V2I Communications for Safety

Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communications for safety is the wireless exchange of critical safety and operational data between vehicles and highway infrastructure, intended primarily to avoid motor vehicle crashes, while also enabling a wide range of other safety, mobility, and environmental benefits.

The vision for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) V2I research is to enable safety applications designed to avoid or mitigate vehicle crashes, particularly for crash scenarios not addressed by V2V. Another important objective of the V2I research is national interoperability to support infrastructure and vehicle deployments.

Research Plan

The three major objectives of the technical V2I safety research program are:

Develop V2I active safety applications that address some of the most critical crash scenarios, particularly using the signal phase and timing (SPaT) capability.
Develop a rigorous estimation of safety benefits that will contribute to the assessment of possible safety regulations and/or guidelines.
Provide objective data and information that will support decisionmaking regarding nationwide infrastructure deployment.

The program research involves multiple transportation agencies and modes. It focuses on key Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) application areas of interest, including intersection safety, run-off-road prevention, speed management, transit communications and operations, and commercial vehicle enforcement and operations. In addition, exploratory research on V2I safety for commuter, freight, and heavy rail will investigate data interoperability and communication to support a variety of applications, including grade crossing operations, track surveillance, and right-of-way detection.

Due to the great variety of vehicle and infrastructure safety systems currently installed and forthcoming, the program also emphasizes the need for consistent, widely applicable standards and protocols.
The key to success in this research area is the definition of minimum infrastructure needed to ensure maximum benefit from the applications.

Through collaborative research, the DOT IntelliDrive^SM Program is engaging the appropriate parties in a multitrack approach that addresses the breadth of technical and non-technical V2I research needs.

Track 1 – Identify and analyze critical crash scenarios for V2I applications. Preliminary studies show that 12 percent of crash scenarios could be addressed by V2I safety applications. The focus on these scenarios is in addition to the crash scenarios addressed by V2V safety applications.

Track 2 – Develop prototype applications, which include the identification and refinement of requirements and countermeasures. An additional effort under this track will be the cooperative research and development of one safety application with partners in the European Union.

Track 3 – Address interoperability that enables multiple systems or components to exchange (across jurisdictional boundaries) useful information including mapping, positioning, standards, security, and wireless communication, among other areas.

Track 4 – Through controlled demonstrations and field operational testing, conduct benefits assessments by collecting and analyzing real world data, while assessing engineering architecture and design. This supports analysis resulting in more detailed understandings of the market potential, infrastructure requirements, and level of market penetration needed to enable future systems.

Track 5 – Conduct deployment planning by developing tools and guidelines that give practitioners the information required to make sound decisions on how eventually to deploy and maintain V2I systems.

Ultimately, the results of the V2I safety research program will develop a foundation for developing safety applications supporting infrastructure and vehicle communication.

Research Goals

To employ advanced V2I wireless technologies to reduce, mitigate, or prevent 12 percent of crash scenarios (which are not addressed by V2V).
To develop signal warnings that support active safety.

Research Questions

Are applications effective and are benefits validated?
What is the minimum infrastructure needed for maximum benefit at the point of initial deployment?
What is the degree of market penetration required for effectiveness?
Are there unique applications for specialty vehicles (transit bus, light rail, trams, trucks, etc)?

Research Outcomes

Understand and plan for the minimum level of infrastructure needed to support V2V and V2I safety and operational efficiency applications.
Document the stakeholder needs and impacts associated with developing policy guidance, or a possible regulatory decision, in support of deployment.
Dnable additional safety and mobility applications through the use of SPaT data exchange.
Enable and facilitate interoperable, cost-effective infrastructure deployment.