Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I & V2C) & vehicle-to-cellphone being tested......
New York is getting wired with traffic signals that can
talk to cars
By Chris Ziegler on September 14, 2015 06:03 pm Email @zpower
Behind self-driving, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and
vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication is one of the biggest sea changes
in transportation technology on the horizon — it could have an enormous impact
on driving safety, if it's implemented quickly and correctly. The concept is
pretty simple: cars, signs, and traffic signals all communicate to one another
over Wi-Fi-like airwaves, so that drivers (and automatic safety systems built
into cars) have more information about the traffic and environment around them.
(I got a compelling demo of V2V tech put on by Ford at CES a couple years ago,
and I can say that the promise is pretty huge.)
There's no federal rule in place for requiring V2V yet,
but the US Department of Transportation is hoping to get those rules in place
by the end of this year — and in the meantime, it's rolling out huge new pilot
programs to put the technology to the test. In the New York City boroughs of
Manhattan and Brooklyn, traffic signals will be equipped with V2I hardware,
while up to 10,000 city-owned vehicles will be outfitted with V2V. (It's
unclear whether drivers of these vehicles will have access to the data through
instrumentation, or whether it's just being collected as part of the DOT's
ongoing V2V research.)
COMING SOON TO MANHATTAN AND BROOKLYN
As part of the same announcement, the DOT is awarding $17
million to Tampa to try to alleviate rush hour congestion with V2V tech and
"to protect the city's pedestrians by equipping their smartphones with the
same connected technology being put into the vehicles," while the state of
Wyoming will be spinning up a pilot program to track heavy-duty trucks along
Interstate 80.
The promise of V2V is pretty huge: imagine being warned
of a chain-reaction collision several cars in front of you that you can't see,
for instance, or a disabled truck that can let you know to stay clear of the
right lane ahead. And it might not be that far off — even though the rules
aren't set in stone yet, GM has already committed to starting its rollout to
production cars sometime in 2016. In fact, the DOT's press release is even more
optimistic, saying we could see V2V in "early 2016."
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