U.S. DOT Partners
with Caltrans to Move California Drivers One Step
Closer To Instant Travel Information and
Safety Technologies
Bay Area Selected for one of the
World's Largest Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Tests
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RITA 01-08
Kim Riddle
202-366-5128
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Wednesday, June 25,
2008 - San Francisco Bay Area commuters will have access to
cutting-edge real-time traffic, transit and road safety information as a result
of a $12.4 million partnership announced today by the
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans).
"America has the ability—right now—to radically change our driving experience using
innovations that exist today," said Administrator Paul Brubaker of the
U.S. DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). "As one of the communities selected last
August to participate in the Department’s Urban Partnership program, San
Francisco already has shown its commitment to using
innovative approaches to reduce traffic congestion. Now, the Bay Area will become the site of one
of the world’s largest field-tests of Intelligent Transportation Systems technology.
The award to Caltrans is part of
the Department's new SafeTrip-21 initiative, which will test various ITS technology applications designed to reduce gridlock
and traffic-related fatalities and injuries on
America's roadways, and improve public transportation services.
Randy
Iwasaki, Chief Deputy Director of Caltrans
added, "SafeTrip-21 is one of many ways that the public and private
sectors can collaborate to create cost-effective transportation solutions
focused on improving the traveler's commuting convenience and overall
safety."
The SafeTrip-21 partnership will
field test GPS-equipped cellular phones from up to 10,000 volunteer commuters
and transit vehicles transmitting data from roads in a 200 mile radius to
traffic management centers. The
additional traffic information gathered by these "probes" will help
all Bay Area commuters make intelligent travel choices and avoid congestion
while driving to work or using local transit systems.
SafeTrip-21 is working to develop
a consumer friendly platform that brings together existing technologies
including trip planning and traveler information; safety advisories; on-board
displays of commuter rail and transit bus connections; electronic toll
collection, and parking reservation and payment services.
The partnership also will
establish a national "test bed" to advance the development of
a Vehicle Infrastructure Integration system, which uses WiFi and Dedicated
Short Range Communications to alert drivers to unsafe conditions so they can
avoid crashes before they happen.
Multiple consumer electronic
devices will be used including personal navigation devices, mobile phones, and
a diverse set of communication technologies. In addition, an in-vehicle “cradle” will provide a wireless interface to
the Internet for virtually any mobile electronic device.
Other SafeTrip-21 partners include the University
of California–Partners for Advanced
Transit and Highways (PATH), California
Center for Innovative
Transportation (CCIT), Nokia, NAVTEQ, Metropolitan Transportation Commission,
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and Nissan.
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