The Department of Transportation in the U.S. (USDOT) has awarded $60 million in grants to transport administrations in the states of Arizona, Texas, and Utah to accelerate cellular-based vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments and set up as “national models” for V2X rollouts in the rest of the country. The funding comes via the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), as part of its Saving Lives with Connectivity scheme.
Maricopa County, in south-central Arizona, will receive $19.6 million to lead a large-scale deployment of V2X technologies, mostly using the 5.9 GHz spectrum band. The money will go to connect 750 physical roadside units and virtual roadside units to around 400 onboard vehicle units in the cities of Phoenix, Tolleson, and Avondale, plus ‘unincorporated Maricopa County’, and along the US 60 highway.
The local DOT will deploy V2X applications at road junctions and crossings for detecting vulnerable road users, ‘pre-empting’ emergency vehicles, and for transit and freight ‘signal priority’. The project is targeting transit, emergency, and freight fleets. Meanwhile, in Texas, the A&M Transportation Institute will receive $19.2 million to deploy V2X technology in the Greater Houston area and the City of College Station.
The campus of Texas A&M University (TAMU) will be a focus of the project, as will roads connecting the two cities. The scope is similar; a statement said: “The project serves to… enhance safety, efficiency, and overall mobility for vulnerable road users… at signalized intersections, emergency responders navigating through varying traffic scenarios, transit operators seeking efficient routes, workers operating within construction zones, and everyday motorists.”
The Utah DOT will receive $20 million toward V2X deployment sites in three states, actually – in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. The project covers all of Utah, I-80 through the entire length of Wyoming, and major portions of Colorado, including the Denver Metro Area, I-70 from Denver to the Utah border, and I-25 through Colorado. Applications include alerts for busy intersections, weather fronts, curve speed warnings, plus other safety alert.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said: “As this Department explores every measure that can help reduce roadway fatalities, connected vehicle technology like V2X has potential to make roads safer and save lives. The grants we’re announcing today are helping accelerate the development and adoption of potentially life-saving V2X technology nationwide.”
Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt commented: “These grants are leading the way in promoting and deploying V2X technologies to explore the potential to save lives on our nation’s highways. The funding provided today will help accelerate the technology so that we can deploy it on a national scale and provide new tools to reduce deaths on our nation’s roads and highways.”
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology Dr. Robert C. Hampshire said: “I’m proud of the partnerships between Federal, State, local and tribal government agencies for coordinating all of these technologies to improve safety.”
More information can be found here.
