> Driver Services

• Prefer to Let Someone Else do the Driving When You're on a Business Trip? Several chauffeur transportation companies allow you to reserve a car and driver thought their web sites. Drive4U.Com is a real-time on-line bidding system that provides ground transportation for the individual and corporate traveler in the United States, Canada and Australia. Plug in your itinerary details and you'll receive multiple, competitive bids from several service providers in the location you've indicated. For more information, click on http://www.Drive4U.Com/trip. Other sites to consider include Boston Coach (http://www.bostoncoach.com), which offers limo service throughout the U.S., 9 cities in Canada and 27 in Europe, and Carey Limousine (http://www.careyint.com), with 480 cities in 75 countries.

Maps and Directions

• Know before You Go. The latest edition of Hellgate Press's World Travel Guide, a resource guide to travel in 189 countries, has just been published. It features maps, social and political briefings, embassy information, entry requirements, the lowdown on in-country transportation, and other vital information-for example, whether adults must present a certificate showing that they are HIV-negative before being able to enter the country; where beaches are polluted, and where traffic is likely to be congested. Information on health care is particularly comprehensive for Third World country entries--including whether the medical staff can communicate in English and if patients must make full cash payments. The book, written by geography professor Barry Mowell, costs $19.95 and can be ordered by calling 800-228-2275 or by clicking on http://www.psi-research.com.
• Get Mass Transit maps Before You Go. Detailed maps of public transit systems are often hard to come by until you reach a destination. But one enterprising publisher, Michael Brein Inc., has produced a new series of city public transit maps packed with useful information that you can order before you go. The guides use the exact schematics the transit systems use themselves-only oversized-plus a list of each city's 50 most popular places, walking maps of the surrounding neighborhood, and vital statistics about the public transportation system: its hours, phone numbers, and how to purchase tickets. (Because fares are subject to change, they aren't included.) Cities now in print include London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Madrid, Munich, Prague and Sydney, with Amsterdam, Washington, D.C. and Vienna to be added this spring. To order, call 800-875-8083 in North America, or order by mail from Michael Brein Inc., 298 Winslow Way West, Bainbridge island, WA 98110.
• Mapping Your Way through Europe. MapBlast, the interactive web mapping company, has added 12 European countries-Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.-to its on-line mapping service. the company also plans to add several new features in the next few months, including European Yellow Pages, business locators, local landmarks, points of interest and places to stay. For information, click on http://www.mapblast.com.
• Never get lost driving again. Hertz has just began deploying its next-generation "NeverLost" in-car satellite navigation system in North America, with installation in France, Germany, the U.K. and Australia slated for early 2000. At the heart of the system is a Global Positioning System receiver, a computer map and database that directs travelers to their designated destination. The new units feature an expanded database, voice prompts in seven languages, and an Instant Locate Button that displays the vehicle's exact location on the electronic map. Cars equipped with NeverLost cost an additional $6.00 a day.