Senator Eileen Qutub
State Capitol, S-210Salem, OR 97310
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 1999
Contact: Michelle Lowry(503) 986-1704
The goal of SB 483 is to obtain tens of millions of dollars from a variety of public and private organizations to develop prototype smart community information systems in Oregon. These systems will be able to stimulate economic development and improve the quality of life in rural, urban and suburban communities throughout the United States at a low cost to taxpayers.
Smart community systems will use new palmtop computers and new wireless communications services to provide a wide variety of new information services for local residents. An essential service will be a "smart jitney" dispatching subsystem, which will enable communities of almost any size to develop low-subsidy, door-to-door, transportation services for their residents - including the poor, the aged and those with disabilities.
Studies conducted by federal and state agencies have found that the availability of smart jitney services could reduce traffic congestion, gasoline consumption, air pollution and mobility problems, at a far lower cost than merely adding new lanes to roads and highways or expanding conventional public transit services. Smart jitney services could also accelerate the growth of the hand-held computer and wireless-Internet industries.
The federal government has established several public-private "partnership" programs to find ways to use new technologies to solve critical problems. If SB 483 is passed into law, the Energy Office of the State of Oregon will form a partnership with other public and private organizations, under one or more of these federal programs, to jointly develop and test prototype smart community systems in several cities and counties in the State.
This public-private partnership will select an existing multi-purpose, on-line, information system (for instance, Microsoft's "SIDEWALK", AT&T's "POCKET-NET", America On Line's "DIGITAL CITY", 3COM's "PALM-NET") to use as the foundation for each smart community system. This will save both time and money.
Each smart community system will eventually provide a wide variety of wireless information services for local residents, including E-mail, home shopping, tele-banking, traffic reports, sports scores, stock quotes, games and interactive training. Most of the costs of providing these services will be paid by advertisers, and the rest will be paid by subscribers. Smart community information services will eliminate the need for some vehicle trips, and help the State achieve its Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) reduction objectives.
The smart jitney dispatching subsystem for the public-private partnership will be the anchor application for the smart community system, because of its potential to save or earn money for users and to attract development funds from public and private organization. Smart jitneys are privately-owned automobiles and vans that are authorized to provide door-to-door transportation for people and parcels in selected travel corridors, during selected hours.
Smart jitneys, which the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) call "instant", "real-time" or "single-trip" carpools, will improve the mobility of those who can't drive or prefer not to drive, at a low-cost to users (for example, under 30 cents per mile) and taxpayers. Smart jitneys are designed to complement and supplement conventional transit (for example, bus, rail, and ferry), conventional paratranist (e.g., taxi, dial-a-ride, and shuttle) and conventional ridesharing (such as carpool and vanpool) services and make public transportation systems more cost-effective, particularly in low-density suburban and rural areas and at low-travel times in urban areas.
Authorized smart jitney drivers will be able to earn hundreds of dollars each month - on their way to or from work, college or other locations - by providing door-to-door rides to authorized passengers who want to travel in the same direction. Families could use smart jitneys or jitney-enhanced public transportation services and thereby eliminate the need for a second or third car which could save hundreds of dollars each month. Passengers will be billed and drivers will be paid monthly by the smart community system.
Smart jitney services will help the State achieve
its Vehicle Miles Traveled reduction goals and reduce a
variety of transportation, energy and environmental problems
at a low cost to taxpayers. Market research studies show that
smart jitney/smart community systems, when fully deployed,
could reduce traffic delays by more than fifty percent in
congested areas, without other improvements to the
transportation infrastructure.
SB 483 will provide $5 million dollars in State funds ($1 million dollars per year for 5 years), which will be used to attract another $5-$20 million dollars in federal and private sector funds to develop and test prototype smart jitney and smart community systems at several sites in Oregon.
SB 483 smart jitney/smart community systems will create a wide variety of new business, employment, education, travel and recreation opportunities for residents of rural, small urban and metropolitan areas. They will also generate royalties for the State of Oregon and its public-private-partners, when their proprietary smart community/smart jitney software is licensed to cities and counties outside the State.
For additional information, please contact Robert Behnke at Phone/Fax (503) 524-4916 or Email: rbehnke@hevanet.com
Last modified: March 17, 1999