(2007-03-15) Chase Car Mesh Network

Robin Chase gave a TED talk on using Open Standards Mesh Network-s to support Congestion Pricing for Street Traffic to reduce pollution and Global Warming effects. (Hmm, she seems to want to replace dumb EzPass RFID-s with Mesh hubs.)

She says current transportation WireLess efforts are using the wrong protocols.

She has created the MeadowsNetworks group to move this idea forward. David Reed is involved. She has a white paper available.

Her plan involves a crypto-based Privacy model.

It could be used for Congestion Pricing, but that requires that every car (entering the city) be legally required to have a box. High fines/tickets can be given to those vehicles without the device that are within the congestion pricing zone... "Tourist" vehicles passing through the congestion pricing zone can pick up a device at gas stations, highway rest areas, and convenience stores. The cost of the device would be required as a deposit (in cash or by credit card) with an additional amount paid for anticipated fees.

In high-car-density places like New York City, would this really provide Municipal Wifi?

Cisco has an Amsterdam-based Connected Urban Development initiative. Currently partnered with cities such as Amsterdam, San Francisco and Seoul, Cisco aims to decrease vehicle carbon emissions by increasing traffic efficiency through various wireless technologies. Amsterdam and Seoul both have voiced interest in traffic-congestion pricing... At a recent Cisco Urban Development event in San Francisco, Cisco introduced a "connected and green City Bus," which aims to save energy and improve traffic flow by streamlining the transit system's communications technology. "What happens in every major city's (public transportation system) is that every time you add a new function to the bus, you have to add new Infrastructure," Villa says. "You have one infrastructure for Video Streaming, one for Location, one for voice communications, one to stream the telemetrics of the bus, one for payments. We're integrating those technologies into one by placing an IP-based mobile access router (on the bus) so all the communication goes over IP. (They're also talking with Meraki.)

Their whitepaper (Aug'2008 draft):

• notes the Jan'2008 launch of EuMesh

• notes the benefits to a city-gov in having Municipal Wifi UbiComp based on Mesh Network.