Bernie Wagenblast
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
) is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter
Transportation Communications Newsletter
Transportation Communications Newsletter is an electronic newsletter published Monday through Friday via Yahoo Groups and Google Groups. Its ISSN is 1529-1057....
(ISSN number 1529-1057), an e-mail publication with over 7,000 subscribers as of January 2008 which is distributed via Yahoo Groups and Google Groups
Google Groups
Google Groups is a service from Google Inc. that supports discussion groups, including many Usenet newsgroups, based on common interests. The service was started in 1995 as Deja News, and was transitioned to Google Groups after a February 2001 buyout....
Monday through Friday. The newsletter originated as a discussion group in June 1998, evolving into its current format shortly thereafter. It is currently the top Yahoo Group in the transportation category, based on group membership numbers. He is also the editor for of the AASHTO Daily Transportation Update, published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
AASHTO, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols and guidelines which are used in highway design and construction throughout the United States...
.
He also serves as the voice for various transportation facilities including AirTrain Newark
AirTrain Newark
AirTrain Newark is a 3-mile monorail system connecting Newark Liberty International Airport to the Newark Liberty International Airport train station on the Northeast Corridor rail line of New Jersey Transit and Amtrak...
, AirTrain JFK
AirTrain JFK
AirTrain JFK is a 3-line, -long people mover system and elevated railway in New York City providing service to John F. Kennedy International Airport...
, New York City Transit and the customer phone system and highway advisory radio
Highway advisory radio
Travelers Information Radio Stations , are sometimes also called Highway Advisory Radio Stations by Departments of Transportation in the United States. These radio stations are licensed low-power AM radio stations set up by local transport departments to provide bulletins to motorists and other...
system at Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport , first named Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport within the city limits of both Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States...
. On July 4, 2004 he was the announcer during the laying of the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower
Freedom Tower
One World Trade Center , more simply known as 1 WTC and formerly known as the Freedom Tower, is the lead building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
at the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
site.
Wagenblast is a traffic reporter for the New York City office of Shadow Traffic
Shadow Traffic
Shadow Broadcast Services is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Rutherford, New Jersey. It is a subsidiary of Clear Channel...
/Metro Networks
Metro Networks
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/files/2011/04/Metro_Logo_bigger.jpgMetro Networks is a broadcasting outsourcing company based in Houston, Texas. It was a subsidiary of Westwood One until its sale to Clear Channel Communications in 2011...
(a Westwood One
Westwood One
Westwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
company), where he began his career in the transportation field in 1979 as one of that company's original on-air reporters. Through his work for Shadow, he appeared on several New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
radio stations over a five year period, including WINS
WINS (AM)
WINS , known on-air as "Ten-Ten Wins", is a radio station in New York City, owned by CBS Radio. WINS's studios are in the combined CBS Radio facility at 345 Hudson Street in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, and transmitting towers in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.WINS is one of the nation's oldest...
and WABC
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
. On WABC he used the name Jack Packard which was given to him by legendary Top 40 DJ Dan Ingram
Dan Ingram
Daniel Trombley "Dan" Ingram is an American Top 40 radio disc jockey with a forty-year career on radio stations such as WABC and WCBS-FM in New York...
. The name was based on a character from the old time radio program "I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery
I Love a Mystery was a radio drama series about three friends who ran a detective agency and traveled the world in search of adventure. Distinguished by the high octane scripting of Carlton E...
". In addition to the New York City stations, Wagenblast also appeared on WBAB
WBAB
WBAB is a rock radio station on Long Island. Located at 102.3 FM, the station is licensed to Babylon, New York and is owned by Cox Radio. The station is also simulcast on WHFM 95.3 FM in eastern Suffolk County. Both WBAB's 102.3 and WHFM's 95.3 signals are broadcast in HD. The station also streams...
(Babylon, NY
Babylon (town), New York
The Town of Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York . Located on Long Island, the town population was 211,792 as of the 2000 census. There is also a Village of Babylon located within the town. It borders Nassau County to the West, and the Atlantic Ocean to the South...
), WMTR (Morristown, NJ), WVIP-FM (Mt. Kisco, NY), WWDJ (now WNYM) (Hackensack, NJ), WNAB-AM (Bridgeport, CT) and WERA (Plainfield, NJ).
Other broadcast experience included positions at WHN
WHN
WHN was a radio station in New York City located at 1050 kHz. Its best known format was country music, which the station played from 1972 to 1987...
(New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
), WJDM
WJDM
WJDM AM is a local AM radio station serving Elizabeth, New Jersey and the surrounding municipalities with Spanish language programming. The station's transmitter is located in nearby Union Township, Union County, New Jersey...
(Elizabeth, NJ), WDGS (New Albany, IN) and WRNJ (Hackettstown, NJ).
After working for Shadow Traffic the first time, Wagenblast joined the New York City Department of Transportation
New York City Department of Transportation
The New York City Department of Transportation is responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure...
, where he helped to establish the city's first transportation communications center. Afterward, he moved to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...
and was operations manager at TRANSCOM, a coalition of transportation agencies in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. He also was involved in the start of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, serving as co-chair of the Highway Operations Group.
Following over a decade of work in government, Bernie rejoined the private sector serving as the NYC Director of Operations for SmartRoute Systems, a Senior Associate for TransCore and working with SmartRoute Systems to help grow their public sector Intelligent Transportation Systems business.
He is a graduate of Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the...
where he was active in the college's radio station, WSOU-FM
WSOU-FM
WSOU is a non-commercial, college radio station. The station broadcasts from the campus of Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ. It is a student-run station with university administrator Mark Maben serving as its current General Manager...
(South Orange, NJ), serving as the News Director there in 1976-1977, and Station Manager in 1977-1978.
Wagenblast returned to WINS in April 2008, and is now doing the traffic reports in the early afternoon hour (from 12:31 to 2:51). Wagenblast called his 23-year absence from the station a "lunch break" and one of the longest absences in the history of the New York media market. In addition, he also is currently heard on WKXW-FM
WKXW-FM
WKXW is a radio station based just outside of Trenton, New Jersey. The station is licensed to serve the Trenton area on 101.5 MHz FM and is also streamed on the station's website. It is owned by Townsquare Media...
(Trenton, NJ) and WRCN (Riverhead, NY). He works for Shadow Traffic in Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutherford, New Jersey
Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 18,061. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
.
External links
- Profile in Thinking Highways
- Video of cornerstone laying ceremony for the Freedom Tower on July 4, 2004
- Shadow Traffic Turns 25 - Article from the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, from December 7, 2004 - City traffic reports are cutting through the gridlock - Article from the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, from December 3, 2009 - Recording of Terminal B announcement for the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport