Big Brother Tracking Our Every Move By Vehicle and Public Transit

Obama Administration Floats Draft Plan to Tax Cars by the Mile

May 5, 2011

The Hill - The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive.

The plan is a part of the administration's Transportation Opportunities Act, an undated draft of which was obtained this week by Transportation Weekly.

The White House, however, said the bill is only an early draft that was not formally circulated within the administration.

“This is not an administration proposal," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president.”

News of the draft follows a March Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven.

Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax could be tracked by installing electronic equipment on each car to determine how many miles were driven; payment could take place electronically at filling stations.

The CBO report was requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who has proposed taxing cars by the mile as a way to increase federal highway revenues.

Obama's proposal seems to follow up on that idea in section 2218 of the draft bill. That section would create, within the Federal Highway Administration, a Surface Transportation Revenue Alternatives Office.

It would be tasked with creating a "study framework that defines the functionality of a mileage-based user fee system and other systems."

The administration seems to be aware of the need to prepare the public for what would likely be a controversial change to the way highway funds are collected. For example, the office is called on to serve a public-relations function, as the draft says it should "increase public awareness regarding the need for an alternative funding source for surface transportation programs and provide information on possible approaches."

The draft bill says the "study framework" for the project and a public awareness communications plan should be established within two years of creating the office, and that field tests should begin within four years.

The office would be required to consider four factors in field trials: the capability of states to enforce payment, the reliability of technology, administrative costs and "user acceptance." The draft does not specify where field trials should begin.

The new office would be funded a total of $200 million through fiscal 2017 for the project.

World’s Top Auto Makers to Work on Putting NFC in Cars

March 18, 2011

NearFieldCommunicationsWorld.com - Mobile phone firm Nokia has announced the launch of a new partnership with major car and phone manufacturers to develop common standards for connectivity between handsets and vehicles.

Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota and Volkswagen have joined Nokia, Samsung and others as founder members of the Car Connectivity Consortium with the aim of developing common standards for connectivity between handsets and vehicles.

The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) will work towards integrating mobile technology with in-car entertainment, near field communications (NFC) and wireless charging, using the Terminal Mode standard.

Founding members include vehicle manufacturers Daimler, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Toyota, and Volkswagen; system suppliers Alpine and Panasonic; and consumer electronics makers LG Electronics, Nokia and Samsung. New players are expected to join in the near future.

"Nokia understands that people want to use their smartphones everywhere including in their cars," says Floris van de Klashorst, director and head of Nokia Automotive.

"The Car Connectivity Consortium now has the power to turn Terminal Mode into the global standard for the integration of smartphones into vehicles, bringing together the exciting and innovating worlds of mobile ecosystems and applications and with the automotive industry. The industry support we received through the members has been excellent and makes Terminal Mode a truly global effort."

With the Terminal Mode standard, smartphones can be connected with in-car systems such as digital displays, steering wheel buttons, rotary knobs and car audio systems.

The CCC will focus on further developing the Terminal Mode standard, address certification and branding, and start looking at ways to introduce NFC and wireless charging.

"Due to the wide consumer acceptance of smartphone and apps, Samsung expects that the smartphone will be the dominant hub for in-vehicle infotainment and connectivity," says Dokyun Kim, director of the product strategy team at Samsung Mobile Division.

"We believe that the smartphone, when connected with an in-car device, will play an important role in providing users with multimedia experience in the vehicle, and that Terminal Mode will be one of the key enabling technologies."

The news comes after German car manufacturer BMW released a report in January outlining its vision of the NFC-enabled "car key of the future".

An NFC key would allow "personal access to a new mobility experience" and offer a significantly wider range of features, the car maker explained.

Meanwhile, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, NXP showcased a concept car developed by Continental which had NFC features built in, days after Morpho and Simlink unveiled an NFC car key fob that connects to any WiFi-enabled phone to enable consumers to pay for items at the point of sale with their existing mobile device.

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