At the opening of MobilityTalks International last Wednesday, Audi of America, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., announced plans for initial deployments of Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) communication on Northern Virginia roadways, employing advanced wireless communications to enhance vehicle safety by using the same portion of the 5.9 GHz band that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed to allocate for C-V2X. The organizations’ combined efforts are designed to focus on improving safety for construction workers and motorists alike. The initial deployment is expected to take place on select roadways in Virginia beginning in the third quarter of this year.
Unique properties of basic C-V2X will be used to deliver work zone warnings on highways as well as signal timing information on approaches to signalized intersections on arterial roadways. C-V2X communications can help deliver critical safety messages between vehicles and infrastructure with minimal latency, while less time-sensitive alerts are designed to be provided via C-V2X using the cellular network.
This initial deployment is designed for connected car systems designed to boost safety around school buses, warn motorists about dangerous road conditions, alleviate congestion at traffic chokepoints and curbsides, help improve the performance of automated vehicles that are nearing commercialization and even potentially let cars communicate with mobile devices to send warnings that may one day help prevent the more than 6,000 pedestrian fatalities per year2.
The Northern Virginia initial deployment is designed to involve two primary use cases: Work zone warnings and arterial roadways. Virginia is the third largest major highway system in the US and its 50,000 miles of highways handle 8.5 million vehicles daily.
Audi already is a leader in V2X services with its Traffic Light Information service operational in 25 cities and nearly 10,000 intersections nationwide including over 1,700 intersections in the Washington metropolitan region.
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) has been contracted to develop the software and systems necessary to support the primary use cases defined for the initial deployment. Following software development, the institute will then conduct a demonstration of C-V2X technology operating in these use cases.
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