Why is the U.S. Gov't Collaborating with Google?

A friend of mine, Demetrius Thompson, owns the patent for notifying automobile drivers regarding the proximity of school zones, intersections and railroad crossings. This friend created an app (Global Mobile Alert) based on his patent working in collaboration with deCarta (now owned by Uber) and Nokia’s HERE mapping division.

Demetrius filed for his patent in July of 2005 and created his app after twice being hit by distracted drivers at intersections. As often happens with holders of patents, Demetrius approached a wide range of large private and public organizations – including wireless carriers, navigation software companies, Google and Apple - seeking their adoption of his technology in exchange for a licensing fee.

In fact, Demetrius is working closely with the Department of Transportation’s vehicle-to-vehicle testbed and development program underway at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.  In fact, the US DOT is leading a far more comprehensive effort spanning all of North America to collect and share data identifying all controlled intersections.

In that context it was surprising to read in a Reuters report in the New York Times yesterday, that the U.S. Federal Rail Administration has announced that it is making railroad crossing location data available to Google to enable the creation of audio and visual alerts in Google’s navigation systems.  This is very strange.

According to the report, the agency has also asked four other companies – Apple, Garmin, TomTom and AOL’s MapQuest – “to join similar map partnerships using the agency’s data to pinpoint the crossings.” In effect, the agency is facilitating Google’s violation of my friend’s patent and ordering others to do the same.

The NYT report notes that the FRA estimates that 270 people died last year in collisions at railroad crossings. The decision to work with Google is a huge endorsement and validation of smartphone navigation. But this endorsement comes at the expense of embedded navigation system providers and in violation of the aforementioned patent.

Perhaps it is no shock, then, to learn that the acting FRA Administrator is Sarah Feinberg, a former Facebook executive, according to the NYTimes. She notes in the report that the agency’s geographical data “pinpoints nearly every rail crossing in the country.”

So let’s break down what is wrong with this agency’s decision.

1. A patent already exists governing audio/video alerts to a driver using his or her mobile phone regarding the proximity of a railroad crossing;
2. The FRA is ENCOURAGING the use of mobile phone navigation – rather than encouraging the use of embedded navigation systems in cars;
3. The FRA is making its railroad crossing data available to Google – apparently to the exclusion of TomTom, HERE and OpenStreetMaps;
4. The agency has asked four Google competitors to join this collaborative effort – Apple, Garmin, TomTom and MapQuest;
5. The agency does not appear to be warrantying the completeness of its own data – and there is no provision for quality checking or fact-checking its existing railroad crossing database;
6. The agency grants privileged status to Google’s navigation application which can ONLY be used via a mobile phone or mobile phone connection, rather than emphasizing the importance of using an embedded map in the car.

The FRA’s decision is yet another manifestation of the limits of any government’s ability to understand technology and coordinate technological cooperation. By rights, TomTom and HERE and even OSM, should have been involved in this data exchange.

Garmin and Apple do not create their own maps at this time. AOL/MapQuest itself recently exited the mapmaking business.

It is no surprise that a former Facebook executive would turn to Google. But the FRA really fouled up this effort at advancing safety. It is important to note that in more than one fatal railroad crossing collision the driver of the impacted vehicle was using a smartphone at the time – suggesting that the FRA indeed has the right idea, despite failing in its execution.

Smartphone navigation is handy and convenient technology, but it is not without risk. Given the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s efforts to combat distracted driving and the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation that smartphones be disabled in cars, it is nothing less than shocking that the FRA would encourage this behavior.