Connected/Automated Vehicles Resources

Op/Ed

As a part of its mandate to serve its membership, ITE is advancing knowledge, providing guidance, and instilling the spirit of workforce development in all aspects of transportation technology advancements. As part of ITE's Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Institute Initiative, a joint Steering Committee on CAV was formed. Some of the objectives of this CAV Steering Committee include: advocating for the policy and governance elements; providing guidance on technology deployments; documenting the lessons learned; discussing topics of interest to the practitioners; and speaking for the membership on policy, education, outreach, national standards, rule-making, and more.

The transportation industry is on the verge of the largest disruption since the invention of the automobile.

Tremendous efforts have been made in the field of vehicle automation. That is, developing advanced sensors and algorithms that are installed on vehicles to imitate or eventually transcend the complexity of human drivers. This approach focuses solely on vehicle-based technologies and takes the road as the status quo. Many players are investing in this vehicle-based approach, from giant high-tech companies and car manufacturers, to small start-ups, by taking advantage of the latest development in hardware, software, and communication technologies. Despite the significant progress that has been made, automated vehicles are still not safe and reliable enough for large scale deployment, as indicated by incidents during automated vehicle testing.

Effective Transportation System Management and Operations Using Big Data

Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicle Technologies on Transportation Engineering and Planning

Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicle Technologies on Transportation Engineering and Planning

Lessons from Connected and Automated Vehicle Deployment Projects

Lessons from Connected and Automated Vehicle Deployment Projects

Lessons from Connected and Automated Vehicle Deployment Projects

Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicle Technologies on Transportation Engineering and Planning

In 1926, the headline "'Phantom Auto' Will Tour City" may have been somewhat frightening for readers of the Milwaukee Sentinel. The newspaper article described how a driverless, radio controlled vehicle was scheduled to make its way down the streets of Milwaukee, WI, USA during a public demonstration, receiving radio signals from a car following behind. "It will start its own motor, throw in its clutch, twist its steering wheel, toot its horn, and it may even 'sass' the policeman at the corner."1

President's Message: Connected and Automated Vehicles

Communication technology is at the core of connecting smart city applications; the approach is to establish data communication with the roadway infrastructure, including the fixed assets and mobile devices, and then use available data to analyze the behavior of the roadway network, assess the performance of the systems in place (such as, traffic signals, message signs, speed limits), and devise ways to improve user mobility. The objective of this advanced, connected environment is to improve people's travel experience by addressing their safety, security, and mobility. By expanding the infrastructure to include cooperative Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) data exchanges, we are able improve the safety of the motorists by reducing the frequency and severity of crashes.

Connected-vehicle technologies, applications, and potential benefits have been studied in the United States since 2003 when the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) initiated the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) program. With the real-time communication of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure, connected vehicles provide extended distance for drivers to "see" around corners or "through" other vehicles, so safety threats and traffic changes can be perceived earlier. Many potential benefits of connected vehicles, in the areas of highway safety, traffic mobility, and vehicle emissions, have been tested in pilot deployments in the United States.2 The full benefits of connected-vehicle systems need all vehicles to be equipped with connected-vehicle devices and broadcast their movement status in real time. However, the number of connected vehicles are still limited compared to the total number of vehicles on road. It was estimated that the mixed traffic with connected vehicles and unconnected vehicles will last for the next decade.3 Benefit from the fast development of intelligent transportation system (ITS) technologies, it's possible to obtain real-time traffic data using loop detectors, video detectors, Bluetooth sensors, or radar sensors. But the data collected by those sensors do not meet the requirement of the connected-vehicle network.

This article presents research on the statistical properties of four parameters that affect a driver’s lane changing decision, using data from the Next Generation SIMulation database. The results show that: 1. there is statistical evidence to indicate that the population averages for each parameter differ based on time-of day; and 2. the gap parameters are best described by the log-normal distribution. This implies that autonomous vehicles should be programmed to behave differently at different times of the day.

Director's Message: Taking a Position on Connected and Automated Vehicles