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No more blaming being late on the subway. An online mapping tool lets you see exactly how far you can get on public transportation in a given amount of time. You have a couple hours to kill in a new city, but don't have the slightest clue how long it will take you on public transportation to get to all the good tourist destinations.

Using a system of sensors and cameras, the new program lets city engineers control traffic signals in real time in response to changing road conditions. Sitting in traffic isn't just unpleasant; it also wastes gasoline and is a major trigger for heart attacks, among other health problems. And of all the places to get stuck in traffic, Midtown Manhattan may be one of the worst.

What do you do while driving to make the streets more dangerous?

Auctioneering, not prostitution, is the oldest profession known to man. Deborah Weidenhamer seemed destined for a career in finance until a chance conversation led her to become an auctioneer

Ice-road truckers may become an endangered species as climate change intensifies in the Arctic, concludes a new study that examines how rising temperatures will alter the transportation mix in the far north. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, say that by midcentury, warming will significantly limit the areas suitable for constructing temporary roads each winter. The season for using such roads, key transport routes for cargo, will also shorten.

No one is buying them because of charging confusion. Is there a future for electric two-wheelers sold as personal electronics? We proclaimed that electric motorcycles were going mainstream after Best Buy introduced the Brammo Enertia electric commuter bike to select stores in 2009.

States, fearing that more energy-efficient cars mean less money to maintain roads, begin testing a mileage-based tax. I was driving in Minneapolis several weeks ago when I heard on the local radio news that Minnesota would be conducting a study to research whether it made sense for the state to start charging drivers a mileage-based tax

If all goes according to plan, New Yorkers will soon be able to abandon their subway cards and cab fare in favor of a cheaper, healthier, and more eco-friendly option: public bicycles.The Big Apple's first widespread public bike-sharing program will encourage commuters to rent bikes for 30-minute intervals in a zone south of midtown Manhattan and some surrounding neighborhoods. Largely geared at those running errands or with short commutes, the bike share proposes allowing renters to pick up bicycles from one location, and drop them off at another, with stations located every few blocks

IBM has announced the 50 recipients of its “Smarter Planet Faculty Innovation Awards” and $10,000 grants for designing classes geared toward the technologies, markets, and applications in which IBM has a vested interest. Including one particularly gnarly Chicago transit hub. On Thursday, technology giant IBM announced the 50 recipients of its inaugural “ Smarter Planet Faculty Innovation Awards ,” in essence a $10,000 grant for designing classes geared toward the technologies, markets, and applications in which IBM has a vested interest--urban transportation and health care apps, for example.