Connected Vehicle

The Connected Vehicle program is a large set of research activities centered around a vehicle or a mobile device that is equipped with communications and processing allowing those equipped platforms to be aware of their location and their status and to communicate with each other and with the surrounding infrastructure. This enables Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS).

A co-operative ITS is a subset of the overall ITS that
  – Communicates and
  – Shares information
Between independently operated and independently authenticated devices to
  – Give advice or
  – Facilitate actions
With the objective of improving
  – Safety, sustainability, efficiency and comfort.

More specifically, connected vehicle applications provide connectivity:

Connected vehicle safety applications are designed to increase situational awareness and reduce or eliminate crashes through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) data communications. Connected vehicle mobility applications provide a connected, data-rich travel environment. These communications should support driver advisories, driver warnings, and vehicle and/or infrastructure controls, by capturing real-time data from equipment located on-board vehicles (automobiles, trucks, and buses) and within the transportation infrastructure. The data are transmitted wirelessly and are used by transportation managers in a wide range of dynamic, multi-modal applications to manage the transportation system for optimum performance. As part of this, C-ITS both generate and capture environmentally relevant real-time transportation data and use this data to support and facilitate green transportation choices, thus reducing the environmental impacts of each trip.

The U.S. DOT Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) ITS Joint Program Joint Program Office (ITS JPO) is the major sponsor of the Connected Vehicle research program. Connected Vehicle focuses on localized Vehicle-to-Vehicle, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure and Vehicle-to-Device Systems (V2X) to support safety, mobility and environmental applications using Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) communications. The mobility applications can make use of wide area wireless communications technologies that are available today. This program has support from most of the automakers and a number of state departments of transportation.

For more information, see the ITS JPO Connected Vehicle Research Website and additional ITS resources on the Federal Highway Administration Office of Operations Website.