LANSING ? The Michigan Department of Transportation has announced plans to test sensor data in Southeast Michigan from vehicles equipped with new technology that will help the state test how cars can keep from running into each other on Michigan?s highways.
The Vehicle Infrastructure Integration technology (VII), will be tested at facilities in Dearborn, Auburn Hills and Farmington Hills. State Transportation Director Gloria Jeff said MDOT and the state are taking the goals and objectives of the VII initiative one step further as they work with General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and the states of California, Florida and Minnesota to make safer travel and less congestion.
VII is a collaborative project among automakers, U.S. state departments of transportation and suppliers to develop an end-to-end technology linking vehicles to the U.S. road infrastructure, and its off-board navigation and wireless activities.
?We want to test how we can use sensor data to keep cars from running into each other or off the road, relieve congestion and make traveling safer,? Jeff said. ?The potential benefits are enormous for motorists and first-responders, as well as for auto makers, suppliers, road builders and state departments of transportation.?
Jeff added that the VII initiative is a real partnership with automakers, members of the ITS community, other state transportation departments, researchers, academics, and others committed to making this technology work.
Components of the VII initiative include probe vehicle data, active safety (real-time systems), passive safety (non-real-time systems), and national, regional, and local communications networks. MDOT has been involved with VII for several years, after recognizing the potential for using VII technology to increase safety and mobility, reduce delays, and relieve congestion.
