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NHTSA Agency Decision
NHTSA was established by the Highway Safety Act of 1970 to carry out safety programmes and direct the highway safety and consumer programmes established by the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, the Highway Safety Act of 1966, the 1972 Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, and succeeding amendments to these laws.
NHTSA is closely following the development of connected vehicle technology with its recent analysis concluding that up to 80 percent of all unimpaired crashes? scenarios could potentially be addressed by V2V and V2I technology combined. As the agency responsible for developing, promoting, and implementing programmes aimed at ending preventable vehicle tragedies, NHTSA believes that connected vehicle technology warrants consideration for possible regulatory action. NHTSA will use the research data collected through the Safety Pilot to support a major decision milestone in 2013 on V2V safety communications systems. A similar decision is expected in 2014 for heavy trucks.
Depending on what the Safety Pilot model deployment data reveals, NHTSA?s agency decision for vehicle communication safety systems in light vehicles could include one of several options, such as mandatory deployment of the technology in new vehicles, voluntary installation of wireless devices in new cars, or additional research and development. The USDOT believes that DSRC at 5.9 GHz is the best communications option at this time capable of effectively and reliably supporting active safety applications.
MCDOT SMARTDrive Programme
The Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and its partners are developing and demonstrating advanced ITS applications that integrate vehicles together with Systematically Managed Arterial (SMART) roadway systems in Maricopa County, Arizona, to demonstrate the capabilities, evaluate the benefits, and provide a test bed for future SMARTDrive applications. The SMARTDrive programme focuses on connecting CV equipped vehicles to the roadway infrastructure consisting of several intersections to demonstrate capabilities that SMARTDrive supports for transit and emergency vehicle priority. An interface to a mobile device shows the participants when priority has been granted and for which vehicles, for both transit and emergency response. Key components of the SMARTDrive demonstration include six signalised intersections equipped with DSRC radios, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth readers, the installation of a traffic signal priority application, a representative emergency vehicle & transit vehicle used to test application priority logic, a field test for emergency and transit applications, a pedestrian crosswalk application using smart phones to display crossing status, and the collection of detailed vehicle and traffic operations data for post-operational analysis. Outcome from the SMARTDrive tests will provide valuable information to the USDOT CV research programme, particularly in the areas of signal applications and the dynamic mobility programme.
International Deployment of Cooperative ITS
International Deployment of Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems between European Commission and the US Department of Transportation is intended to create a joint framework for field operational tests and evaluation tools; collaborate on cooperative vehicle safety, mobility, and sustainability application research projects; and internationally harmonise cooperative ITS standards to support cooperative ITS to increase the value of our regions? research. The most significant accomplishment of this cooperation is the development of a substantially harmonised core safety message set common to both — US (US Basic Safety Message BSM) and the EU (Cooperative Awareness Message CAM) — as a result of cooperation between EU and US industry, governments, and standards communities requiring only simple software reconfiguration for systems to use both messages nearly interchangeably. This will enable the use of common hardware and substantially common software for products destined for both regions, reducing both cost and complexity to manufacturers and, ultimately, to consumers. Four Signal Phasing and Timing (SPaT) applications have been proposed for future joint research in the areas of Smart Start/Stop Assistant, Energy Efficient Intersection Control, Traffic Information and Strategic Routing and Eco-Driving Support.
Car2x Technology Developments in European Union
Car2x communication (also known as Vehicle-to-Vehicle and Vehicle- to-Infrastructure communication) is the exchange of information between traffic participants and the infrastructure with the goal of enhancing safety and convenience and optimising traffic flow. The higher-level engineering system for assuring Car2x communication is known as the Intelligent Transport System (ITS). The basic concept of Car2x communication involves sending and receiving standardised messages over the air interface and enabling interpretation of the status information they contain by traffic participants. The ITS station (ITS-S) keeps the messages up to date based on the momentary traffic situation and either sends them periodically or they are event-driven. The most important status information is transmitted via the message types CAM (Cooperative Awareness Message), DENM (Decentralised Environmental Notification Message), SPaT (Signal Phase and Time) and TOPO (Topology Specification).