Research Archive

Research Plan Research Progress and Insights

Transit V2V research supports Track 8 of the V2V Safety research program with a focus on the needs and opportunities specific to transit.  Similar to truck V2V research, transit participated in the Safety Pilot Model Deployment.  The transit team worked with industry to integrate wireless DSRC technology into transit buses and developed research prototypes of appropriate safety applications on these transit vehicles.  A key element of the prototypes was that safety applications had to be interoperable (e.g., share messages) with other vehicle platforms, specifically the light duty vehicles applications.

The Safety Pilot Model Deployment: 1) tested overall compatibility and interoperability of transit buses with other light and heavy vehicles; and 2) informed future transit V2V and V2I research and development activities.  Based on an analysis of transit bus crash statistics and stakeholder input to explore Connected Vehicle safety applications that can address transit’s critical safety needs, a set of three high-priority V2V safety applications were identified, developed, tested, and deployed in the Model Deployment.  They include one transit-specific application -- Vehicle Turning Right in Front of Bus Warning, and two basic safety applications -- Emergency Electronic Brake Lights and Forward Collision Warning.  Additional transit crash data analyses and Connected Vehicle studies have taken place to identify future potential V2V and V2I applications development for transit.