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Request a Lyft inside the Amtrak app when your train arrives
Lyft has teamed up with another brand, forming a partnership that totally makes sense. Now, Amtrak riders can request a Lyft directly from the Amtrak app. Lyft said in a statement that rides to and from transit stations are one of its most popular routes and account for a quarter of Chicago ride requests alone. Amtrak travel is available in 46 states and as of now, Lyft is available to 97 percent of Amtrak riders.
Google gets closer to building its own city in San Jose
Google has been making major development moves in downtown San Jose and yesterday the City Council agreed to negotiate a sale of 16 parcels of land owned by the city. The deal has been strongly supported by San Jose's mayor and vice mayor but the city's residents have been a bit more hesitant.
Apple Maps displays nationwide Amtrak train routes
Prefer to travel cross-country by rail? If you're an iPhone owner, you no longer need to fire up a third-party app to plan your trip. Apple Maps has introduced support for Amtrak train routes across North America -- if you want to navigate all the way from Los Angeles to Toronto while seeing the sights, you can make it happen. You'll need to live in an area where Apple's mass transit directions are available, of course, but this remains a big deal if you're more interested in how you travel than the time it takes.
Amtrak's next-gen high-speed trains, and more in the week that was
When it comes to high-speed rail, the US lags behind many other nations - but that's set to change, as the government just gave Amtrak a $2.45 billion loan to launch a new generation of high-speed trains within the next five years. Magnetic levitation technology is often associated with trains, but one engineer came up with a wild concept for a self-driving mag-lev vehicle that doubles as a living room. In other transportation news, a technology group 3D printed a cutting-edge bicycle from scratch, and a group of Gaza students built a sun-powered car to battle the region's fuel crisis.
Amtrak's next-generation high-speed trains arrive in 2021
While Amtrak is a perfectly fine way to travel, especially on the Eastern seaboard, the country's publicly owned rail company doesn't exactly have a high-tech reputation. That will change in the next few years, thanks to a massive $2.45 billion loan from the federal government, which the company plans to invest in 28 next-generation train sets and significant upgrades to the Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak installs automatic train controls before service resumes
Following the deadly accident last week near Philadelphia, Amtrak installed a braking system on the section of track that could've prevented the derailment. The automatic train control system (ATC) keeps tabs on a train's speed as it heads toward curves, automatically adjusting it if the conductor fails to do so. ATC was already used for southbound trains in this spot, but not for those headed northbound like the one that derailed last Tuesday. In addition to the ATC, Amtrak is working to equip trains with a Positive Train Control system (PTC) which uses the ATC to further automate trains while avoiding collisions, maintaining safe speeds and providing safer conditions for work crews. Amtrak plans to have the PTC in place by the end of the year. The Federal Rail Administration announced today that Amtrak had completed all of its requirements to resume service along the Northeast Corridor between Washington, DC and Boston, and that the train company would continue to evaluate other curves along the route. [Image credit: Mark Makela/Getty Images]
Amtrak wants trackside WiFi that keeps you online for the whole ride
To put it bluntly, Amtrak's current on-train WiFi sucks; even if you don't mind sharing 10Mbps with hundreds of passengers, there are significant gaps in coverage. Relief may be on the horizon, though. The mass transit company is soliciting bids for a trackside WiFi project that would deliver at least 25Mbps across whole routes. The improved access would both keep you connected for more of your trip and let Amtrak lift some of its restrictions on streaming media and other bandwidth-heavy tasks. If all goes according to plan, you might not have problems watching an online movie (or at least, listening to online radio) during a lengthy journey.
Amtrak boosts WiFi on select trains, more upgrades coming this summer
There are plenty of wonderful things about train travel: the leg room, the scenery, the lack of security pat-downs. The WiFi, on the other hand, has long been the slowest thing about Amtrak. The company announced today that it's finally doing something about its frustratingly sluggish service, upgrading wireless on select trains, including the Acela express between Boston and Washington DC and a few California lines like the Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin. Travelers to other destinations will have to wait a bit longer for quicker load times -- Amtrak has promised that the rest of its WiFi-equipped trains will be upgraded by "late summer."
Amtrak to roll out high-efficiency trains with regenerative braking (video)
Some of us look at electric trains as efficient transportation almost by definition, but that's not entirely true when they consume a lot of power and give little back. Amtrak is about to strike a better balance now that it's close to receiving the first of 70 high-efficiency Siemens ACS-64 trains destined for routes across DC, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. Each engine centers on a regenerative braking system that can recover up to 5MW of energy, much of which goes back to the power grid. The machinery is smarter, too: it can self-diagnose problems and mitigate the impact until repairs are possible. Commuters won't immediately notice the difference when ACS-64 trains reach the rails between this fall and 2016, but there should be important behind-the-scenes savings. Amtrak reckons that the new vehicles could lower energy consumption by 3 billion kilowatts in the long run, which might help both the company's bottom line and local utilities.
Amtrak for iPhone adds Passbook support
Apple's Passbook app is starting to gain momentum, with more apps now providing support for tickets, payment and coupons. The latest comes from the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, AKA Amtrak, which released version 1.3 of its free iPhone app today. The app makes it possible to move an Amtrak eTicket to Passbook by selecting the action button on the eTicket screen. Once there, the eTicket is accessible and viewable with a tap on the Passbook app, and may then be scanned by an Amtrak conductor. Amtrak for iPhone also provides the ability to buy tickets, find train status, look up station locations and contact numbers, view scheduled and more.
Daily Update for May 7, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Amtrak conductors to "punch your ticket" using iPhones
Here's a modern twist on a time-honored tradition for train travelers. Since last fall, Amtrak has been training conductors to use an iOS device to scan passenger tickets on some selected routes, including Boston to Portland, Maine, and San Jose to Sacramento, California. According to the New York Times, 1700 conductors will be using the new system -- which combines an iPhone with a custom hardware sled for receipt printing -- across the country by late summer. The Amtrak tool was developed in part by Seattle's Übermind agency, which was acquired by the consulting arm of Deloitte at the start of 2012. Passengers will still be able to print their tickets, but alternatively they can show a 2D barcode on their mobile phone screens, eliminating paper completely. This is similar to Fandango's app for movies or air travel boarding pass apps. This is a big switch from the classic hole puncher the trains have been using since, well, forever. Where I lived there weren't a lot of useful train routes the family could take, but I'm always reminded of that old chilling Twilight Zone episode where passenger James Daly gets on a train and heads to a simpler world when his ticket is punched for Willoughby. That episode kept me off trains for a long time. This new ticket tech might get me back on one.
Amtrak readies conductors to trade in their hole punchers for iPhones
Pilots aren't the only ones updating their workflows with modern technology. Amtrak conductors have been getting schooled on how to use iPhones to scan passenger tickets on select routes since November -- forcing hole punches to collect dust on a lonely shelf at the station. By the latter part of this summer, 1,700 conductors will be using the aforementioned smartphones on the outfit's trains throughout the US which allows them to track passengers with more ease than manual ticketing. The $7.5 million system affords passengers the choice of printing the tickets or loading a bar code on their smartphone of choice before getting the iPhone's scan. Inside the dedicated app, riders can book and modify reservations easily without having to worry with a refund from an agent first. There's only one small hiccup: currently Amtrak's app is only available for iPhones. But, the government-owned corporation says that an Android release is in the hopper and should see daylight this fall. For now, non-iOS users must load their tickets though a mobile site in order to save a tree or two.
Amtrak begins testing e-ticketing system, other futuristic things
It's been a long time coming, but it looks like Amtrak is finally ready to get with the times. This month, the human-carrier began testing a new e-ticketing system for passengers traveling along its Downeaster line, which extends from Maine to Boston. Under the trial, travelers can either print their tickets at home, or have them e-mailed as a barcode-laced PDF file for conductors to scan. Customers can also change their reservations at the last minute, without having to wait in line at the ticket counter and interact with other people. It's not exactly cutting-edge technology, but Amtrak attributes the delay to the unique nature of the railway, where conductors check tickets in transit and have to deal with a steady stream of passengers getting on and hopping off. As a result, the company had to find a scanning device reliable enough to handle this constant flow of organisms, though it looks as if it's nearing a solution. Amtrak plans to expand the trial to California in February, and if that goes well, the system could roll out on a nationwide basis as early as this summer.
AmtrakConnect free WiFi added to 12 East Coast routes, snack car will still cost ya
Remember when we noted the existence of AmtrakConnect WiFi on the Adirondack train (number 69) about two weeks ago? Although it wasn't official at the time, it is now -- and it turns out that was just a sliver of what to expect. Amtrak recently announced that the free service is currently available on twelve of its East Coast routes, which should please many a railway commuter accustomed to WiFi deprivation. Eight of those routes (Northeast Regional, Keystone and Empire services, Carolinian, Downeaster, Ethan Allen Express, New Haven – Springfield Shuttle and Vermonter) feature full wireless connectivity from head to caboose, while the others (Adirondack, Maple Leaf, Palmetto and Pennsylvanian) have designated cars that allow for internet access. Factor in its Acela and Northwest Regional lines, and Amtrak says 60 percent of its fleet is now WiFi-capable with more additions due in California before the year's out. Better yet, "4G speeds" are also in the cards for the future, but we won't hold our breath waiting for an equally swift rollout. Full press release after the break.
AmtrakConnect WiFi now available on at least one Northeast Regional train
Okay, so it's a little later than expected, but we're happy to report that at least some Northeast Regional trains have now been augmented by AmtrakConnect. This (free) WiFi has been available on Acela trains for some time now, and in a few lucky Regional trains in the Northwest. Amtrak still hasn't confirmed the existence of this connectivity, so we can't say for sure just how many of its trains have been suitably augmented, but we know that at least number 69, the Adirondack, has it, because we're using it right now. Connectivity is a little rough and speeds are decidedly low -- problems that can certainly be applied to this particular railway relic as a whole.
Amtrak to finally launch free WiFi for regional trains on October 1st?
Rumor 'round the Twitterverse has it that Amtrak may finally be implementing free WiFi on October 1st -- finally seeing the bet laid down by various plane and bus companies over the past couple years. The casual conversation between conductor and passenger yielded the information that the system is finally ready to extend beyond Acela, apparently "ready to roll and it's just a matter of 'flipping the on switch.'" This comes as great news for commuters who spend their mornings and evenings stuck on slow, old, often curious smelling Regional trains. Unfortunately, other than the tweet, there's no word (official or otherwise) whether net surfage will be possible beginning next month. Regardless, looks like the "I didn't have internet access" excuse is still valid for a little while longer for all you nine to fivers. Update: To be clear: Amtrak Acela trains by and large already have WiFi, as do some regional trains in the Northwest. This latest addition would be for Northeast Regional trains. [Thanks, @melanierenzulli]
Amtrak adding free WiFi to some trains, still no charge for delayed arrivals
There are a variety of reasons to not take Amtrak: expensive tickets, frequent delays, worn-down interiors, and even more delays. But, for gadget hounds, trains can make a compelling option thanks to the lack of cellphone bans, power outlets at nearly every seat, and fewer cavity checks than airline travel. Now, a very few of those lines are getting even more appealing with Amtrak announcing that Acela lines between Boston, New York, and Washington will be receiving WiFi upgrades in March. That the service will be free is great news -- that the word "initially" is inserted before the word "free" isn't so very great. What about those commuters who take the company's slower, regional routes around the East Coast? WiFi is said to be coming there too, eventually, and might even make its way to the west some day -- but, let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is Amtrak we're talking about here.
