Transit Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) Assessment Study: Project Report

The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) is engaged in assessing applications that realize the full potential of connected vehicles, travelers, and infrastructure to enhance current operational practices and transform future surface transportation systems management. This effort, known as the Connected Vehicle Program, is a collaborative initiative spanning the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office (ITS JPO), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). At its foundation is a communications network that supports vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), and vehicle or infrastructure-to-device (X2D) communications. Onboard equipment (OBE) units consist of connected vehicle equipment installed in the vehicle capable of broadcasting and receiving wireless messages. Roadside units (RSU) consist of roadside equipment capable of broadcasting and receiving wireless messages from vehicles. With its unique operational behaviors, vehicle characteristics, institutional assets, and mission to serve the public, the transit community holds a unique set of opportunities to support V2I applications that benefit all road users in general, and transit riders in particular. The overall scope of this Transit Connected Vehicle V2I Assessment Study is to: (i) perform a thorough cross-cutting exploration of transit unique V2I needs (such as data and communications needs), opportunities (where transit can contribute, for example, to the data environments) and constraints (such as ownership of and accessibility to certain infrastructures), and then (ii) define and prioritize selected transit V2I application bundles, and develop operational descriptions. This report, as a final project report, documents the thought process and approaches used in this study, as well as key findings derived from these research activities.