Sometimes it seems the hype surrounding driverless cars is developing faster that the technology itself. While a lot has been done, the industry still has a long way to go before we reach a future in which human drivers are obsolete.
Before connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) can navigate the school drop-off they need to prove themselves in controlled road environments, which is why managed roadway networks will play such a critical role in the development and rollout of CAVs.
As the technology develops it’s only going to become more important to get these vehicles onto roads to see how they interact with road infrastructure, and everyday obstacles such as human drivers, debris, and rain.
Managed lanes, as the name suggests, are highly controlled environments and are the ideal testing ground for CAVs. They use lane use management signs and variable message signs to manage the speed and flow of traffic. Advanced intelligent transportation systems capabilities, such as dense sensor or camera coverage, support enhanced opportunities to oversee testing or gather data points throughout an on-road CAV trial.
And it makes sense for road infrastructure operators to be part of the process so we can begin preparing for the rollout of new vehicles with different requirements. For a long time, roads only needed to communicate with human drivers through visual cues. Now, infrastructure will need to communicate with the vehicles themselves, through systems referred to as infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication.
In the United States Transurban has partnered with the Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation to test CAVs on Transurban’s Express Lanes network in the Greater Washington Area.
The partnership will study how CAVs may improve safety and mobility by specifically testing electronics, information processing and communications technology to better understand the practical application of CAVs in a real-world environment.
For more on the importance of road operators in facilitating the roll out of CAVs check out an article I wrote for ITS International.
To see latest developments on Transurban’s North American CAV trials check out cavs.transurban.com/trials/north-america.
