266 | SMART MOBILITY
The path to smarter mobility Near-term developments in V2X technology will accelerate the arrival of next-generation mobility Words | Oliver Brandl, Kapsch TrafficCom, Austria
Very soon, we will see several decades of work come to fruition. Government agencies at all levels have had in progress a series of programs that will finally start to deliver real-world V2X/connected vehicle solutions. The result will be societal revolution because, although initial V2X-related applications will focus on improving road networks’ safety, environmental and congestion performance, the follow-ons will make their effects felt right across our future, smarter settlements. We now have some firm dates in the diary when we can expect to see fully integrated V2X technology, as distinct from in-vehicle mock-ups and prototypes. In Europe, for instance, Volkswagen says that it will have examples on sale from 2019. Other vehicle manufacturers are in step, or else racing to catch up.
Stakeholders in agreement With the coalescing of communication standards, stakeholders in the V2X space now have common goals to work toward, and can get on with delivering solutions that can communicate with each other at the global level. In Europe, a catalyst has been the C-roads platform. Launched in late 2016 by the European Commission, representatives of 12 European Union (EU) Member States and industry, this is supported by €150m (US$177m) of funding. At its heart is the use of hybrid communications based on ETSI ITS-G5 wireless short-range communication and existing cellular technologies. C-roads will harmonize the EU’s existing cooperative ITS (C-ITS)/V2X pilots and provide the baseline for real-world roll-outs. Again, 2019 is the date from which we can expect to see those wider deployments start, although progress will obviously be governed by economic and other factors.
Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2018
An important European trend is the interest in how V2X can be brought further into the urban space. There are numerous proposed projects to help bring this about. Road authorities are also keen to know what and how much data will be needed to cope with the advent of autonomous vehicles. V2X technology provides a fine basis for such exploratory efforts. The EU’s approach to V2X realization is to pump prime with funding to encourage the private sector to innovate. The USA has somewhat clearer goals. It has focused more
on the urban environment, with particular interest in signal phase, timing and map data (SPAT/map) type applications intended to improve safety at intersections. The USA is also taking a very much more structured approach to connected vehicle and infrastructure roll-out, with programs running at both the federal and state DOT levels. The levels of overall funding commitment on both sides of the Atlantic are broadly comparable, although the scale of the three major US testbeds is notable in terms of numbers of participants and
