I'm excited to be working with American Public Media's Public Insight Network to help identify stories we should be covering and to tap your knowledge and insights to make our reporting on technology better.

The Public Insight Network is made up of thousands of people who've agreed to share what they know to help public radio cover the news, find stories, and add depth to our reporting.

To kick things off, we'd like your input in two areas. First, we want to know if the flagging economy is affecting your consumption of technology products and services. Have you cut back on gadgetry, are you being more selective, or is technology helping you save money in other areas? Click here to respond.

Second, we have a more general question. What should we be be covering on Future Tense? What topics do you want to know more about? Click here to tell us.

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Over the past few years, more than 20 public transit agencies around the country have employed global positioning satellites to pinpoint the location of buses as they drive their routes. GPS technology allows the agencies to keep better tabs on their fleets, and gives consumers a key piece of information - when the bus will get to their stop.

In the Twin Cities, Metro Transit spent more than $12 million to outfit its buses with automatic vehicle location equipment. The NexTrip system uses global positioning satellites to monitor the location of a bus as it travels the street. The location is compared to the bus schedule to predict departure time for different stops.

Riders can get those departure times over the phone, on the Web, on electronic displays at select stops, and on their mobile Internet devices.