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University of Virginia, Morgan State University, and the Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research. The Virginia Connected Test Bed involves vehicles equipped with connected wireless technology that enables them to “talk” to each other via wireless sensors installed along the highway infrastruc ture. The project involves a total of 43 “connected” intersections located in and around Merrifield, Va., near Fairfax along the Inter state 66 corridor and state routes 29 and 50. Wireless infrastruc ture devices installed near the road track and receive information from test cars equipped with wireless communication technology. In addition to the Smart Road, VDOT has provided matching funds for the Northern Virginia test bed. “The Fairfax County test bed experiences the very real and sig nificant transportation challenges in terms of congestion, safety, and environmental impacts that are of concern nationwide,” said University of Virginia Consortium Leader Brian Smith, professor and chair of the department of civil and environmental engi neering. “Through this test bed, our research team will have the opportunity to develop, test, and demonstrate tangible connected vehicle applications that will have a positive impact on the travel ers’ experience.” The roadside units installed on the Virginia Connected Test Bed report road hazards, optimize de-icing operations, warn of conges tion and emergency vehicles, and monitor pavement condition. The instrumented vehicles, which include six cars, four of the only connected motorcycles yet in existence, a semi-truck, and a bus, have forward collision, road-departure, blind-spot, lane-change, and curve speed warning systems and advanced GIS. They also feature sophisticated recording devices that download to VTTI so researchers can observe conditions in real time and accumulate data for later transportation analyses. Dingus explained that instrumented vehicles traveling on the con nected test bed are alerted if they are at risk of a crash, and critical roadside information is communicated directly for the driver to see on the dashboard. The technology can also communicate car and road information such that alerts can be sent to other driv ers. For instance, detection of slick pavement or the presence of roadway debris could be gathered from one vehicle, sent to the roadside detector, and quickly disseminated to other vehicles on the system. The Smart Road is also part of the connected-vehicle/infrastruc ture test bed, providing a place at which experimental procedures can be tested. Instrumented portions of Montgomery County add to the variety of road types and topography that are part of the project. VTTI-led connected-vehicle research was under way even be fore the Virginia Connected Test Bed was officially opened. For example, each year more than 20,000 injuries and more than 100 fatalities occur at road construction zones. In cooperation with Virginia Tech faculty, VTTI is developing short-range communi cation technologies mounted on vehicles and worn by workers to alert workers and vehicle operators when an on-foot worker is in danger of being struck.

Another connected-vehicle project would reduce school bus and automobile collisions. Buses are particularly susceptible to being struck from the rear because of frequent stopping. Connected vehicle communications could be used to provide following traffic with in-vehicle notifications of a stopped bus, especially when the bus is stopped over a hill or around a blind curve. Other projects include safety and human factors aspects of adapt able stop/yield signs; connected-vehicle applications for adaptive lighting; intersection management using an in-vehicle speed advi sory; eco-speed control; emergency vehicle-to-vehicle communi cation; freeway merge management; infrastructure safety assess ment; infrastructure pavement assessment; and connected-vehicle/ infrastructure application development for addressing safety and congestion issues related to public transportation, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Future research projects include optimized routing, road hazard reporting, optimized de-icing, beacons for at-risk pedestrians, and vehicle-to-vehicle communication to enhance rear signaling. Just imagine what VTTI will be like in another 25 years.

Motorcycles with data collection units photo by LoganWallace

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