Communications of the ACM
Pittsburgh Roads Wired With 'talking' Traffic Signals
Dedicated short-range communication radios have been installed at 35 intersections in Bloomfield and Marshall, PA.
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Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), has installed dedicated short-range communication radios at 35 intersections in Bloomfield and Marshall, PA, and will add 11 new radios at other intersections this year.
The work is based on a study PennDOT commissioned and CMU completed in 2014, which examined how the state agency can prepare for transportation needs in 2040, including connected and autonomous vehicles.
Connected-vehicle technology and dedicated short-range communication radios could transform every vehicle, traffic signal, or control device into a beacon broadcasting essential information. For example, a vehicle could broadcast its speed, location, route, and size. Meanwhile, traffic lights could tell cars what color they are and when they will change, and could warn other cars when someone runs a red light.
The signals, which are sent 10 times a second in a radius of about 300 meters, are transmitted and received almost instantaneously, according to CMU professor Stan Caldwell.
The U.S. Department of Transportation currently is developing rules to govern the technology, and it could be justtwo years before the technology is mandatory in new cars. The agency set a goal of 90% of vehicles and 80% of traffic signals having dedicated short-range communication radios by 2040.
From Pittsburgh Tribune
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