive towards facilities provided to them. Therefore, there is an imperative need to address the issues of pedestrian safety at the transit areas.
In view of these, the following are some recommendations made in order to make the transit areas more safe and environment friendly as shown in the photos 1-4.
Facilities for Pedestrian Traffic in Transit Areas
A. Walkable area within transit area
• The permissible walking distance in transit area is 400m and the sufficient area for pedestrians to be aware of other pedestrians in transit area is required to be 1.9-3.3 sq. m/person.
• The greatest pedestrian capture rate for public transit occurs when transit stops are within a 10-minute walking distance from source.
• Direct pedestrian path makes it easier for people to walk.
B. Pedestrian facilities in transit areas — walkways
• Pedestrian walkways should be planned with minimum width of 2m with accessible grade changes.
• Pedestrians should not have to walk more than 200m to escalators, ramps or elevators to change floor level to access transit.
C. Sidewalks
• 1.5m to 2m sidewalk for light pedestrian traffic.
• 5m or more sidewalks for heavy pedestrian traffic.
• To allow walking at near normal speeds the sidewalks must provide continuity without any obstacles.
• The sidewalks should have at least 3.25m wide path (considering disabled pedestrians).
D. Crosswalks
• The crosswalks should be provided at every 30m on the pedestrian streets.
• At the zebra crossing, width of zebra crossing should be within the range of 2m-4m.
• The minimum island size should be 15 sq. m.
• The radii at the corner of the streets varies from 0.7m to 1.7m and with curbside parking, it can vary from 1.7m to 3.5m.
• In case of raised median, being used as pedestrian refuge, such portion could be suitable depressed with curb height not exceeding 15 cm.
E. Ramps
• Ramps must have maximum slope of 1: 20. A level walking space should be provided at the top of the ramp.
• The ramps and landings are required where the slope exceeds 5 per cent.
• For ramps, maximum permissible slope is 8.33 per cent with minimum width of 1m.
• Handrails should be installed along the side of the ramp; more than 0.15m or the length should be greater than 2m.
• The diameter of the handrail should not be more than 0.035 m for proper gripping.
F. Other pedestrian facilities in transit areas
• Signages can add several pedestrian friendly qualities to the streets.
• Use of special paving to break up an expanse or to link pedestrian path with the transit stop restricting pedestrian and vehicular conflicts.
• Street trees should be placed less than 30m apart.
Source- http://www.projectsmonitor.com
Road ministry fixes 9,000 Km national highway target for this fiscal
April 18, 2013
NEW DELHI: The road ministry plans to award at least 7,300 kilometres of national highways this financial year. It has fixed an internal target of 9,000 km, which is a tad more ambitious than last year’s revised target of 8,800 kilometres.
The ministry has set a target of awarding 3,800 km in the first six months itself – higher than the 3,000 km announced by thefinance minister in his budget speech in February. The decision was taken after a review meeting held today by the road minister C P Joshi.
“We have set high internal targets so that we are able to achieve at least 3,000-km in the first six months and 7,300 km by the end of the year,” a road ministry official told ET. Last year, the ministry had managed to award road projects for only 1,933 km – 20% of what was planned for 2012-13. This year’s target of 7,300 km is line with the government’s promise of building 20 km a day.
“Of the 3,800 km, 1,654 km will be awarded by the ministry, 2,147 km will be through NHAI, about 1,200-km via the Engineering Procurement and Construction mode and 1,400 km through the Build-Operate-Transfer model,” said the official.
The road sector saw a dramatic drop last year in the number of projects that were bid for by companies. As many as 13 projects worth about 16,000 crore saw no takers. In contrast, 6,644-km – the highest since 2004 – was awarded in 2011-12. Ministry officials attribute this to a lack of equity with road construction companies and the overall economic environment. Given the subdued response to BOT toll projects, the ministry now plans to award more than 50% of the projects through the Engineering Procurement Construction mode.
It also aims to complete 4,500 km this year under schemes of National Highway Development Programme, Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North-East and Left Wing Extremism affected regions.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
347 road projects delayed due to delays in green clearances
September 6, 2012
As many as 347 road projects including those pertaining to Border Road Organisation (BRO) are awaiting green clearances, the government said today.
“A total of 347 cases including those with BRO are pending for environmental and forest clearances,” Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Jitin Prasada told Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
However, he said the projects do not involve any cost escalation.
“Majority of the projects are being taken up on Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis, which does not involve cost escalation,” Singh said.
Generally projects are started only after obtaining environment clearance, he said adding the Ministry was constantly pursuing such matters with Ministry of environment and Forests ( MoEF).
SOURCE: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Road construction to move in tow with security forces
August 21, 2012
The most challenging of terrains for road construction might now turn somewhat friendlier. The government is timing implementation of road projects in the Northeast and areas hit by Left-wing extremism with the movement of security forces and on-sight monitoring in those areas. The move is aimed at building 9,000 km of roads across these areas, and the estimated funding for this is Rs 16,200 crore.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is mapping the security situation in areas hit by Left-wing extremism, which account for the majority of India’s mineral wealth. “Based on the presence of security forces, we are phasing out projects, so that the machinery is kept in a place with security cover. The workers, too, return to this place in the evening,” Road Transport and Highways Secretary A K Upadhyay told Business Standard. After a particular stretch being constructed, the next 10-km stretch, for instance, would be cleared from a security point of view, and the project would move in line with the movement of security forces.
The plan would also help involve contractors unwilling to work in these areas. “As things are very unpredictable in these areas, the industry has to doubly secure its workers by raising insurance premia,” said M Murli, director general of the National Highway Builders Federation.
In Left-wing extremism-hit areas, construction of 1,200 km of highways is expected to be completed this year. Of this, 476 km have already been completed. The project is part of a development plan in 34 districts across eight states. Here, 5,477 km of highways would be built at a cost of Rs 7,300 crore.
Coordination between local security officials and the ministry has been formalised. Earlier, this level of engagement between the entities was absent, said Upadhyay. Also, projects are being awarded in smaller packets to ensure the involvement of small and local contractors.
The funds allocated for the construction of 1,500 km of roads in the Northeast and areas hit by Left-wing extremism for this financial year stand at about Rs 3,500 crore, according to data provided by the ministry.
Though the construction target for the Northeast this financial year is just 300 km, implementing projects in that region is a challenge. Last year, 150 km of roads was constructed in the region. Of the total 3,723 km of sanctioned highway construction in the region, so far, only 904 km has been completed.
That the task is difficult is evident from the fact that just four projects are being carried out by private investment through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) annuity model, and two on the BOT toll model. Eighty eight districts in the Northeast are being covered under these projects, which are mostly funded by the government. “Since the problem in the Northeast is more serious than in areas affected by Left-wing extremism, an additional director general and three chief engineers would be stationed there to monitor the developments,” Upadhyay said.
In the Left-wing extremism-hit Bastar area in Chhattisgarh, contractors are hard to find, while in the Northeast region, there are problems in land acquisition and environmental clearances, and this has led to projects being stuck.
The industry feels the challenges go beyond providing security and land acquisition. Problems like protection money and ‘development funds’ remain a reality. “There are some unwritten rules, like reservation for locals in the workforce at the site. At times, people suddenly turn up at the time of wage distribution, despite not coming for work,” said an industry player, requesting anonymity. Murli said while mobilisation of locals in Left-wing extremism-hit areas was a challenge, the weather played a crucial role in the Northeast, where construction work could only be carried out during five to six months a year.
SOURCE: http://www.business-standard.com
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