Connected Vehicle Infrastructure University Transportation Center
The final report for Reducing School Bus/Light-Vehicle Conflicts Through Connected Vehicle Communication, submitted by Kelly Donoghue Palframan and Andrew Alden, has been released.
Report Abstract:
This project aimed to develop and test a concept for improving the safety of school bus transportation using connected vehicle technology. The project consisted of three key steps that led to a final road study: 1) conducting focus groups with light vehicle drivers and school bus drivers to determine what type of in-vehicle school-bus related information they would like to receive/send; 2) developing a concept of operations to accommodate driver desires; and 3) evaluating the effect of an in-vehicle message that warns of a stopped school bus ahead. In the road study, researchers evaluated each driver’s response through analysis of vehicle kinematics (speed, longitudinal acceleration, and jerk) when a bus was staged either beyond a “School Bus Stop Ahead” roadside sign or beyond the point at which a similar in-vehicle message was presented. Driver responses for each condition were compared to a baseline condition that described their driving behavior when no bus was present on the roadway. The results showed a nearly immediate response to in-vehicle messages, whereas the corresponding roadside sign messages provided little evidence of modifying driver behavior prior to visually observing a stopped school bus in the roadway.
Click here to learn more about this project and read the final report.
Women-led CVI-UTC research was featured at the Women in Transportation Seminar – The Future of Transportation event held on September 1, 2016. This event directly followed the Fifth International Symposium on Naturalistic Driving Research and was held at the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg, VA.
Click to see the poster featuring women-led CVI-UTC research and learn more about this event as well as view photos from the event here.
The final report for Emergency Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication, submitted by Pamela Murray-Tuite, Aphisit Phoowarawutthipanich, Rauful Islam, and Naser Hdieb, has been released.
Report Abstract:
Emergency response vehicles (ERVs) frequently navigate congested traffic conditions to reach their destinations as quickly as possible. In this report, several efforts performed by the research group are described, including micro-simulation, field-testing, and optimization, to determine mechanisms for facilitating safe and efficient ERV travel.
Micro-simulation of a network based on the Northern Virginia Connected Vehicle Test Bed examined the effect of a variety of factors on ERV travel time, including the presence of vehicleto-vehicle (V2V) communication, traffic volumes, cycle length, ERV speed distributions, non-ERV speed distributions, and traffic signal preemption. The results indicated that V2V communication could reduce travel time for an ERV in congested traffic conditions.
The research group developed a V2V communication prototype to alert non-ERVs of an approaching ERV by triggering a flash of the infotainment system, followed by audible instructions to move to the left, move to the right, or stay put. Twelve drivers, aged 25 to 50, tested the V2V prototype on the Northern Virginia Connected Vehicle Test Bed during off-peak periods. Data from this field test and associated questionnaires were used to investigate reaction time to the instructions. The estimated reaction times using the developed model varied from 1.4 to 5.8 seconds.
A mixed-integer nonlinear program (MINLP) optimization model was formulated to maximize the forward progress of ERVs by sending information to ERVs and non-ERVs within a given road segment. A single set of instructions was sent to each non-ERV, assigning them to a location out of the ERVs path. Numerical case analysis for a small, uniform section of roadway with a limited number of non-ERVs revealed the model is capable of optimizing the behavior of non-ERVs to maximize the speed of the ERV.
Click here to learn more about this project and read the final report.
The mission statement of the Connected Vehicle/Infrastructure University Transportation Center (CVI-UTC) is to conduct research that will advance surface transportation through the application of innovative research and using connected-vehicle and infrastructure technologies to improve safety, state of good repair, economic competitiveness, livable communities, and environmental sustainability.
Dr. Thomas A. Dingus serves as the director for the CVI-UTC, as well as the director of the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) and the National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence (NSTSCE). Prior to joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Dingus was founding director of the National Center for Transportation Technology at the University of Idaho and was an associate director of the Center for Computer-Aided Design at the University of Iowa. Dr. Dingus has more than 220 technical publications and has managed approximately $300 million in research funding to date ($130 million as principal investigator).
