Rail supplier news from GE, Watco, Cubic and Cambridge Systematics (Nov. 17)

GE Transportation and the Port of Los Angeles are piloting a first-of-its-kind port information portal. The technology is designed to provide stakeholders with greater line-of-sight and planning capabilities to more effectively service ultra-large container vessels, according to a GE press release. The platform will "demonstrate the benefits of digitizing maritime shipping data and making it available to cargo owners and supply chain operators through secure, channeled access," GE officials said. Cargo data used in the two-month pilot will include filtered information from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's automated commercial environment system.

Watco Supply Chain Services will implement the JDA Transportation Modeler, which is part of the JDA® Transportation Management solutions. The technology is designed to enable users to give the "best possible recommendations" to customers regarding highway, rail, intermodal and international logistics, JDA officials said. In addition, the solution will help Watco understand real costs and benefits of a shipping option, as well as maximize customers' capacity utilization and delivery speed, said David Dust, senior director of logistics engineering and solution design at Watco Supply Chain Services.

Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and Mastercard earlier this week released the findings from a report on transportation demand and retail impact resulting from New York City's "Car Free Day NYC." The one-day event led to an increase of more than 30,000 riders on MTA New York City Transit, along with a "statistically significant" increase in usage of other services, such as bike sharing, according to CTS. The study was conducted through the "Urbanomics Mobility Project," which is a Cubic-Mastercard data analysis toolset for "fueling smarter and more inclusive cities," CTS officials said.

Cambridge Systematics (CS) promoted Karen Nocito to chief financial officer. She has more than 25 years of experience and spent the last 19 as controller at the company. Nocito has held the role of interim treasurer since the departure of the prior long-term CFO in June. During that time, she focused on a mix of strategic and operational matters, CS officials said. Under her watch, the company earned consistent record of clean annual financial audits and successful client audits, according to CS.