We were part of the Booz Allen Hamilton research team for the recently completed NCHRP 20-102(8), Dedicating Lanes for Priority or Exclusive Use by Connected Vehicles (CV) and Automated Vehicles (AV). WSP contributed to the identification of benefits and drawbacks, and recommended models that could be utilized to help quantify applicable performance measures. Our team also led a thorough examination of laws and regulations, including a review of policy, regulatory and legislative issues, and created a draft framework of vehicle definitions for future implementation scenarios.
WSP is currently leading NCHRP 20-102(12), Business Models to Facilitate Deployment of CV Infrastructure. This project will describe scenarios characterizing how CV infrastructure technology may be developed and deployed. Through workshops and expert development, the project will assess the business case for departments of transportation to make investments in CV infrastructure—solely and in partnership with private enterprise—to realize the greatest public benefits of AV technology.
We are also a key partner on the Booz Allen Hamilton team for NCHRP 20-102(15), Impacts of C/AV Technologies on the Highway Infrastructure; and NCHRP 20-102(19), Update AASHTO’s C/AV Research Roadmap. For Project #15, WSP is co-principal investigator, helping to produce guidance for state and local transportation agencies in evaluating and—if necessary—adapting their standards and practices for roadway and intelligent transportation system designs. For Project #19, WSP is contributing subject matter experts to help update and maintain the C/AV research roadmap developed in previous NCHRP project efforts.
In a related NCHRP project, WSP partnered with the Texas Transportation Institute on NCHRP 20-24(112), Connected Road Classification System. The project will build on the Colorado Department of Transportation’s straw-man classification system already proposed, and develop a uniform classification system. This will help agencies designate their roadways based on the degree and level of readiness to accommodate CVs and highly automated vehicles and plan their deployment of needed infrastructure
Outside of NCHRP, WSP is leading a CV PFS project exploring the next generation Connected Traffic Control System. Along with partners PATH and the University of Arizona, our team is building from previous CV PFS efforts and the highly successful Multi-modal Intelligent Traffic Signal System research and demonstration projects. The project will expand the research concept to address the full spectrum of traffic control systems currently in use or emerging.
WSP is also leading an important research project for the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Operations. For the project, Mobile Devices Sharing Data with Connected Vehicles and ITS Devices – Concepts of Operations, Requirements, Data Sharing Needs and Design Considerations, we are developing a technical guidance document to support public agencies as they consider enabling their traffic management systems to share data with connected devices to enhance the performance of the trips of travelers using these devices and the surface transportation system.