transportation

Japan continues to set the standards for high-speed transport with its latest prototype, a magnet-powered train designed by Central Japan Railway Co.

A prototype Series Lo train was unveiled at a test facility in Tsuru, Japan, late last week, according to The Daily Yomiuri.

The magnetic, levitating train can reach speeds of 310 mph. Without actually touching any tracks and therefore not subject to friction, the train can reach much higher speeds than standard models. The train's cars can hold up to 24 passengers.

Central Japan Railway Co., also known as JR Tokai, plans to begin five-car test runs … Read more

Here's another signal that might be pointing to a BlackBerry swan song -- the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is ditching the device for Apple's iPhone 5. This is the latest in a growing number of government agencies that have turned their backs on the mobile phone.

The government agency announced its plan in a government filing last week, according to Bloomberg. The reason it gave for dropping the phone is that it is not reliable.

BlackBerry devices have been "failing both at inopportune times and at an unacceptable rate," the NTSB wrote, according to … Read more

Many shipping companies are experimenting with adding sails to cargo vessels. Here's a design in which the sails are also solar panels.

EnergySail is a concept by Japan's Eco Marine Power that harnesses and stores wind and solar power to reduce fuel costs and pollution. It would work as an additional source of power to a ship's main engines.

The devices would be fitted on anything from large bulk ore carriers to cable-laying ships, ferries, and coast guard patrol vessels, according to the company. An automatic control system would orient the sails and panels to catch the … Read more

The U.S. government is launching a project in Michigan where 3,000 "smart cars" will be able to "talk" to their drivers.

No, it's not some Knight Rider-esque KITT scenario, it's actually specialized technology that's equipping cars with Wi-Fi to see if such communication can make the roads safer.

"Vehicle-to-vehicle communication has the potential to be the ultimate game-changer in roadway safety," administrator David Strickland from the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a statement, "but we need to understand how to apply the … Read more

This is one of those moments when people might ask, "what did we do before smartphones?"

Google announced today that its Maps feature now has public transit schedules for more than 1 million bus, train, subway, and tram stops around the world -- encompassing nearly 500 cities.

"Public transportation information is especially useful when it's in the palm of your hand," Google Maps software engineer Christopher Van Der Westhuizen wrote in a blog post today.

In addition to reaching 1 million public transport schedules, Google also launched an update to its Google Maps for Android … Read more

Amtrak is launching its new eTicket program, which will let passengers board trains nationwide without a paper ticket, from the end of this month.

Instead of standing in line at the ticket window, frantically checking the schedule board as a train arrives -- and then sails past -- travelers with an eTicket can go straight to the gate, and then just show their eTicket to the conductor on their smartphone or mobile device.

The conductor will then scan the eTicket by using their iPhone. However, this is not mandatory -- tickets are sent by e-mail and can still be printed … Read more

High-speed railways are common in Europe and Asia, but they're more scarce than the metric system in the U.S. California, though, aims to change that with a bullet train linking LA and San Francisco in less than three hours.

State lawmakers on Friday approved construction of the first phase of the line, which has been the subject of years of debate. California's finances are in poor shape, and the LA-San Francisco railway is expected to cost some $68 billion.

According to the California High-Speed Rail Authority, a trip from San Francisco to LA would take two hours … Read more

So Lit Motors is developing what looks a lot like a motorcycle, but with several traits from a car: You don't have to balance and you don't get wet. They call this model the C-1 and the full-size running prototype is, admittedly, in a very basic state. But here we see the sort of thinking that is perhaps just this side of too radical, while performing drastic surgery on one of the last great areas of waste in our daily lives: the amount of car we lug around for no particular reason.

I like Daniel Kim, he wants to change things but isn't up "there" in a world of intangibles. He began his career as a Land Rover mechanic and, like Steve Jobs, did a little coursework at Reed College in Oregon before moving on (probably bored with the routine progression of college.) He's assembled a team of about a dozen people in a old warehouse in San Francisco that looks like a poster child for urban renewal. … Read more

Subways in Tokyo are crowded enough, and they're plastered with ads on the walls and ads hanging from the ceiling. Sometimes, entire carriages are wrapped in ads outside. Straps are mini-billboards too, but now they're interactive.

In an experiment that's been going on for a few weeks, printing company Shunkosha has been deploying its strap covers on parts of the Tokyo subway to prove the effectiveness of Strappy.

Strappy is a boxy little plastic covering that sits over the strap. Many similar strap covers already exist on Tokyo trains, but they're for old-fashioned analog ads, and sometimes QR ads. … Read more