Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Transforming Roads: Unleashing Smart Technologies (TRUST)
In Fall 2024, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded cooperative agreements collectively worth $60 million to Maricopa County DOT (MCDOT), Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), and Utah DOT (UDOT) to deploy, operate, and showcase secure, interoperable vehicle-to-everything (V2X) deployments.
Problem
There is significant traffic along the corridors connecting Houston and Bryan/College Station (B/CS) (e.g., US-290, TX-6, TX-249, TX-105 and I-45). Both regions attract over 100,000 eventgoers on busy weekends, and B/CS is home to Texas's largest university, Texas A&M University (TAMU).
Serving more than five million people, these corridors accommodate hundreds of thousands of daily trips along 300 miles of the National Highway System (NHS), creating growing demands for improved safety, coordination, and communication.
Approach
TTI is leading the TRUST project that is deploying V2X technology in the mega-region of Texas encompassing the Greater Houston metropolitan area, Bryan/College Station, and connecting routes. The deployment area will leverage existing roadside unit (RSU) deployments that broadcast signal phase and timing (SPaT) messages at over 1,000 intersections in Houston.
An additional 35 intersections near the university in College Station will be equipped with V2X technology, while 50 intersections in the Greater Houston metropolitan area will be upgraded to broadcast SPaT messages. The deployment will also equip 129 fleet vehicles with V2X technology, including transit and emergency vehicles. On NHS routes, low-cost, lightweight computing devices will be installed providing capabilities to gather real-time information without the overwhelming infrastructure. The project will use a hybrid communication approach that combines direct V2X and network V2X to provide complementary and redundant data exchange for enhanced safety and mobility.
Implementation Areas & Use Cases
Bryan/College Station
- SPaT-Enabled Intersections for Road User Identification and Protection
- Traffic Signal Preemption and Priority
- Transit Fleet Integration
- Every Day a Gameday
- Enhanced Highway Construction Worker Safety
Rural Corridors (US 290/SH 6/SH 249)
- Incident Management / Hurricane Evacuation
- Adverse Weather Events & Flooding
- Planned Construction and Special Events
- Curve Speed Warning
Greater Houston Metropolitan Area
- Roadway Flood Warning
- SPaT-Enabled Intersections
- Right Turns on Red Warning
- Red Light Violation Warning
- Wrong Way Driving Detection
- Emergency Vehicle Response Time and Safety
Partners
TTI has partnered with proven entities with significant deployment expertise across all aspects of transportation, communications, infrastructure, and vehicle arenas. Partners include Texas A&M University, Texas Department of Transportation, Bryan/College Station Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), City of Houston, Missouri City, Fort Bend County, City of College Station, TAMU Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center, Qualcomm, Applied Information, AT&T, Mixon-Hill, AstraZero, Bush Combat Center, General Motors, Audi, Google, Paradigm Traffic Systems, and Integrity Security Systems.
Value Proposition
Texas TRUST aims to deliver measurable safety and mobility improvements across dynamic regions and high-demand corridors. As a result, the TRUST project seeks to accomplish economic development, demonstrate regional benefits, and create transferable and scalable V2X solutions.
Links and Resources
Visit the TRUST Project Website
View the Project Documentation