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ITS Update



Week of August 4, 1997

WEEK AHEAD (Week of August 11, 1997)

- On August 11-12, the International Workshop on Vehicle-Highway Automation
will be held in San Diego, California. Dick Bishop of the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) Office of Research and Development is coordinating
the meeting. JPO Director Christine Johnson will attend.

- On August 12, the ITS AmericaBoard
of Directors will be meeting at the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley in
San Diego, California. At a Board of Directors workshop to be held on August
11, topics such as the future direction of ITS and ITS America=s
role will be discussed and the results will be reported out at the Board
meeting the next day. Deputy Secretary of Transportation Mort Downey will
attend the Board meeting and provide the Federal report on ITS activities.
JPO Director Christine Johnson will also be present.

- On August 14, the Safety Research and Technology Coordinating Group
will conduct an important organizational meeting. This group is interested
in the impacts of ITS on safety and the corresponding performance measures.

- On August 14-15, the semi­annual Advanced Public Transportation
Systems (APTS) Program Retreat will occur. Representatives from the APTS
Division of Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Volpe Center, ITS JPO
and ITS America will be present. The ITS transit activities are expanding
into additional areas of technology application, such as the developing
rural program, Advanced Vehicle Control Systems, rail ITS, demand­responsive
service, and hardware systems. In addition, numerous institutions are being
added to the increasing network of those becoming involved in the application
of ITS technologies. This retreat will assist in identifying the developing
role of the APTS program and in implementing the developing plans.

- Information -- This week, two guidance documents addressing
freeway management and traffic signal control systems respectively will
be circulated for peer review by a selected group of experts from the public
and private sectors. The goal is to have them finalized by the end of September.
These documents will provide guidance to State and local officials and
others involved in the deployment of these type of systems.

WEEK IN REVIEW (Week of August 4, 1997)

- On August 5, ITE held its Annual Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.
There was a full ITS track to the meeting, with nine separate sessions
and other associated meetings. Deputy Director Jeff Lindley of the ITS
JPO presented in session 13 (Smart Cars) on the IVI program and session
21 (ITS Council session) outlining the progress of the ITS program and
its future direction. He also attended the ITE ITS Council Executive Committee
meeting as Vice Chair. He and Walt Kulyk of the FTA Office of Mobility
Innovation attended the ITS Council session. Kulyk discussed FTA's ITS
activities. Susan Lauffer of the Office of Traffic Management and ITS chaired
a session on the four metropolitan area model deployment projects. John
MacGowan of the FHWA Office of Safety and Traffic Operations R&D made
a presentation on the AHS demonstration in the Smart Cars session.

- On August 5, a meeting was held to discuss frequency management issues
with U.S. DOT representatives and the military to determine whether Dedicated
Short Range Communications(DSRC) can share spectrum overall. Representatives
from the Navy, Army, and Air Force attended as did Sally Froge from OST,
Jim Arnold from the FHWA Office of Safety and Traffic Operations R&D,
and George Beronio, who is coordinating these efforts for the JPO. This
effort is related to DSRC petition for spectrum now before the FCC.

- At the Land Transportation Surface Subcommittee Meeting (NAFTA) held
in late July, CAPUFE -- the Mexican toll authorities -- mentioned their
intentions to release an RFP for an electronic toll system that would have
set the country=s standard. Concerns
raised by a U.S. company that Mexico was about to adopt the European CEN
standard for DSRC prompted U.S. Embassy officials to ask for a delay in
the release of the RFP. The Mexicans have put their effort on hold. On
August 5, the U.S. DOT sent a delegation to Mexico to discuss the standards
work occurring in the United States. Mike Onder of the ITS JPO attended
the meeting.

- On August 7, the ITS America Coordinating Council met at the San Diego
Marriott Mission Valley in San Diego, California. A Federal report on ITS
activities was provided by various Federal modal representatives. Other
topics included an update various on-going activities at ITS America such
as the update on DSRC, Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS) Interoperability
for Priority Corridors and the Standards Needs Timeline. JPO Director Christine
Johnson attended the meeting.

- The National
AHS ConsortiumTechnical Feasibility Demonstration-- A host of
activities occurred in regard to the Automated Highway Systems Demonstration
- 97from August 7-10, 1997, in San Diego, California. This event
was the result of a specific goal in ISTEA to perform a demonstration of
AHS in 1997. It demonstrated the technical feasibility of AHS technologies
and their near-term applications to substantially improve highway safety
and efficiency. Earlier in the year, Senate Environment and Public Works
Committee Chairman John Chafee visited the I-15 lanes and Atest
rode@ an AHS vehicle. This AHS
activity has made considerable headline news and stories have appeared
major newspapers and magazines. A range of policy makers and opinion leaders
attended as did Christine Johnson. The activities included the following:

- The live vehicle demonstrations occurred on a 7.6 mile stretch
of express lanes on I-15 near San Diego. Open to industry professionals
August 7-9 and to the general public on August 10. Passengers of the Demo
>97 scenario rides were some
of the first people in the world to experience the range of AHS technologies
in a real-time/real-world setting -- from Adriver
assist@ modes to fully automated
highway travel.

- Indoor/Outdoor Exposition Center, located at Miramar College,
included an Expo Hall, the NAHSC Education Center, a Demonstration Presentation
Center and a track for mini-demonstrations of automated vehicle technologies.
Key exhibitors (in over 180,000 square feet of outdoor area) showcased
their latest products and demonstrate Advanced Vehicle Control Systems
in action. The Expo Hall itself housed a multitude of exhibits (in 33,000
square feet of space). A half-mile, mini-demonstration track was located
adjacent to the Center. Attendees received first-hand experience riding
in automated vehicles. Leading companies in the development of AHS and
ITS technologies plan to demonstrate automatic steering control, lane departure
warning and automated maintenance and construction equipment. The NAHSC
hosted an Education Center (4,000 square feet of space) where visitors
can receive answers to their questions about AHS and see how the technologies
can resolve transportation problems.

- At a Demonstration Presentation Center, large monitors provided a live
video feed of test vehicles operating on the HOV demonstration lanes. There,
pre-recorded video of the testing area were viewed. Consortium members
provided presentations on AHS technologies. Test demonstrations were watched
live on large monitors.

- Public Education Day was Sunday, August 10, which was a first-hand
opportunity to see the public=s
response to ITS/AVCS technologies in action.

- Core participants of the public-private NAHSC included: Bechtel, CALTRANS,
Carnegie Mellon University, Delco Electronics, General Motors, Hughes,
Lockheed Martin, Parsons Brinckerhoff, University of California PATH. The
NAHSC Demo Associate partners include: American Honda Motor, Inc.; Eaton
Vorad Technologies; Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority; the Ohio State
University, Center for ITS; the Toyota Motor Corporation and more than
100 other Associate and Outreach participants.

- On August 6, Christine Johnson attended a session at the SAE Future
Transportation Technology Conference titled, ATransportation
for the 21st Century.@

- On August 5-6, an Intelligent Vehicle Initiative Workshop was held
to continue work on addressing various issues and moving forward on a draft
Business Plan. Ray Resendes of the JPO coordinated this effort.

- Materials to the FHWA and FTA Field -- The week of August 4,
an update to the telecommunications
resource guidewas distributed. It contained an update to the telecommunications
shared resources guidance document aimed at wireless communications and
how states can and have dealt with this timely issue. In addition, a report
went out on a new technology which enables wide bandwidth signals, such
as video, to be transmitted over standard telephone lines. This could be
beneficial to transportation agencies that are installing video cameras
without the necessity of leasing or owning fiber optic cables. Bill Jones
of the JPO directed this effort.