U.S. DOT Partners with Caltrans to Move California Drivers One Step Closer To Instant Travel Information and Safety Technologies
Bay Area Selected for one of the World's Largest Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Tests
WASHINGTON,
DC, June 25, 2008 – San Francisco Bay Area commuters will have access
to cutting-edge real-time traffic, transit and road safety information
as a result of a $12.4 million partnership announced today by the U.S.
Department of Transportation (DOT) and California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans).
"America
has the ability—right now—to radically change our driving experience
using innovations that exist today," said Administrator Paul Brubaker
of the U.S. DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration
(RITA). "As one of the communities selected last August to
participate in the Department’s Urban Partnership program, San
Francisco already has shown its commitment to using innovative
approaches to reduce traffic congestion. Now, the Bay Area will
become the site of one of the world’s largest field-tests of
Intelligent Transportation Systems technology.
The
award to Caltrans is part of the Department's new SafeTrip-21
initiative, which will test various ITS technology applications
designed to reduce gridlock and traffic-related fatalities and injuries
on America’s roadways, and improve public transportation services.
Randy
Iwasaki, Chief Deputy Director of Caltrans added, "SafeTrip-21 is one
of many ways that the public and private sectors can collaborate to
create cost-effective transportation solutions focused on improving the
traveler's commuting convenience and overall safety."
The
SafeTrip-21 partnership will field test GPS-equipped cellular phones
from up to 10,000 volunteer commuters and transit vehicles transmitting
data from roads in a 200 mile radius to traffic management
centers. The additional traffic information gathered by these
"probes" will help all Bay Area commuters make intelligent travel
choices and avoid congestion while driving to work or using local
transit systems.
SafeTrip-21
is working to develop a consumer friendly platform that brings together
existing technologies including trip planning and traveler information;
safety advisories; on-board displays of commuter rail and transit bus
connections; electronic toll collection, and parking reservation and
payment services.
The
partnership also will establish a national "test bed" to advance the
development of a Vehicle Infrastructure Integration system, which uses
WiFi and Dedicated Short Range Communications to alert drivers to
unsafe conditions so they can avoid crashes before they happen.
Multiple
consumer electronic devices will be used including personal navigation
devices, mobile phones, and a diverse set of communication
technologies. In addition, an in-vehicle “cradle” will provide a
wireless interface to the Internet for virtually any mobile electronic
device.
Other
SafeTrip-21 partners include the University of California–Partners for
Advanced Transit and Highways (PATH), California Center for Innovative
Transportation (CCIT), Nokia, NAVTEQ, Metropolitan Transportation
Commission, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and Nissan.
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