CDTA makes changes
Starting next Sunday, the Capital District Transportation Authority will begin using revised schedules and routes. According to CDTA’s marketing director, Carm Basile, only about five percent of routes will be affected in some way.
Unlike some of CDTA’s changes in the past, they are not planning on cancelling any routes entirely. Even so, some riders petitioned Congressmen Michael McNulty in an attempt to have their voices heard by the transportation organization.
While some changes have been made since the initial route adjustments were planned, CDTA has said that it cannot meet every request and that while it sees these changes as minor, that judgment definitely depends on each rider’s trip.
Just last week, CDTA approved a $153,000 project that would enable four bus stop locations to be equipped with electronic signs that would convey arrival and departure time of busses with up to date information based on any delays that the busses run into.
Most of the funding for the pilot project is coming from grants and the direct cost to the Authority is only $15,300. The technology to convey the up to date route information will work along with global positioning systems and communication equipment installed on the busses.
If the pilot project of the four message boards turns out well, the CDTA is considering purchasing 20 more of them. The locations where the messages boards will be used are as of yet undecided.
State of the County
Last Thursday, Rensselaer’s County Executive Kathy Jimino gave the annual State of the County Address. While she complemented the business community on drawing more commerce to the region, she said that much more economic development was necessary.
For the last couple of years, the legislature has been overriding Jimino’s budgets because of large tax increases that she maintains are necessary to keep the county’s services running. The legislature has opted to raise taxes slightly and use surplus funds, but Jimino has said that such surplus spending cannot continue much longer.
The Republican county executive stated that more business is essential to the county and that she is hoping for reforms that reduce money spent on state mandates. Democratic County Legislator James E. Monahan Jr. said that though her speech was received positively, some credit for bringing commerce to the area belongs to the area’s colleges such as Sage, HVCC, and RPI.
New Ph.D. program
Starting this fall, RPI will be offering a new Ph.D. program in Cognitive Science. Approved by the New York State Department of Education, the program will focus on “intelligent” systems with research including human memory, perception, and problem solving.
The students who take part in the program will work in RPI’s Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning Lab, the CogWorks Lab, and the new Social and Behavioral Research Lab in the Gurley building.
According to President Jackson, “Rensselaer’s new Ph.D. program will train the next generation of researchers in a field which encompasses advances in psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, anthropology, and computer science .... Graduates will be able to work at the top of their fields in a broad range of areas, including health, defense, education, and entertainment.”
