AT&T- News Room

AT&T Announces Award-Winning Private-Public Partnership with ParkingCarma and the California Department of Transportation

Pilot Improved Commuter Parking in the Bay Area Wins High-Tech Industry Recognition

San Francisco, California, May 9, 2006

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) has announced that it has been awarded a data-networking and wireless services expansion contract with ACME Innovation Inc., the creators of the award-wining ParkingCarma service. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has funded the successful deployment of the pilot project that will improve commuter parking for residents in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T worked with ParkingCarma, Caltrans, and Partners for Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH) to launch a pilot project called Smart Parking. This program provides advanced notification to travelers via road-side signs, the Web and cellular phones to indicate the number of available parking spaces in designated areas for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) commuters. The expansion phase, an application of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technology, will help relieve the amount of traffic on the roadways and lessen congestion, which will reduce commute times and improve commuter safety.

AT&T will provide core network transport services, as well as network design consulting and wireline services to support this application. In addition, AT&T will supply Cingular wireless data network equipment and technology for a more efficient means of data transfer. Caltrans is continually seeking new ways to improve road safety and efficiency.

This solution will unite innovative and traditional elements of the infrastructure, which will help overcome the severe congestion problems on the roadways in the Bay Area and beyond. Now proved to be successful, AT&T, ParkingCarma, and Caltrans are considering the expansion of the smart parking concept throughout the state for improved safety and efficiency statewide.

“We needed reliable partners capable of taking ownership of this project and addressing the challenges we face,” said Caltrans Chief Deputy Director Randell H. Iwasaki. “Due to their reputation for taking on projects of this magnitude, we approached AT&T and introduced them to ACME Innovation Inc. to help make our ideas for improving the public transportation system a reality. We’re confident in their ability to help us improve traffic and safety in the community.”

“Having partners like AT&T enabled us to move forward more effectively by focusing on our core skills and developing consumer focused services like ParkingCarma,” said Rick Warner, CEO ACME Innovation Inc, the creators of the innovative Parking Guidance Service – ParkingCarma. “We would not have been selected as one of the top 200 most promising technology ventures in North America by Red Herring and as one of the top 5 best consumer applications by Telematics Update this year without AT&T’s support. AT&T enabled us to retain our focus in innovation, and we look forward to continued expansion with AT&T.”

About ACME Innovation Inc.
Emeryville-based Acme Innovation Inc. is an applied technology company, specializing in converged communications and dynamic data services, with SmartParking™ and ParkingCarma™ as its flagship products. Acme Innovation’s vision is to make people's lives more productive and support sustainable development by improving the experience of finding a place to park from one of uncertainty, frustration and fuel-wasting searching to one of ease and confidence. www.ParkingCarma.com .

About the California Department of Transportation
Caltrans maintains and operates more than 50,000 lane miles on California’s highways and freeways, provides inter-city rail services, assists 312 public and special use airports and works with local agencies. The Department has been active in moving the people and commerce of California for more than 110 years and today serves the transportation needs of nearly 35 million residents.

Caltrans is the steward of a wide-ranging transportation system, which includes highways, mass transit and intercity rail. It promotes California’s economic vitality and enhances its quality of life by providing for the mobility of people, goods, information and services through a safe, integrated, multi-modal transportation system. Caltrans is regarded as a world leader in seismic research and implementation, and is responsible for the most successful state-sponsored passenger rail program in the country.

About the New AT&T
AT&T Inc. is one of the world's largest telecommunications holding companies and is the largest in the United States. Operating globally under the AT&T brand, AT&T companies are recognized as the leading worldwide providers of IP-based communications services to business and as leading U.S. providers of high speed DSL Internet, local and long distance voice, and directory publishing and advertising services. AT&T Inc. holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which is the No. 1 U.S. wireless services provider with 55.8 million wireless customers. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and AT&T products and services is available at www.att.com.