'Connected' Vehicle Testing Aims to Bolster Bus Safety

摘要

The U.S. Department of Transportation is testing nearly 3,000 vehicles, including transit buses, equipped with wireless communication devices that transmit a safety message indicating their position, speed and other data. Starting in August 2012, the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) began the "Connected Vehicle Safety Pilot Model Deployment," of nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and transit vehicles equipped with wireless communication devices to improve safety. The vehicles, which are operating on public streets in Ann Arbor, Mich., transmit a basic safety message (BSM), indicating their position, speed, heading and other information, via dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), a technology similar to Wi-Fi. A subset of vehicles, including three transit buses, are also equipped with safety applications that warn drivers of imminent crashes.