A recent column found by way of Planetizen identifies many of the advantages of providing Wi-Fi Internet access to public transit passengers and provides several brief case studies of transit districts that have implemented wireless networks on their systems. One of the most commonly cited benefits was the ability to enhance the safety of passengers…

Via Planetizen: Here’s an interesting idea from the east coast: CleverCommute.com allows commuters to share information about current commute conditions. It seems to be centered around commuter rail. Could we do it here? What kind of information would it focus on?

An interesting article from Computerworld about a system in Bangalore that uses cell phones to track where traffic congestion is occurring. The idea is that if you see cell phones clustering somewhere, there’s probably a traffic jam forming. I just hope they can tell a freeway tie-up from a rock concert.

Updated: 7/24/07 The Daily Journal of Commerce has a slightly different take on this. They see safety improvements for road construction crews. Original Post: 7/20/07 The Oregonian reports on the ITS demo earlier this week. What happens when your car can talk to the road? Will driving get safer? Less congested?

The New York Times reports on new services that deliver personal traffic alerts to Blackberries and similar devices, along with the reaction of a traditional traffic helicopter pilot.