OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this research were (1) to evaluate and document agency and societal benefits and costs of V2I technologies to assist with deployment decisions by state and local DOTs and (2) to describe the current state of dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) equipment capabilities, spectrum licensing, acquisition requirements, and the further development required to achieve vehicle to roadside communications.
STATUS
The contractor's final report is available at https://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/docs/NCHRP03-101_CVCostBenefit.pdf
BACKGROUND
The Connected Vehicle Program is a multimodal initiative that aims to enable safe, interoperable networked wireless communications among vehicles, the infrastructure, and passengers' personal communications devices. This research is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) and others to leverage the potentially transformative capabilities of wireless technology to make surface transportation safer, smarter, and greener. If successfully deployed, the U.S. DOT maintains that Connected Vehicle technologies will ultimately enhance the safety, mobility, and quality of life of all Americans, while helping to reduce the environmental impact of surface transportation.
The Connected Vehicle Program is being developed through coordinated research, testing, demonstration, and deployment. The federal research investment is targeted to areas that are unlikely to be accomplished through private investment because they are too risky or complex. Other stakeholders, including the states, the automotive industry and its suppliers, and consumer electronics companies, also are researching and testing Connected Vehicle technologies and applications (i.e., the specific tasks being addressed by the technology, for example, transit priority at traffic signals) so that the transportation community can realize the full potential and vision of the Program.
This program is a major initiative of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Programs Office (JPO) at the U.S. DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). The ITS JPO’s goal is to advance the program to a deployment readiness state by 2014. In order for state transportation departments to fully benefit from this effort, AASHTO has formed a technical working group that developed a strategic plan and action plan for the development and deployment of the Connected Vehicle Program. A pooled fund program has been established to begin work on the plan. A need identified in the plan that has not yet been addressed is to evaluate and document the benefits and costs of public sector investment in technologies that allow communication between vehicles and the infrastructure (V2I).
DESCRIPTION OF FINAL PRODUCTS
(1) A final report describing and, insofar as practical, quantifying the benefits and costs of installing V2I technologies by state and local DOTs. This information is intended to be used by senior and mid-level staff at these agencies to develop deployment plans consistent with these agencies’ goals and planning cycles (operational, short-term and long-term capital) and to justify the necessary investment of resources to executives, commissions, planning organizations, and elected officials. The benefits and costs will include those accrued by society (e.g., safety, mobility, environmental) and the agency (e.g., capital costs, maintenance and operations costs, staffing costs), including cost avoidance that may be realized by making DOT core business processes more efficient. A template for a deployment plan will be presented that facilitates a modular approach to V2I implementation by an agency, both spatially by gradually adding corridors and by adding applications over time, either individually or in bundles. Synergies between applications that may impact benefits or costs will be identified to aid in the bundling of applications. Infrastructure requirements, necessary conditions (e.g., market penetration, technology maturity, training), and impacts on business practices throughout the agency should be described for each application. The report will include an Executive Summary.
(2) Materials suitable for preparation of executive briefings. These will include PowerPoint, brochure, and other appropriate formats that allow agencies to customize them. The material should provide an overview of the Connected Vehicle Program, explain the value of V2I deployment, and introduce the agency-specific deployment plan. The material should describe the impacts if an agency does not choose to invest in V2I technologies. The material should be suitable for organizations at different levels of deployment.
(3) A Guidance Document on DSRC Deployment and Operations including FCC Spectrum Licensing Requirements and Identification of DSRC Issues for FCC Consideration.
TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED DURING THE COURSE OF THE WORK
- A catalog of Connected Vehicle applications in which state and local DOTs would have a role that includes a description of the application; a discussion of the likely impacts on the agency and society; site characteristics that affect an application’s effectiveness; an assessment of the readiness of the application to be deployed; the steps and time frame needed to bring the application to deployment readiness; necessary roadside and communications infrastructure; and expected costs to deploy, operate, and maintain the infrastructure.
- Methods that will be used to estimate the benefits and costs of V2I investments by state and local DOTs.
- Assumptions needed to assess the benefits and costs of public-sector V2I investments including market penetration rates for in-vehicle and personal devices (including after-market devices) for private vehicles, commercial vehicles, private-sector fleets, and public-sector fleets (including transit); public- and private-sector development of applications; technology enhancements; and mix of vehicle power-train types. The set(s) of assumptions that will be used must be approved by the panel before the analysis is started.
- Identification of core state and local DOT business practices that could be affected by implementation of V2I technologies. Structured interviews should be conducted with 3 to 5 state DOTs with representatives from each of the core DOT business functions (planning, design, construction, maintenance, and operations). Impacts on managed lane operations and alternative transportation funding mechanisms should also be identified. Representative local agencies, county road commissions, and so on should be met with while visiting the representative DOTs. One or two of the states should not be on the cutting edge of V2I development. The list of agencies must by approved by the panel before the interviews are conducted.
