Nov. 13, 2008 — Engineers at the 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems have implemented a Vehicle Infrastructure Integration test bed in Manhattan and along the Long Island Expressway to demonstrate how the next-generation ITS technology can improve vehicular safety and mobility. Participants will experience advanced VII applications by riding six demonstration buses on Manhattan and Long Island test routes during the Nov. 17-20 congress.
Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) , headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, provided overall system integration and coordination for the busses and developed the probe data, mass transit priority and traffic signal preemption applications for the onboard equipment. SwRI® also provided a probe data map viewer on the buses as well as a roadside probe data collection application.
The tour buses and routes are outfitted with Dedicated Short Range Communications technologies to demonstrate numerous safety and mobility applications. These systems will also feed data into the Traffic Management Center of the Future demonstration in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
"Partners in the ITS World Congress demonstration planning committee, including SwRI, have implemented a VII test bed that will demonstrate traveler information, probe data, signal phase and timing, transit signal priority, traffic signal pre-emption and numerous other applications providing useful data for traveler information," said Ryan Lamm, manager of intelligent vehicle systems in SwRI's Automation and Data Systems Division.
"Transit signal priority and signal preemption applications allow mass transit and emergency vehicles to modify traffic signal timing," said Steven Sprouffske, a senior research analyst in SwRI's ITS Department. "For the ITS World Congress, buses approaching an intersection can request green light priority, lengthening green signal time for more efficient mass transit. Conversely, signal preemption holds the state of the intersection for approaching emergency vehicles to pass. Demonstration participants will see the request effects displayed on the bus on-board video screens, indicating the new timing sequence along with the priority/preemption status."
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, SwRI is one of the oldest and largest independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organizations in the United States, providing creative solutions to complex problems for 60 years. The Institute is uniquely qualified to support the intelligent transportation, automotive and related industries, overcoming today's technical challenges and meeting tomorrow's goals in transportation systems.
For more information contact Deb Schmid, (210) 522-2254, Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166.