Connected Vehicle
Following the completion of the 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Program continues to operate and maintain the connected vehicle deployment in Orlando. The SunGuide® software continues to receive basic safety messages (BSM) from deployed vehicle awareness devices and transmit traveler advisory messages to roadside equipment for broadcast. FDOT maintenance, I-Ride Trolleys, and Lynx transit vehicles are equipped with vehicle awareness devices that continue to broadcast BMSs for processing by SunGuide software.
FDOT continues to work with the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) to establish a data sharing agreement to share the BSM data as well as data that is captured and stored on the vehicle awareness devices.
As part of moving its connected vehicle research and deployments forward, FDOT has developed a connected vehicle concept of operations focusing on utilizing their Traffic Engineering Research Laboratory for connected vehicle qualified product testing, research, and deployment support.
In cooperation with the USDOT and other state and local agencies performing connected vehicle research, FDOT participated in the initial affiliated test bed meeting hosted by USDOT and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The purpose of forming the affiliated test beds was to share information, research, and data among the test beds to advance their own research and development as well as the overall USDOT connected vehicle program.
FDOT continued to support the USDOT connected vehicle program in several ways. FDOT supported the dynamic mobility applications (DMA) by attending various in-person meetings and webinars reviewing concepts of operations and requirements for several of the DMA bundles. FDOT attended safety applications concept of operations and policy research workshop webinars providing input from Florida’s perspective. FDOT continued to establish its relationship with the data capture and management program to share data.
To further connected vehicle research within the state, FDOT Central Office submitted a proposal to the FDOT Research Center to investigate using connected vehicle technology with signal controllers broadcasting signal phasing and timing to vehicles approaching intersections.
As autonomous vehicle research is accelerated by companies such as Google, both the Florida House and Senate passed autonomous vehicle legislation. The FDOT ITS Program reviewed both pieces of legislation to analyze the impact that autonomous vehicles could have on the transportation system and how autonomous vehicle technology would interact with ITS and connected vehicle technology. While connected vehicle technology is not directly related to autonomous vehicle technology, connected vehicle technology has the potential to complement autonomous vehicle technology; providing the capability for autonomous vehicles to obtain additional data about vehicles in the immediate vicinity.
For questions regarding FDOT's ITS Program, please see Contacts.