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Connectivity-The Evolving Paradigm for IntelliDriveSM
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The IntelliDrive system would rely on an active safety system that involves sensing
and messaging not only between vehicles, but between vehicles and outside elements. |
In January 2009, the U.S.
Department of Transportation
(USDOT) launched "IntelliDriveSM,"
rebranding what was formerly
referred to in the intelligent
transportation systems community
as Vehicle-Infrastructure Integration.
The IntelliDrive program is
focused on enabling a surface transportation
system in which vehicles
do not crash and road operators
and travelers have the information
they need about travel conditions.
IntelliDrive will establish an information
backbone for the transportation
system that will immediately
support applications to enhance
safety and mobility and, ultimately,
enable the vision of a crashless,
information-rich surface transportation
system. IntelliDrive will also
support applications to enhance
livable communities, environmental
stewardship, and traveler convenience
and choices.
Safety Applications to Reduce
Crashes and Save Lives
IntelliDrive safety applications present
promising solutions for alleviating
the tragic social and economic
impacts of the nation's crash fatality
and injury rates-41,000 fatalities
and 2.49 million injuries in 2007.
Some experts estimate that up to
15 percent of crashes in the United
States might be avoided if drivers
were alerted to hazards before
encountering unexpected conditions.
Providing drivers with timely
alerts about hazards, as was demonstrated
in the Japanese SmartWay
project, has shown to be up to 80
percent effective in reducing traffic
crashes at certain traffic safety "hot
spots" in Japan.
IntelliDrive safety alerts increase
drivers' situational awareness,
which increases reaction times.
Even last-second warnings can give
drivers enough time to brake, or
perhaps even steer around a vehicle
ahead of them. Some of these active
safety features include:
- Signal and Stop Sign Violation
Warning-Drivers who are at
risk of violating a red signal
light or a stop sign receive a
graphical and audible warning
from on-board equipment
(OBE).
- Curve Speed Warning-Drivers
are warned by the system to
slow down if their vehicle's
speed is higher than recommended
for the curve.
- Collision Warning-IntelliDrive
provides audio and visual warnings
to drivers who are approaching
a slowed or stopped
object too rapidly, or following
a vehicle too closely. Likewise,
if a vehicle traveling ahead suddenly
decelerates, the driver behind
is notified to ensure his or
her awareness, even if visibility
is limited by weather conditions
or obstructed by large vehicles.
The system also warns drivers
of impending side or rear-impact
collisions, or when they are
about to drift out of their lane.
DSRC Remains the Approach for
Active Safety
The technology behind active safety
systems involves sensing and messaging
between vehicles, or between
vehicles and infrastructure
elements. On-board equipment
alerts drivers instantly when sensors detect a hazard. The hazard
message must be delivered instantly
so that the vehicle can generate a
timely alert, and, to protect privacy
rights, messages must be secure and
anonymous. At present, Dedicated
Short-Range Communications
(DSRC) remains the only available
technology that meets the extremely
fast transmission ("low latency")
and security requirements of active
safety applications. By comparison,
when we wait for signals to
synchronize on our cell phones and
computers, we experience relatively
high latency.
Eventually, it is likely that a new
technology may emerge that will
improve on DSRC as the most practical
platform for active safety applications.
When that happens, the
challenge will be to plan an orderly
transition to the newer technology-
a common phenomenon in the
information technology industry.
Connectivity Now: Focus on
Market-Ready Technologies
As IntelliDrive continues to work
toward a safer future with DSRC-based
vehicle-vehicle and vehicle-
infrastructure integration, a parallel
effort to deliver mobility benefits
using market-ready wireless consumer
electronics technologies is
under way.
DOT launched the SafeTrip-21 Initiative
last year to leverage existing
and emerging mobile communications
and navigation technologies.
This year, SafeTrip-21 will conduct
two pilot test projects in the San
Francisco Bay area: Networked
Traveler and Mobile Millennium.
Partners include the University of
California/Berkeley, based at the
California Center for Innovative
Transportation; Nokia/NAVTECH;
and the California Department of
Transportation. In addition, DOT
is partnering with the I-95 Corridor
Coalition through a SafeTrip-21
project to display real-time travel information
in airports and shopping
malls, and to evaluate the consumer
benefits of real-time travel information.
Networked Traveler systems, which
will be pilot tested in the San Francisco
Bay Area this year, deliver
information directly to consumers
in practical and personalized
formats-via cell phone, desktop,
laptop, handheld computers and
mobile Internet devices, and invehicle
after-market devices. Like a
social networking site, users personally
customize the types of information
they want to receive, such as:
Tell Me About The Route-Realtime
information about a specific
travel route:
- Route choice (choose the most
eco-friendly, or the fastest route)
- Traffic (avoid areas of high
traffic congestion, take alternate
routes, delay travel)
- Travel times (determine which
is quicker-driving or public
transit)
- Road condition alerts (speed
zone information, work zones,
upcoming intersections, hazard
alerts)
- Transit planning (transit schedule
and GPS-based current
transit status)
- Personal notification of your bus
stop or bus transfer point.
Watch Out for Me-Safety alerts
(to make road users aware of each
other).
- Collision avoidance
- Vehicle distress signals (alerts
other drivers that help is needed)
- Pedestrian alerts (notifies drivers
of pedestrians in their path; allows
pedestrians to tell the traffic signal that they need more
time to cross the road).
Smart Parking-Up-to-the-minute
information about parking availability.
In the Mobile Millennium project,
consumers volunteer to download
free software to their GPS-enabled
cell phones that will send anonymous
speed and location readings
to servers. The data will be integrated
into traffic models that produce
an estimate of traffic flow and then
relayed back to the mobile phones
and posted on line at http://traffic.berkeley.edu. Researchers expect to
have 10,000 volunteer participants
by April 2009.
Under another SafeTrip-21 initiative,
starting this summer, the I-95
Corridor Coalition will post realtime
travel information online, in
airports and shopping malls, and
at Interstate welcome centers to
deliver consumers the information
they need to make better travel
choices.
- Online, interactive maps will
enable travelers to assess traffic
conditions within and between
major metro areas at a glance.
For example, travelers driving
from Washington, DC, to New
York will be able to see any
major incidents delaying travel
on their route.
- At Baltimore-Washington International
Thurgood Marshall
Airport, kiosks and the airport's
web site will offer travelers access
to real-time information on
ground transportation options
to and from the airport. Information
about driving times,
public transportation options
and status, taxis, shuttle vans,
and airport bus services will
enable travelers to choose the
ground transportation options that will work best
for them.
- Large-screen displays of travel time information at
Tyson's Corner shopping mall in Northern Virginia,
and at Interstate welcome centers in Virginia will
help travelers plan their trips.
The Federal Role: Parallels With Internet
Development
If the challenges facing the IntelliDrive evolution seem
daunting, it is useful to look back over the past 20
years and consider the early development and evolution
of the Internet. In its early years, many also raised
questions about the Internet's ability to provide reliability,
security, privacy, scalability, ubiquitous coverage,
and so forth. Despite it all, the Internet rapidly developed
into a worldwide communications system that
broadly meets users' needs-consistently, predictably,
and cost-effectively. Early developers may not have
imagined the system's scalability, or its widespread
use in everyday life. The key to the Internet's success
was development based on the Internet Protocol Suite
(commonly known as TCP/IP). Although the Internet
Protocol Suite resulted from work sponsored by the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
in the early 1970s, many organizations and individuals
contributed to its development over time. Today the
Internet is a "network of networks" that consists of
millions of private and public, academic, business, and
government networks without a need for public infrastructure
or a central source of operations and maintenance
support.
The Internet analogy provides an example of the role
of government in similar initiatives. No single entity
could develop the Internet. Likewise no single entity
can develop IntelliDrive. The federal government has
a role in working with industry and standards development
organizations to establish the framework
of protocols necessary for IntelliDrive connectivity.
The federal government also plays an important role
in fostering industry oversight mechanisms and the
establishment of necessary legal protections and safety
requirements, as well as in providing seed funding for
innovative research efforts. Ultimately, the market will
determine how the system is deployed and what services
are provided. Advances in information technology
over the last half century portend an exciting future
and tremendous opportunities for IntelliDrive.
For the latest information about the program, please
refer to the following IntelliDrive websites at http://www.intellidriveusa.org/ or http://www.its.dot.gov/intellidrive/.
IntelliDriveSM is a registered service mark of the
USDOT, Intelligent Transportation Systems/Joint
Program Office.
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