https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com


Micro radios provide useful information to travelers

Micro radios provide useful information to travelers

In the information age, the challenge isn't gathering or disseminating information, but packaging it in the most useful forms for targeted audiences with
  • Written by American City & County Administrator
  • 1st September 1997

In the information age, the challenge isn’t gathering or disseminating information, but packaging it in the most useful forms for targeted audiences with specific needs.

One such audience is comprised of long distance highway travelers, who often are frustrated by the difficulty of gathering information about the communities and states through which they pass – the lowdown on such things as weather, food and lodging, tourist attractions, local events and travel amenities. Studying maps or travel guides takes time and sometimes is fruitless.

A solution may be at hand in Vermont. Two entrepreneurs, Bill Peters and Vic Burke, have invested thousands of hours to bring about a network of digital FM micro radio stations beaming the latest local weather bulletins, road conditions, news and local events to motorists.

Their firm, Essex Junction, Vt.-based Martek Communication, hopes to locate these micro radio transmitters at every interstate highway rest area in America, controlling and monitoring them from their mountain village via the Internet.

Peters says he got the idea in 1984 while traveling with his family in New England. “I noticed that there was no easy way to find out what was happening off the highway at the time we were passing through,” he says. “I knew that if I was having trouble easily checking out local events, looking for a great campground or state park, many other travelers must be facing the same problem.”

Peters approached his friend Burke, a software and systems expert, with his idea, and the pair then suggested the concept to the Vermont Travel and Marketing Department, which agreed to help set up a pilot program at a single rest area on Interstate 89. A local college marketing class conducted an on-site survey to solicit motorists’ input, and more than half those who responded said they were tuning in to the broadcast and found the five-minute program to be informative and useful.

About two years ago, the Vermont Tourism Radio Network was expanded to 15 sites and has since performed more than 99 percent of the time in greatly varying climatic conditions, Peters says.

The Internet is used for all radio program updating of a station or groups of station “from geographically dispersed input sources,” says Burke. “The powerful and cost-effective combination of the Internet and digital micro radio can easily take our system to a national level.”

Current users of the network include the Department of Travel and Marketing, Governor’s Highway Safety Commission, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation and Vermont Lodging and Restaurant Association.

“Vermont Tourism Radio has been a very effective addition to our effort to promote a variety of safety messages to motorists all year long,” says Jeanne Johnson of the Highway Safety Commission.

Plans call for Peters and Burke to install their computer/transmitter package and Internet connectivity all along the eastern seaboard, providing the technology at below-market cost to the agency in each state responsible for rest area/travel information operations.

This would enable each state to control a portion of the local broadcast message with the remaining air-time available to one or more travel-oriented corporate sponsors.

Tags:

Most Recent


  • Supreme Court ruling on EPA greenhouse gas regulation will impact cities
    On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court handcuffed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s regulation power by ruling that the federal government cannot use the 1970 Clean Air Act to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. By a 6-3 decision, the decision is notable for city and county administrators because greenhouse gas emissions aren’t contained within […]
  • sustainability
    Sustainability initiatives take center stage in Florida county
    Palm Beach County, Fla. (2022 estimated population: 1,538,450), is the second largest county in Florida by land area and the third largest by population. County leaders have been implementing resiliency and sustainability initiatives for more than a decade, says Melissa McKinlay, commissioner of Palm Beach County District 6. “However, a few years ago, the Board […]
  • July fourth
    10 best cities for July Fourth celebrations
    Happy 247th birthday, America! Across the country, people will be gathering for parades, picnics and, of course, fireworks. According to WalletHub’s 4th of July facts, 47.9 million people will travel 50+ miles from home for the holiday weekend. They will spend $7.7 billion on food, and eat 150 million hot dogs, maybe trying to beat […]
  • The Missing Link in Cloud Security
    Why End-of-Life Destruction is Critical to a Successful Cloud Security Policy Recently, there has been a hyper-focus on cloud security — and with good reason. According to a report by McAfee, cloud services are now a regular component of IT operations, utilized by more than 90% of organizations globally. In fact, 80% of all IT […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • NLC releases State of Cities 2021 report
  • How governments can keep employees safe as they return to work
  • Lessons from your friendly neighborhood public service employees
  • North Texas alliance partners with Marketplace.city on smart government solutions

White papers


How to Assemble a Rockstar Website Redesign Steering Committee

7th June 2022

Hand Hygiene: Compliance Matters

23rd May 2022

What it Takes to Build a Winning Esports Program

23rd May 2022
view all

Events


PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Supreme Court ruling on EPA greenhouse gas regulation will impact cities dlvr.it/STBwkw

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

Sustainability initiatives take center stage in Florida county dlvr.it/STBvwN

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

10 best cities for July Fourth celebrations dlvr.it/STBfHt

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

The Missing Link in Cloud Security dlvr.it/STBXNL

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

Improving Productivity with Employee Engagement | Aug. 4, 2022 at 2 PM ET dlvr.it/STBCD5

1st July 2022
AmerCityCounty

We want to hear from you! Please take this brief survey and let us know how your organization is managing your budg… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

30th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Report: Reforming emergency dispatch won’t be easy, but it’s necessary dlvr.it/ST7kQ5

30th June 2022
AmerCityCounty

Three U.S. cities to adopt Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge-winning project to combat climate change dlvr.it/ST4bjk

29th June 2022

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookies Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X