Cooperative Automated Transportation (CAT)

Cooperative Automated Transportation

Roadway safety in a cooperative automated world

Highway automation is not years away, or even days away. It’s here now, causing a number of state transportation agencies to react with initiatives related to preparing and supporting Connected Automated Vehicles (CAVs) on U.S. roadways.


Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs)

Cooperative Automated Transportation (CAT) deals with CAVs, which are vehicles capable of driving on their own with limited or no human involvement in navigation and control. Per the definition adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there are six levels of automation (Levels 0-2: driver assistance and Levels 3-5: HAV), each of which requires its own specification and marketplace considerations.


Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) and Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs)

For traffic safety, vehicle-to-everything communications is the wireless exchange of critical safety and operational data between vehicles and anything else. The "X" could be roadway infrastructure, other vehicles, roadway workers or other safety and communication devices. ATSSA members are at the forefront of these technologies, and are working with stakeholders across new industries to see these innovations come to life.


Sensor Technology

CAVs rely on three main groups of sensors: camera, radar, and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). The camera sensors capture moving objects and the outlines of roadway devices to get speed and distance data. Short- and long-range radar sensors work to detect traffic from the front and the back of CAVs. LIDAR systems produce three-dimensional images of both moving and stationary objects.


For more information about ATSSA’s efforts on CAT and CAV’s and their interaction with our member products check out the resources below.




Resources

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ATSSA board member testifying before Congress on Wednesday

ATSSA Board Member Cindy Williams will testify on Capitol Hill before the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee on Wednesday regarding roadway safety and the rising number of traffic fatalities.

Williams is president of Time Striping in Van Buren, Ark., and president of the Arkansas ATSSA Chapter.

The hearing, “Addressing the Roadway Safety Crisis: Building Safer Roads for all,” will be livestreamed at 10 a.m. on the House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure website.

As ATSSA reported on May 17, traffic fatalities across the U.S. rose 10.5% in 2021 to a projected 42,915 deaths, reaching a 16-year high, according to statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

NHTSA’s report also noted that projected increase from 38,824 fatalities in 2020 is “the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and the largest annual percentage increase in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System’s history,” according to NHTSA.

Check back to the blog for ATSSA’s full report following the hearing.

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