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

ATSSA endorses Auto Alliance’s commitment to preserve bands of spectrum for transportation safety

ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner sent letters to Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao this week strongly endorsing the Alliance for Automotive Innovation’s letter committing to fully utilize the bands of spectrum allocated for transportation safety.

“The commitment undertaken by the Auto Innovators reflects a watershed moment for roadway safety. This letter demonstrates a unified industry committing substantial resources and support for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X). This approach should dispel any notion that the industry will not deploy V2X or that the Safety Spectrum will not be used,” Tetschner wrote.

“The bands of spectrum allocated for transportation safety has and will continue to make an impact on roadway safety. Some studies suggest that up to 94% of the vehicle crashes occur because of human behavior, which includes speeding and distracted driving. In the future, as automated vehicles penetrate the marketplace, these vehicles will also communicate utilizing the spectrum to save even more lives. The deployment of these types of technologies takes time, and more time is needed to allow these technologies to fully utilize the Safety Spectrum to save lives."

In December, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously to look at reallocating the 5.9 GHz band of spectrum—a wireless band commonly referred to as the “safety spectrum,” which was set aside in 1999 for traffic-safety-related purposes.

The FCC’s proposal would open 45 out of 75 megahertz of this spectrum to “unlicensed uses” such as WiFi hotspots and other expansions of wireless broadband services. The upper 30 megahertz would remain reserved for transportation safety uses.

ATSSA, AASHTO, the Defense Department and the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Auto Alliance) are among the groups opposing the FCC’s plan.

“Vehicle-to-everything (“V2X”) communication technologies promise to deliver significant safety and societal benefits to the American public, including reducing automotive crashes and fatalities and producing economic, environmental, and transportation efficiencies,” Auto Alliance President & CEO John Bozella said in a letter Thursday to Pai and Chao. “Recognizing the opportunity for these benefits, automotive manufacturers have already deployed or announced deployments utilizing the 5.9 GHz Safety Spectrum band in the United States (U.S.) and around the world.”

The Auto Alliance also issued a statement on Thursday outlining its position.

In his letter, Tetschner a highlighted the “significant investment by both the private industry as well as taxpayer dollars. According to the USDOT, there is currently over $1.5 billion in taxpayer-funded investments in over 25 states with substantial V2X deployments. This fact, combined with the Auto Innovators’ commitment to deploying 5 million radios, ensures that the network will realize the maximum safety benefits of V2X if the FCC assures that all 75MHz of Safety Spectrum will be maintained for transportation safety and takes action to permit cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X).”

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