Transcript of VII video presentation Vehicle…infrastructure…integration…VII, safer roads, improved mobility. More than ever, America’s world class road system is an essential part of our economy, our quality of life and our national security. But today, there are major challenges facing our transportation infrastructure. The network of roads, bridges, tolls, signs and safety systems that keeps us moving. Demand for road travel by Americans is sky rocketing. Constructions for adding capacity has not kept pace; between 1980 and 2004, the capacity of our highway system increased by 5%, while the number of vehicle miles traveled increased by 90%. America’s roadways are stretched to the limit and we pay an enormous price in death and injuries, as well as congestion-related costs in mobility, energy and emissions. As our population grows, congestions and safety problems will continue to worsen, threatening the economic and health of our nation… Kirk Steudle, State Transportation Director, Michigan, DOT (Department of Transport): “We have a crisis looming in this country; we have the increase of traffic fatalities that continue to Americans every day on the nation’s highways. The highways that are already filled across this country are going to get even worse” The US Department of Transportation and its state, local and industrial partners have been working to address the issues with various measures to improve mobility and safety, but more is needed to address America’s congestion crisis. Today DOT and its partners are currently in the testing phase of an intelligent transporation system known as Vehicle Infrastructure Integration or VII that offers promise to relieve the stress on our nations roadways and the drives who rely on them. VII is a set of advanced vehicle technologies, communications systems, infrastructure services and supporting applications that holds the promise for revolutionising highway transportation and yielding dramatic improvement in both safety and mobility on Americas roadways. The VII concept allows for wireless communications both between vehicles and the roadway system and between individual vehicles. It all adds up to safer roads and improved mobility. Shelley Row, Director, USDOT ITS Joint Program Office: “It is an enabling infrastructure and an enabling network that allows us to share information. That information is powerful and useful to both the private sector and to the public sector”. Vehicles in the VII system serving as probes can communicate with the road, transmitting probe data to roadside monitors as they travel. In addition to speed and heading, vehicle data includes information collected from a variety of vehicle systems. The information provided anonymously by individual drivers and vehicles is used by transportation professionals to predict travel times along all routes within the local roadway network and to pinpoint congestion, roadway incidents and travelling conditions. Transportation operations centers use the information to develop advisory messages that can be accessed by motorists inside their vehicles from real-time information sources. VII-equipped vehicles also continuously communicate with each other so that they know the exact position of every other vehicle on the road, allowing them to anticipate and avoid potential collisions. VII offers a wide range of benefits that enhance driver safety in hazardous driving situations without adding to driver distraction. David Henry, Senior Manager, Government Collaborative Programs, Chrysler LLC, President, VII Consortium: “So one of the priorities as we design this pre-competitivie system, is being safe and also not being distracted” Examples of safety applications include intersection collision avoidance systems, electronic brake-light warning and kerb-speed warning. Intersection collision avoidance systems improve safety and traffic signals and stop signs by warning drivers about dangerous conditions to prevent potential crashes. Electronic brake-light warning allows drivers to take immediate action that can prevent the pile-ups often caused by sudden stops or crashes up ahead. For today’s frequently distracted drivers, VII could spell the difference between life and death. Because of a lack of accurate and comprehensive real-time traffic flow data, most of today’s signalling systems in urban areas rely on historical, sometimes out-of-date traffic data so that they are often not properly timed or coordinated. The result is congestion during peak periods, but with VII, local and state traffic engineers will have the real time data they need to develop highly optimised signal control systems that can lead to significant improvements in traffic flow and reduced congestion. In the longer term, such data will help transportation planners understand and predict regional travel patterns. David Cole, Chairman, Center for Automotive Research: “If you can optimise how you drive from one place to another, that has real value and that’s the kind of thing that is embedded within VII.” With over forty thousand fatalities annually and ever increasing congestion, our nation’s roadway is at a breaking point. VII offer enabling technology to address this crisis. Kirk Steudle, State Transportation Director, Michigan, DOT (Department of Transport): “The team that’s involved with the VII demonstration is a very diverse team. At a government level, there’s the US DOT (United States Department of Transport), there’s the Michigan DOT and there’s our partners across the country in Minnesota, Florida, California and Virginia that are all weighing in and providing some oversight into what’s going into what’s going on, what kind of testing is happening and what are we learning on the Government side. On the private side, there are eight OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) that are actively involved in this testing.” Randell Iwasaki, Chief Deputy Director, CALTRANS: “We’re taking a segment of the transportation industry and making us work together to save peoples lives, get better efficiency out of system, get better mobility to keep America strong.” In the coming months programme partners will continue testing the technology, finding cost and benefit estimates, and developing the VII networks business model. The testing phase will give Americans a first glimpse at how VII will soon make our highways safer and more efficient and offer a wealth of safety and economic benefits to the entire nation. VII (Vehicle Infrastructure Integration), safer roads, improved mobility. End of presentation.