In 50 years, there will be more means of public transportation, predicts Tom Dingus, director of the Center for Transportation Research at Virginia Tech. In addition, power for rail and the remaining passenger cars will be provided by electricity.
Despite mass transit advances, Americans are unlikely to replace one of the best roadway systems in the world. The not-yet 50-year-old Eisenhower interstate system is here to stay, Dingus says. However, by 2047, highways and vehicles will be smart.
Transportation center researchers are developing technology for both cars and roads. The center was established in 1988 as a Federal Highway Administration Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Center of Excellence. It performs intelligent transportation systems research and development, including concept design, technology transfer, policy studies, modeling and algorithm development, simulation and controlled tests, building of product prototypes, field tests, and field evaluations. The center specializes in commercial vehicle operations; advanced vehicle and safety systems; travel, transportation, and emergency management; and public transportation operations.
Human Factors
The center is working with the National Automated Highway System Consortium to investigate and solve human factors issues. For example, says Dingus, whose own research emphasis is human factors, "We have to design a system so that drivers can relinquish and take back control of their cars. How does the system know you're ready to take control again? Equipment presently being advertised to keep you from running over a shopping cart or bicycle that is in your blind spot is for close-up, low-speed detection, he explains. "Some (high-speed) systems require the driver to monitor them. That's the worst situation because people are not good at being vigilant for long periods of time looking for rare events."
Another issue is system failure. "Aircraft are automated but still have a pilot. Unlike a pilot, drivers don't have any special training with the technology or how to respond. We have to design a system that allows the driver to process information and respond without making the situation worse and without causing an accident."
Instrumentation
The center's faculty and graduate students are working on collision warning and avoidance systems with the goal of providing information before a driver could process it, or of assisting in circumstances where the driver would be unable to respond in time. "For example, your car would warn you if you start to change lanes when there is another vehicle in your blind spot, or would brake automatically if a car pulls in front of you." Such technology is not far in the future, Dingus says.
Also close to implementation are advanced traveler information systems, such as your vehicle telling you if there is a stop sign ahead. "Even if you can't see a sign because of fog or a line-of-sight obstruction, it will be displayed on your dashboard." On-board systems would also route drivers to their destination, or around congestion or an accident. "Such systems can work in conjunction with road sensors and communications, such as a sensor on a bridge that tells you there's an icy bridge ahead," Dingus explains.
Smart Roads
Smart road technology can also be a part of incident management systems to allow people at a traffic control center to initiate road-side signs and reroute traffic. Traffic control centers are already in place in Virginia's congested Hampton Roads area, and around Washington, D.C.
In rural areas, the burden shifts back to smart cars. "In less congested areas we're working on rural mayday systems," says Dingus. "For example, if your air bag deploys, it sends a signal to the state police or rescue unit. Before such technology, slow response time resulted in increased numbers of fatalities on rural highways. Mayday systems such as this can get help 30 minutes faster, thereby saving lives."
With funding from Delco Electronics, the center is installing instrumentation in an automobile for automated speech recognition, a programmable dash, and a collision warning system, as well as instrumentation to measure driver performance. Volvo GM will provide a large truck to be instrumented to study driving performance, and for use on a Smart Road testbed.
The 5.7-mile road will be smart in a variety of ways – an example of including automated highway technology in the cost of building new roads. “Some sections will have instrumentation alongside the road,” Dingus says. For example, researchers will be able to make it rain or snow on the initial two-mile stretch. Other portions will have instrumentation built into the road. Research will begin as soon as the first section is complete, and as the three sections are built, the latest in ITS technology will be incorporated. When the entire road is finished, it will be part of an actual limited-access bypass and available for public use.
These projects are the first of many that will soon be tested in southwest Virginia. Technology will ensure safety through such measures as collision avoidance and automatic vehicle location, as well as passenger comfort and traveler convenience.