Magazine Article
Feature article on Intelligent Transportation Systems
for Driving Force magazine written by Richard Stewart
Highways Getting Smarter and Safer
Intelligent Transportation Systems Use Technology to Improve Life on Road
A six-mile stretch of four-lane highway under construction
in southwest Virginia promises to make future highways safer
and more efficient movers of people and freight. Connecting
Blacksburg and I-81, the road will become a state-of-the-art
research facility for testing concepts, technologies and products
for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Operational ITS
applications include automated toll collection, weigh-in-motion
and weigh-station bypass systems, advanced navigation and
mayday technologies.
Called the Smart Road, the facility is the first of its kind to be
built from the ground up with ITS infrastructure incorporated
into the roadway, according to the Virginia Tech Center for
Transportation Research, a partner in the project. It is a
collaborative effort of Virginia Tech, the Virginia Transportation
Research Council, Virginia DOT and the Federal Highway
Administration.
Research projects on the Smart Road will be conducted
under a variety of controlled testing conditions and will include:
Crash avoidance technologies
Automated vehicle control
ITS sensors
Vehicle dynamics
Pavement testing
Snow and ice removal
Driver behaviorAn all-weather test section will feature 40-foot-high towers
along the roadway to create snow and rain in varying intensities
to simulate harsh weather and visibility situations. A pavement
test section will be used to evaluate road surfacing materials and
methods to help develop better pavement designs.
Underground power lines and a fiberoptic data transmission
network will support testing of sensors, wireless communications
and other ITS and automated highway technologies. These will
enable the Smart Road to interact with smart vehicle systems to
ultimately provide improvements in mobility, safety, driver
efficiency, traffic flow, highway capacity and air quality.Automated Highway
Automated vehicle operation with no driver input is already
possible on a smart infrastructure, as demonstrated by the
National Automated Highway System Consortium last summer
in San Diego. Cars, trucks and buses were equipped with sensors,
activators, electronic controllers and other advanced technology
on a 7.6-mile section of smart highway. The vehicles literally
drove themselves, performing lane-changing, collision avoidance
and braking maneuvers.
Standards for intelligent transportation systems are being
developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). A
theme of SAE's annual Truck & Bus Meeting and Exposition
last year was "Shared Vision: Intelligent Transportation for the
21st Century." A program focused on how to enable a team of
suppliers, OEMs, fleets and the infrastructure to realize the
promise of intelligent transportation.
The 1998 SAE Future Transportation Technology Conference
& Exposition, scheduled for Aug. 11-13 in Costa Mesa, Calif.,
will examine the newest in ITS technologies and how they can
benefit transportation. According to SAE, the challenge is to
integrate intelligent vehicles with other smart systemson the
highway, at fleet headquarters, at repair facilities and at
customers' locations -- to improve efficiency and delivery timing.ITS for Trucking
The Federal Highway Administration administers the ITS/CVO
(Commercial Vehicle Operations) program, which is designed to
inform and educate the motor carrier community about ITS
technology that can enhance commercial vehicle safety and
productivity. A specially equipped ITS "Technology Truck" has
been featured at truck shows and other sites to demonstrate what
the future holds for truckers and other motorists. Aspects of the
CVO program include: Commercial vehicle electronic clearance
Automated roadside safety inspection
On-board safety monitoring
Commercial Vehicle Administrative Processes
Hazardous Materials Incident Response
Freight MobilityElectronic screening will eliminate the need for truckers to stop
for unnecessary weight and safety inspections, according to program
officials. Safety will be improved by reducing the number of trucks
pulling in and out of weigh stations and by allowing law enforcement
to concentrate its inspection efforts on high-risk and uninspected
carriers and operators. Fewer starts and stops and less idling at weigh
stations mean reduced fuel consumption and improved on-time
deliveries, say the feds.Reducing Accidents
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
estimates that three ITS crash avoidance systems rear-end, lane
change and roadway departure have the potential to reduce
accidents by about 17% or 1.2 million accidents a year. These
systems can warn drivers when they are straying into another
vehicle's lane or are in danger of running off the road, recommend
response actions and introduce automated control of the vehicle
during hazardous situations.
Intelligent cruise control can adjust a vehicle's speed automatically
in traffic, reducing rear-end collisions. Other ITS technologies
being developed to improve highway safety are merge collision
avoidance, intersection collision avoidance, railroad crossing
collision avoidance, driver vision enhancement, location-specific
alert and warning, automatic notification of emergency personnel
following a collision, and smart restraints and occupant protection
systems.
The Office of Motor Carriers and NHTSA are collaborating on
research and testing of selective braking to improve stability of
doubles and triples in braking situations. Other research will focus
on on-board diagnostic systems that monitor a vehicle's mechanical
systems and warn the driver of dangerous situations.
The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America),
made up of about 1,300 member organizations from the private,
public and academic sector, held its 8th annual meeting recently in
Detroit. Its mission is to accelerate the development, integration,
acceptance and deployment of advanced technology. The group is
working to complete deployment of ITS basic services across the
U.S. by the year 2005.
For more information, contact ITS America, 400 Virginia Ave.,
S.W., Suite 800, Washington DC 20024-2730. Telephone: 2
02-484-4847. Or visit Access ITS, the group's website, at
http://www.itsa.org.
Copyright © 1998-2008 Stewart & Associates Communication Arts. All rights reserved.
