At the GO-NV Transportation Summit, the GENIVI Alliance, signed a cooperative Letter of Intent with the Nevada Center for Advanced Mobility (NCAM), to bring advanced connected vehicle technology to Las Vegas to help increase awareness for pedestrian safety and improve traffic flow.
The intent of this project is a phased approach to demonstrate how in-vehicle communications technology and vehicle data can integrate with existing transportation infrastructure to deliver information to the driver regarding road conditions and increase awareness of other road users including pedestrians to create a safer and more connected transportation network that benefits all road users in Las Vegas.
As of December 25, 2016, the State of Nevada saw 213 vehicle/bicycle/pedestrian fatalities, an approximately 5-percent increase in fatalities from 2015. Per crash reports, approximately half of the pedestrian fatalities and injuries occurred midblock on roadways often at night and not within marked crosswalks. In March 2016, the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) launched a statewide awareness program to help improve awareness for pedestrian safety.
Critical strategies identified to reduce pedestrian fatalities include reducing speeds along corridors with high pedestrian activity, reducing pedestrian exposure while crossing the street and employing pedestrian safety awareness campaigns. This pilot project focuses on addressing these critical strategies.
Building on the statewide pedestrian awareness campaign, NCAM is joining forces with the GENIVI Alliance to integrate connected vehicle data with Southern Nevada’s traffic signal and roadway network to help drivers be more alert to pedestrian movements and other traffic issues. The GENIVI Alliance will deploy its open Remote Vehicle Interaction (RVI) technology to combine Southern Nevada traffic data with information captured from vehicles outfitted with the connected vehicle technology. The combination of this traffic and vehicle information will assist in better understanding how to inform drivers of roadway conditions and increase awareness of other road users such as people crossing the street.
The collaboration between NCAM and the GENIVI Alliance is detailed in a Letter of Intent that states the initial focus of this transportation pilot will target the following connected car driver awareness cases:
- Bus Stop Warnings – alerting drivers of upcoming bus stops and pedestrian traffic ahead in order to reduce speeds and improve awareness of pedestrian activity.
- High-Risk Warning Areas – using a vehicle’s position and time of day to display an in-vehicle warning as the vehicle nears pedestrian crosswalks.
- Speeding Warning – displays a warning to drivers that they are exceeding the current speed limit
- Traffic Stopped Ahead – provides drivers with an alert of traffic conditions ahead by displaying a warning of upcoming traffic jams and the proximity to the backup to reduce the chance of potential rear-end collisions.
The Transportation Pilot Project will initially target the Charleston Boulevard corridor, which has high transit and pedestrian activity.