Port Authority Wastes Money on Smoke and Mirrors

By | August 10, 2012

Earlier today, we were at JFK and spotted one of the new Port Authority’s new avatars. The avatars are a projected image of a woman onto a piece of glass, giving it a life sized…video recording that activates based on proximity.

It’s interesting…for about five seconds. It’s a recording. And each of the prototypes cost $60,000 a pop. They claim this is only the beginning. That the next generation will respond to frequently asked questions and offer multiple languages.

But, why not wait till this is more than that? Why not invest in human beings? Sure, they need benefits and sick days, but don’t they have their uses?

For that matter, what does this do that a simple sign cannot do? Or a touchscreen kiosk with multiple languages? Or a 90 second video?

We could think of a lot better things to do with $180,000. Can’t you?