V2X technology: US government picks up the pace for connected cars
By 2036, all national highways in the USA are to be equipped so that cars can communicate with each other and with the traffic infrastructure.
Cars will soon not only be able to drive autonomously, but also cooperate with each other.
(Image: metamorworks/Shutterstock.com)
The much-touted "cooperative intelligent transportation systems", in which cars communicate wirelessly with each other and with the traffic infrastructure on the road, for example, are to be increasingly implemented in the USA. Advocates of greater road safety have been praising the potential of such systems for "vehicle-to-everything" communication (V2X) or "car-to-car communication" (C2X) for years. So far, however, little has been done in practice in this field. On Friday, however, the US Department of Transportation published a national roadmap to accelerate the introduction of this technology and save thousands of lives at the same time.
Following a consultation phase lasting several months, the initiative focuses on road safety, mobility and "efficiency through technology". US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg of the Democrats spoke of a milestone that had already been reached with the presentation of the next steps along the way. He emphasized: "The Department is aware of the potential safety benefits of V2X and this plan brings us closer to nationwide deployment of this technology." Shailen Bhatt, head of the Federal Highway Administration, emphasized that V2X has proven itself in principle and is working well.
The Department's goal with the paper is to accelerate the deployment of secure, interoperable V2X connectivity using the dedicated 5.895 – 5.925 GHz spectrum and other available spectrum bands through collaboration and coordination between the government, public sector and industry. By 2028, at least two original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will initially commit to equipping vehicles so that they can transmit in the targeted range. According to the plan, V2X will be in use on 20 percent of the nation's highways by then. In the 75 largest conurbations, 25 percent of traffic lights at junctions are to be equipped for communication with vehicles. At the same time, there are to be 12 interoperable, "cyber-secure implementations".
The EU has forged ahead, but is in danger of falling behind
In the long term, the entire highway-like road network in the USA is to be aligned with V2X by 2036. By then at the latest, the technology should be installed at 75 percent of the country's intersections and 85 percent of traffic lights in major urban areas. At least 20 vehicle models are then scheduled to be V2X-capable. In addition, five V2X use cases will be ready for use in the planned GHz band in all 50 federal states.
The use of relevant systems has been "hampered by regulatory uncertainty", complained John Bozzella, President of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the interests of car manufacturers in the USA. However, he was optimistic that the new project would help and restart deployment efforts: "This is the reset button." Back in 2019, the EU Commission set out the framework for connected cars and roads with a set of rules for "Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems" (C-ITS). Vehicles should be able to warn each other of dangerous situations such as the end of a traffic jam or construction work or communicate the condition of a road currently being used. However, following a dispute whether the ITS-G5 standard with the tested WLAN specification 802.11p or the mobile radio technology C-V2X should be used for C-ITS, the technology has become rather quiet in the EU.
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