The Connected Vehicle Proving Center (CVPC) offers world-class facilities and expertise to test, evaluate, and showcase connected vehicle technologies.
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Infrastructure
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Historically, vehicles and the roadways have been designed and built without much contact between the automotive industry and transportation agencies. While this separation has generally worked, it has also resulted in some negative outcomes: 42,500 traffic deaths per year in the U.S. and billions of dollars in lost time and fuel due to congestion. We can begin to make significant reductions in these numbers by taking advantage of new technology that allows vehicles and the roadside to communicate with one another. This communication between vehicles and infrastructure offers numerous advantages to traffic managers. With this communication link in place, vehicles can serve as traffic probes, communicating their speed and location to traffic operations centers so that traffic can be routed around backups and congestion. Furthermore, traffic managers can respond more quickly to crashes and other traffic incidents. This can save lives and allow roads and highways to resort to normal flow more quickly. The road and highway infrastructure consists of many obvious features: pavement, bridges, signs, culverts, overpasses, traffic lights, guard rails, and so on. Increasingly, it also consists of smart technology that monitors bridge health, weighs trucks as they pass by, collects tolls, and more. This new, digitally enabled infrastructure offers transportation system managers with better data on road conditions, weather information, and other factors that influence maintenance and repair decisions. This will allow them to manage the roads more cost effectively, making better use of our tax dollars. >> See a visual representation of how connected vehicle technology can enhance safety. |
