Secretary Anthony Foxx
Connected Vehicles Announcement
New York City
September 14, 2015
Over the past year I have been visiting research labs, technology companies, and manufacturers to deliver a simple message: The U.S. Department of Transportation wants to roll out the red carpet, not the red tape, for new technology in transportation.
If an emerging technology can improve safety and how we move, we want to see it on the market as quickly as possible. And we are especially bullish about the use of connected and autonomous vehicle technology.
Let me just pause here and ask a couple questions: Who here has never started to switch lanes thinking a car wasn’t next to them? Who here has never been surprised by a stop sign or red light?
It’s okay; no one has to raise their hands. But I do think everyone here will agree with me that no one is perfect. Mistakes do happen. So imagine having a car that is equipped with technology that can correct human error. Imagine riding a bicycle to a transit stop during rush-hour or walking across a busy street. Except now you can basically communicate with the drivers and infrastructure surrounding you, so you are much less vulnerable to being struck by a vehicle.
This is what connected vehicle technology can do. It promises to eliminate up to 80 percent of accidents in which the driver wasn’t impaired.
In fact, this technology promises to do even more than this. Eventually it will be the backbone of a new, smarter transportation infrastructure that makes commutes easier and speeds up freight.
It will help us be a country that produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions. It will help us design smarter cities and connect every community to the 21st century economy.
But the reality is we know we can provide more than research and support. Government also has a role to play in proving to potential consumers and investors that this is more than just a great idea. We can show the American people that this technology works – and more importantly, that it is safe.
We need to get this country wired. And if we do, yes, the use of this new technology will emerge. And according to researchers, so will a $35 billion industry in America.
So today we are vastly expanding on this Department’s efforts to date. Today we are launching three new connected vehicle pilot efforts. This is a $42 million program.
We are bringing this to rural America by supporting an effort in Wyoming to improve freight movements.
We’re investing $37 million to make cities smarter – to reduce traffic, improve safety, and improve quality of life; and so they can be models for the rest of the country.
We will bring this to Tampa to address its mobility challenges, including by installing connected technologies on streetcars.
And I am very proud to say that we will bring these technologies right here to the great city of New York.
New York City will now be home to the largest demonstration of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure technology in the world.
In Midtown Manhattan and in Brooklyn, New York City will be able to install these connected technologies in 10,000 vehicles and even infrastructure such as traffic signals. New York City will show the world what this technology can do.
And let me also say that it is particularly important that we do this here. Because tragically, on the streets of New York City, a pedestrian is struck and seriously injured or killed by vehicle every two hours.
New York City has launched Vision Zero to solve this problem. We’ve supported it through our TIGER program. And now Vision Zero can move boldly towards the future.
The last point I’ll make is: We do know these technologies work. Because we’ve seen it.
We saw them work at the first test site we launched back in 2010. This wasn’t done in a lab – but in fact on the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
And now we’ll see them work in New York, Wyoming, and Tampa – and more communities where we’ll launch pilots in the near future.
We’ve even accelerated our timetable on a rule that will require vehicle-to-vehicle communications in all new light-duty vehicles.
So clearly this isn’t a pipe dream. It isn’t even far off in the future. This is coming. We could start seeing this as early 2017.
And I can tell you all that the goal of this Department will be to continue to prove that this technology is safe. It’ll be to keep proving it lives up to its promise. And on a personal note, I’m making a big push to get all vehicles connected before my daughter – who is now 11 – turns 16.
Thank you all so much. It is great to be with you.
###