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Cars that Talk Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - Ehud Rattner Home >> News >> Transportation   
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The European Commission has recently decided to reserve, across Europe, part of the radio spectrum for smart vehicle communications systems. The decision is part of the commission’s overall fight against road accidents and traffic jams, and the hope is that vehicles’ developers will create wireless communication technology that will allow cars to “talk” to other cars and to the road infrastructure providers.
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The decision made is to provide a single EU-wide frequency band that can be used for immediate and reliable communication between cars and between cars and theroadside infrastructure. It is 30 MHz of spectrum in the 5.9 Gigahertz (GHz) band which will be allocated within the next six months by national authorities across Europe, improving road safety applications without barring other services already in place (such as amateur radio services). Numerous examples show why drivers could benefit from the new frequency. For instance, information about a sudden road closure could be transmitted to drivers in the area, so they could change their course via a detour. Furthermore, information about maintenance works, malfunctioned traffic lights, and other traffic-changing events could be sent as well. “This Commission decision is a decisive step towards meeting the European goal of reducing road accidents. Getting critical messages through quickly and accurately is a must for road safety,” said Viviane Reding, EU Telecoms Commissioner. “We should also keep in mind that with 24% of Europeans' driving time spent in traffic jams the costs caused by congestion could reach €80 billion by 2010. So clearly saving time through smart vehicles communications systems means saving money." TFOT has also covered Ford’s new blind spot mirror, which has an integrated convex spotter mirror aimed directly at the vehicle’s blind spot, meant to protect drivers and prevent accidents, and the Smart Mover, which is one of the most realistic racing simulators in the world. For more information about the EU Commission’s decision, see its press release. |
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I can't tell you how many time's I have dreamed of truly "intelligent" traffic signals. Cars with GPS communicate bi-directionally with traffic signals. The traffic signals would know how many cars are currently queued at their intersection as well as how many cars are approaching the intersection, so they can adjust red light timing based on real-time traffic flow. The traffic signal communicates to approaching traffic so your car could accelerate or decelerate to catch the current/next green light. Implemented correctly, a wave of cars a mile down the road would automatically decelerate slightly, opening up a gap in traffic. Their light turns red to allow cross traffic flow. By the time the wave of traffic gets to the signal, it turns green. The system would dramatically increase fuel economy by eliminating idling at intersections and subsequent acceleration from the stot |
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By the way, many traffic lights today have movement-sensitive cameras, that allow them to dynamically re-program the lights according to the traffic. Although it is used mainly by night, it helps managing traffic better. The disadvantage, as far as I know, is that some motorcycles aren't captured, therefore standing at 0200AM in a vacant crossroads... |
