Industry efforts for connected Mobility
Brussel, Belgium
Connected vehicles are a key element of tomorrow's safe and efficient mobility. Industry, national authorities and research agencies have agreed that enabling vehicles to communicate with each other and traffic infrastructure can play an important role towards achieving the goal of reducing fatal accidents on European roads towards zero. More than 1,100 visitors of the ITS World Congress 2012 recently held in Vienna came away with the message that the future of mobility is connected mobility. Through driving demonstrations of V2V and V2I Communication, they experienced how cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems and Services (C-ITS) can assist drivers in real-life traffic. Demonstrations were organised by the CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium – an industry driven Consortium of European vehicles manufacturers, suppliers and research organisations – and the Testfeld Telematik Consortium – representing Austrian infrastructure industry, suppliers and traffic management facilities.
By informing the driver about current traffic conditions and warning him or her if a dangerous situation occurs, C-ITS contribute not only to traffic safety, but to environmental-friendly driving. ITS stations built-in vehicles and traffic infrastructure establish an ad-hoc network based on ITS G5 wireless communication. They serve as sender and receiver of real-time data, exchanging e. g. the position, speed and direction of vehicles or signal phases of traffic lights. Analysing these data, cooperative systems inform the driver via a Human Machine Interface e. g. about current speed limits, about road works, ends of traffic jams or broken down vehicles blocking his route.
In this way, they support him in deciding how to react – e. g. slowing down timely and safely. Efficiency-related service include the information about the optimal speed to pass a traffic light in green phase – avoiding abrupt speed changes causing high emissions.
While the functionality of cooperative systems is tested in European projects like Score@F, simTD or DRIVE C2X, European stakeholders intensify the preparation for connected vehicles entering European roads. Thanks to the work of the standardization organisations (ETSI and CEN), it is guaranteed that cooperative systems are interoperable across borders and brands. Another key players, the European support action COMeSafety2 supports the standardisation and harmonisation of internationally defined standards by cooperating with stakeholders in the USA and Japan.
The twelve car manufacturers in the CAR 2 CAR consortium recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to signal their intention to provide cooperative systems from 2015 on. To view the MoU press release visit: CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium
