Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices 67107

meeting, contact M. Monty Ledet,

Marine Safety Division, Eighth Coast

Guard District, at the number listed in

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION above, as soon

as possible.

Dated: December 15, 1997.

T.W. Josiah,

Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander,

Eighth Coast Guard District.

[FR Doc. 97–33463 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–14–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Agency Information Collection Activity

Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Department of Transportation,

Federal Aviation Administration (DOT/

FAA).

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) this notice

announces that the information

collection request described below has

been forwarded to the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB) for

review. The FAA is requesting a

clearance in accordance with 5 CFR

#1320.10. The following information

describes the nature of the information

collection and its expected burden.

DATES: Submit any comments to OMB

and FAA by February 23, 1998.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Flight Standards Customer

Satisfaction Survey #2.

Need: The need is for the Flight

Standards Service to survey customers

in keeping with our strategic initiative

to improve the quality of our service by

anticipating customer needs and

responding to the public interest. The

action of conducting customer

satisfaction surveys is consistent with,

and mandated by, such executive and

federal level issuances as the September

1993 Presidential Executive Order, Vice

President Gore’s Report of the National

Performance Review, and the FAA’s

Strategic Plan.

The completion of this survey is

voluntary. No assurance of

confidentiality is provided as the

respondents are not asked to reveal

information about themselves, except if

they wish to do so voluntarily in the

comments section. Additionally, we are

stating in the questionnaires themselves

that any names or identifying

information will be redacted by the

contractor before a list of comments is

turned over to the FAA.

Respondents: A combination of

approximately 53,625 airmen, air

operators, or air agencies are expected to

respond.

Frequency: Every 18 months.

Burden: The Federal burden is

approximately $205,500; the respondent

burden is approximately 10,725 hours

and $375,000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: or to obtain

a copy of the request for clearance

submitted to OMB, you may contact Ms.

Judith Street at the Federal Aviation

Administration, Corporate Information

Division, ABC–100, 800 Independence

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20591.

Comments may be submitted to the

agency at the address above and to:

Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and

Budget, Room 10202, Attention FAA

Desk Officer, 725 17th Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20503.

Issued in Washington, DC, on December

17, 1997.

Steve Hopkins,

Manager, Corporate Information Division,

ABC–100.

[FR Doc. 97–33462 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

RTCA Special Committee 165;

Minimum Operational Performance

Standards for Aeronautical Mobile

Satellite Services

Pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act (P.L.

92–463, 5 U.S.C., Appendix 2), notice is

hereby given for Special Committee

(SC)–165 meeting to be held January 7,

1998, starting at 9:00 a.m. The meeting

will be held at RTCA, 1140 Connecticut

Avenue, NW., Suite 1020, Washington,

DC 20036.

This plenary meeting will be

preceded by a meeting of SC–165

Working Group (WG)–3, AMSS System/

Service Criteria, on January 5–6.

The plenary agenda will be as follows:

(1) Welcome and Introductions;

(2) Review and Approval of the

Summary of the Previous Meeting;

(3) Chairman’s Remarks;

(4) Overview of New Developments

Relevant to AMSS and SC–165:

a. Required Communications

Performance (SC–169/WG–2);

b. AMCP WG–A on AMSS; c. AMS

(R)S Spectrum Issues;

d. AEEC 741 and 761 Characteristics;

e. Industry, Users, Government

Comments;

(5) Review of Working Group Activities:

a. WG–1 (AMSS Avionics

Equipment MOPS); b. WG–3

(System/Service Performance

Criteria); c. WG–5 (AMS(R)S

Satcom Voice);

(6) Other Business;

(7) Date and Place of Next Meeting.

Attendance is open to the interested

public but limited to space availability.

With the approval of the chairman,

members of the public may present oral

statements at the meeting Persons

wishing to present statements or obtain

information should contact the RTCA

Secretariat, 1140 Connecticut Avenue,

NW., Suite 1020, Washington, DC

20036; (202) 833–9339 (phone); (202)

833–9434 (fax); or http://www/rtca/org

(web site). Members of the public may

present a written statement to the

committee at any time.

Issued in Washington, DC, on December

17, 1997.

Janice L. Peters,

Designated Official.

[FR Doc. 97–33461 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–13–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Highway Administration

Federal Transit Administration

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration

Intelligent Vehicle Initiative; Request

for Information

AGENCIES: Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA), Federal

Transit Administration (FTA), and

National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for information.

SUMMARY: The USDOT is seeking

comments from all sources (public,

private, governmental, academic,

professional, public interest groups, and

other interested parties) on the

Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI). The

IVI is being established as a major new

component of the Intelligent

Transportation Systems (ITS) Program.

The intent of the IVI is to improve

significantly the safety and efficiency of

motor vehicle operations by reducing

the probability of motor vehicle crashes.

To accomplish this, the IVI will

accelerate the development, availability,

and use of driving assistance and

control intervention systems to reduce

deaths, injuries, property damage, and

the societal loss that result from motor

vehicle crashes. These systems would

help drivers process information, make

decisions, and operate vehicles more

effectively. These systems would
67108 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices

include provisions for warning drivers,

recommending control actions,

intervening with driver control, and

introducing temporary or partial

automated control of the vehicle in

hazardous situations. The IVI systems

also would improve mobility and

highway efficiency through the

application of selected motorist

information services. Sensing,

processing, and communications

technologies would be installed in

passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses,

and may be complemented by highway

infrastructure technology. These

integrated technologies would be linked

to automated actuators and controls as

well as in-vehicle driver interfaces that

adhere to well-founded human factors

requirements. The purpose of this

document is to solicit comments on the

approach, to obtain expressions of

interest in the participation, and to

request responses to specific questions

provided in this document. This is

neither a request for proposals nor an

invitation for bids.

DATES: Comments on this

announcement should be submitted on

or before January 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Responses to this

announcement must be mailed directly

to the Federal Highway Administration,

Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint

Program Office, HVH–1, Room 3400,

Washington D.C. 20590. See

Supplementary Information section for

electronic access and filing addresses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For

FHWA: Mr. Ray Resendes, ITS Joint

Program Office, (202) 366–2182; Mr.

George Ostensen, (703) 285–2021; or

Ms. Rose McMurray, (202) 366-2742.

For NHTSA: Dr. Joseph Kanianthra,

(202) 366–5662. For FTA: Mr. Walter

Kulyk, (202) 366–5991. All are located

at the United States Department of

Transportation, 400 Seventh Street,

SW., Washington, DC 20590. Office

hours are from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.,

e.t., Monday through Friday, except

Federal holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Electronic Access and Filing Addresses

You may submit comments and data

by sending electronic mail (E-mail) to:

raymond.resendes@fhwa.dot.gov.

E-mail responses are encouraged.

Your comments on these important

issues are greatly appreciated, but the

USDOT will not be able to acknowledge

responses.

Background

Within the ITS Program, the USDOT

has conducted research and

development to improve driving safety

and efficiency. These include the Driver

Vehicle Interface, Collision Avoidance,

Automated Highway Systems, and

Motor Carrier Research Programs. The

IVI will take advantage of these

maturing USDOT programs and the

synergism inherent in their close

coordination. The IVI will unite these

programs into a common framework

focusing on multi-functional integration

of proven systems using autonomous

vehicle-based technology

complemented by highway-based

technologies. The mix of desirable and

cost-effective technologies may vary

among passenger vehicles, trucks, and

buses.

During the past few months, the staffs

of the FHWA, the NHTSA, and the FTA

have met to review the ongoing and

planned research and development

programs of these three agencies that

may contribute to the IVI. These

agencies have identified areas of

common interest, synergies among

ongoing projects, compatibilities among

passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses,

and opportunities for joint participation.

Following these interagency

discussions, the USDOT decided that

this progress should be shared with all

interested public and private sector

stakeholders and comment should be

sought.

Given the differing interests and

priorities of various stakeholders, the

USDOT recognizes that to formulate and

develop an IVI program, it is desirable

to have the joint participation of these

groups for information purposes.

Therefore, the USDOT proposes the

establishment of a working group that

would provide information to the

USDOT so that the agency can

adequately define and implement the

IVI program. The working group would

be administered by, and report findings

to, the Intelligent Transportation Society

of America (ITS America).

Motor vehicle crashes and other

incidents exact high penalties in

fatalities, injuries, and economic costs

resulting from emergency and health

care, property damage, and highway

congestion. The NHTSA estimates that

the financial burden of these crashes

exceeds $150 billion per year. If

highway safety is to be improved

significantly, the number of highway

crashes must be cut.

The objectives of the IVI program are

to advance the state of availability of invehicle systems to: (1) Improve highway

safety by reducing the number and

severity of crashes, and (2) improve

highway efficiency, mobility, and

productivity, and environmental quality

by increasing traffic throughput,

lowering vehicle operating costs, and

achieving more predictable travel times.

These objectives would be realized by

facilitating and accelerating the early

availability, use, and acceptance of

effective driving assistance, control

intervention, and motorist information

capabilities. Achievement of the safetyrelated benefits is the highest IVI

program priority.

It is envisioned that the IVI program

would include cooperative efforts with

partners from the motor vehicle

industry to develop advanced systems,

integrate them into vehicles and

appropriate infrastructure, and evaluate

performance in real-world conditions.

The IVI program would also develop

and validate performance specifications

and design guidelines for systems that

would improve significantly the safety

of motor vehicle operations.

Jointly with industry and other

stakeholders, the USDOT would

establish measurable objectives and

milestones for IVI systems applicable to

passenger vehicles, commercial trucks,

and both intercity and transit buses.

The IVI is a multi-agency USDOT

research, development, and evaluation

program. It is intended that the IVI

program would extend and expand

current partnerships with the private

sector and other stakeholders. It would

merge all vehicle-focused ITS activities

under one program. The IVI would

emphasize the significant and

continuing role of the driver in highway

safety. It would cover applications for

passenger vehicles, light trucks, vans,

sport and utility vehicles, commercial

trucks, transit and intercity buses, and

specialized vehicles, such as, emergency

and enforcement vehicles, highway

maintenance vehicles and snow plows,

on all types of highways.

The IVI safety features would include

capabilities to warn drivers of

hazardous situations, recommend safe

remedial vehicle control actions, assist

drivers in avoiding highway collisions,

and in some cases, intervene with

partial or temporary control. Hazardous

situations may arise due to any

combination of driver, vehicle, or

highway-related problems. The IVI

safety features would rely heavily on

advanced electronic and

communication capability and would

supplement the capabilities of motor

vehicle drivers to operate vehicles

safely. Also, the IVI may include

vehicles with selected motorist

information, navigation, adverse

weather information and traveler

assistance features to reduce the

complexity of driving and to improve

travel mobility. It is expected that the

IVI system capabilities would be

tailored to specific types of vehicles,
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices 67109

such as passenger vehicles, trucks, and

buses.

An effort has been initiated within the

USDOT to define and coordinate the

Department’s ongoing vehicle-related

safety research. This effort includes the

identification of areas of common

interest, synergies among ongoing

projects, compatibilities among vehicle

types, and opportunities for joint

participation. The work associated with

the initial effort is nearing completion.

During the course of this work, it has

become clear that suggestions from the

public and private sectors on program

content and direction would be helpful.

In recognition of this opportunity, the

USDOT proposes the establishment of a

working group that would offer

information so that the agency can

adequately define the IVI program.

In order to fulfill the program

requirements, the IVI must identify and

conduct the necessary research to

ensure that the driver warning, driver

assistance, driver intervention, and

travel information systems work

effectively and reliably in both

independent and integrated modes, that

they operate in a consistent and efficient

manner and are easily understood by

drivers, and that drivers accept and use

the systems.

Ongoing and recently completed work

on crash avoidance, in-vehicle

information systems, automated

highway systems, and motor carrier

issues would provide a strong

foundation for the IVI research.

Research would continue throughout

the IVI program. This research would

address areas such as human factors,

sensor performance, conditions where

warnings are needed and conditions

where warnings would be a nuisance,

modeling, evaluation methods, and

other in-vehicle and highway-based

technologies. The IVI would include

assessment of driver acceptance. A mix

of analytic, test track, and on-road

research, and testing is anticipated.

Following testing in an experimental

environment, fleets of equipped

vehicles would be evaluated in on-road

operational settings at various stages of

the program. The USDOT would

aggressively pursue partnerships and

other cooperative arrangements with the

motor vehicle, trucking, and bus

industries and their suppliers, States

and other government organizations,

academic institutions, and other

interested parties to fulfill the program

requirements.

The USDOT developed a roadmap of

how the IVI program would proceed. A

diagram of the roadmap is shown at the

end of this document.

This roadmap represents an attempt

to illustrate the broad IVI program

elements and the sequence in which

these program elements would be

accomplished. The duration of the IVI

program runs from left to right and it is

not drawn to scale. The major boxes in

the roadmap include the following:

1. Crosscutting activities represent

groups of actions that influence and

guide all the major program elements.

They include such topics as:

Architecture and standards

development; research, development,

and testing in human factors,

communications, and technology;

acquisition, expansion, and validation

of evaluation tools such as simulation

models; development and execution of

an outreach plan to ensure joint

participation of industry and other

stakeholders; development and

implementation of field operation

evaluation plans; and, program planning

and administration covering IVI

program definition and oversight, and

any other crosscutting functions and

responsibilities not covered elsewhere.

The technical issues for many

individual services are expected to be

independent of the vehicle platforms

and when this occurs such issues would

be studied together.

2. Development of services would

cover the research, development,

testing, and evaluation of individual

crash avoidance and efficiencyenhancing systems, such as those listed

under the caption ‘‘Candidate Services’’

in this document.

3. Selection of services for integration

represents the activities necessary to

select specific IVI services (and systems

to fulfill those services) and the mix of

services that should be included in

integrated packages of multiple IVI

services. Selection involves extensive

work on estimating the benefits and

costs, as well as anticipated user

acceptance of integrated systems that

provide a combination of services.

4. The integrated system design and

development step covers the research,

development, and prototype testing

necessary to fulfill the requirements for

fully describing IVI capabilities, as well

as system and subsystem specifications

for the construction of the vehicles and

the infrastructure modifications

necessary for field operational tests of

integrated systems.

5. The operational tests and

evaluations activity, as expected,

implements the plans for field tests in

real-world settings on actual highways,

executes a complete evaluation of the

integrated IVI services subjected to the

operational tests, develops deployment

plans, establishes performance

thresholds based on objective test

performance, and develops

recommendations.

6. Product deployment refers to the

actions by motor vehicle manufacturers

and their suppliers to make and offer IVI

systems to highway users in production

motor vehicles. It is anticipated that the

IVI systems, after operational tests

demonstrate the benefits of their

integrated services, would be adopted

by the manufacturers as part of their

standard product line. Product

development also includes actions by

State, regional, and local governments to

install infrastructure-based IVI system

components on their highway systems.

This activity is indicated as the final

step and the ultimate objective of the IVI

program.

Candidate Services

The USDOT has concluded that the

following services are prime candidates

for improvement through application of

advanced in-vehicle technology. It is

expected that during the course of the

IVI program, the mix of individual IVI

services selected for integration may

vary among passenger vehicles, trucks,

and buses. Please note that these

services include some existing or

slightly modified ITS user services. The

following categories of advanced

technologies are identified as candidate

IVI services because they: (1) Improve

safety; (2) may impact safety; (3) provide

platform-specific functions; or (4)

provide supporting capabilities for other

future services.

Safety Services

1. Rear End Collision Avoidance

This feature would sense the presence

and speed of vehicles and objects in

front of the equipped vehicle and would

provide warnings and limited control of

the vehicle speed (coasting,

downshifting, or braking) to minimize

risk of collisions with vehicles and

objects in the vehicle’s lane of travel. It

is expected that the first implementation

of this service would be through

autonomous in-vehicle systems. These

systems would monitor the motion and

location of vehicles and other objects in

front of the vehicle and would advise

the driver, through an appropriate

driver-vehicle interface, of imminent

rear-end crashes. These systems may

share some elements of, and are

expected to complement the

performance of, adaptive cruise control

systems which are expected to precede

collision avoidance systems as a

commercial product. Later versions of

these systems may include automatic

braking in the event of an impending
67110 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices

crash. The performance of these systems

may be enhanced through future

combination with other systems, such as

other collision avoidance systems, route

guidance-navigation systems with

enhanced map data bases, and

cooperative communication with the

highway infrastructure to set adaptive

cruise control systems at safe speeds.

2. Road Departure Collision Avoidance

This feature would provide warning

and control assistance to the driver

through lane or road edge tracking and

by determining the safe speed for road

geometry in front of the vehicle. It is

expected that the first implementation

of this service would be through

autonomous in-vehicle systems. These

systems would monitor the lane

position, motion relative to the road

edge, and vehicle speed relative to road

geometry and road conditions and

would advise the driver, through an

appropriate driver-vehicle interface, of

imminent unintentional road departure.

Later versions of these systems may

include cooperative communication

with the highway infrastructure to

automatically provide safe speeds for

upcoming road geometry and

conditions. The performance of these

systems may be enhanced through

future combination with other systems;

such as other collision avoidance

systems, drowsy driver advisory

systems, and route guidance-navigation

systems with enhanced map data bases.

3. Lane Change and Merge Collision

Avoidance

It is expected that the first

implementation of this service would be

through in-vehicle systems which may

be augmented with vehicle-to-vehicle

communications. These systems would

monitor the lane position, relative speed

and position of vehicles, including

motorcycles, beside and to the rear of

the vehicle and would advise the driver

during the decision-phase of a lanechange maneuver, through an

appropriate driver-vehicle interface, of

the potential for a collision. Later

versions of these systems may provide

additional advice of an imminent crash

to the driver during the action-phase of

the lane change or entry-exit maneuver.

The performance of these systems may

be enhanced through future

combination with other systems; such as

other collision avoidance systems and

roadside communication and sensing

systems.

4. Intersection Collision Avoidance

It is expected that the first

implementation of this service would be

through in-vehicle systems which are

augmented by information from

enhanced map data bases or from

cooperative communication with the

highway infrastructure. These systems

would monitor position relative to

intersection geometry, relative speed

and position of other vehicles in the

vicinity of the intersection and would

advise the driver, through an

appropriate driver-vehicle interface, of

appropriate action to avoid a violation

of right-of-way or to avoid an impending

collision. Complexities of providing this

service include the need to sense the

position and motion of vehicles and

determining the intent of these vehicles

to turn, slow down, stop, or violate

right-of-way. A fully autonomous invehicle system would probably not be

capable of providing this service.

5. Railroad Crossing Collision

Avoidance

This feature would provide in vehicle

warnings to drivers when they approach

a railroad crossing that is unsafe to enter

due to approaching or present rail

traffic. Initial implementation of this

feature is anticipated for buses and

trucks carrying hazardous cargo. This

service, which would share many

onboard vehicle components with

intersection collision avoidance

systems, is dependent on

communications and the deployment of

infrastructure components.

6. Vision Enhancement

It is expected that the first

implementation of this service would be

through autonomous in-vehicle systems.

These systems would use infrared

radiation from pedestrians and roadside

features to provide the driver with an

enhanced view of the road-ahead. Later

versions of these systems may include

additional information from

improvements in the highway

infrastructure, such as infrared

reflective lane edge markings.

7. Location-Specific Alert and Warning

This feature would provide intelligent

in-vehicle warning information by

integrating vehicle speed and pertinent

vehicle dynamics information with

knowledge of road geometry (from a

map database or beacon input). Later

versions would include information

about environmental and road surface

conditions to provide the driver with

warnings, such as excessive speed for

curves or alerts on upcoming traffic

signs and signalized intersections. This

feature may include the ability, at

unusually complex and hazardous

highway locations, to provide in-vehicle

warnings which replicate one or more

types of roadside signs. These

capabilities would be integrated with

other in-vehicle navigation and route

guidance features with collision

avoidance warning.

8. Automatic Collision Notification

It is expected that the first

implementation of this service would be

through in-vehicle systems which are

augmented by communication links to

Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP).

These systems would monitor position

of the vehicle and severity of the crash.

This information would be transmitted

automatically to the appropriate PSAP

for the location of the crash. These

systems may also be combined with

manually activated systems for

requesting roadside assistance.

9. Smart Restraints and Occupant

Protection Systems

This feature would provide advance

warning of impending (forward or side)

crashes and would pre-deploy the

appropriate occupant protection

systems in a vehicle prior to the impact

to obtain maximum protection for the

vehicle occupants. If reliable under all

potential impact situations, this might

permit slower deployment speeds for

the air bags, allow pre-tensioned or load

limited belt systems or smart head

protection systems and ultimately more

protection for the vehicle occupants.

Safety Impacting Services

10. Navigation/Routing

This feature would provide location

and route guidance input to the driver

and would support the various collision

avoidance capabilities with road

geometry and location data. It would

also provide the necessary capability to

filter traffic information to select those

messages that are applicable to the

vehicle location and route of travel. It

would also offer the capability to

recommend optimal routing based on

driver preferences. More advanced

versions of this service may integrate

real-time traffic conditions into the

calculations of optimal routes. For

paratransit applications this would

assist passenger demand and record

keeping.

11. Real Time Traffic and Traveler

Information

These IVI systems would have

capabilities to access in-vehicle

databases and receive travel-related

information from the infrastructure

(roadside or wide-area transmissions).

Information categories would include

items, such as vehicle location and

route guidance instructions, motorist

and traveler services information, safety

and advisory information, and other
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices 67111

real-time updates on conditions, such as

congestion, work zones, environmental,

and road surface conditions. This

feature would provide an integrated

approach to the presentation of

information to the driver for safety

warnings and other advisories related to

the driving task. More advanced system

capabilities would include the ability to

react to dynamic information on

environmental and road condition

thereby augmenting information

contained in the static map databases.

12. Driver Comfort and Convenience

This service is included in the IVI

program to ensure that the increasing

number of comfort and convenience

features in vehicles, such as cellular

telephones and fax machines, do not

distract the driver or increase the

complexity of the driving task. This

service would integrate these features

into the driver vehicle interface to

permit prioritization of information

sources and reduce distractions. Realtime dispatching for fleet operations is

included in this category.

Platform Specific Services—

Commercial Vehicle

13. Vehicle Stability Warning and

Assistance

An early version of this service would

assist drivers in maintaining safe speeds

on curves by measuring the rollover

stability properties of a typical heavy

vehicle as it is operated on the roadway,

and by providing the driver with a

graphical depiction of the vehicle’s

loading condition relative to its rollover

propensity. More advanced services

would employ an active brake control

system coupled with electronic brake

system technology and infrastructure

provided information to selectively

apply brakes to stabilize the vehicle

and, thus, reduce the incidence of rear

trailer rollover in double- and tripletrailer combination vehicles during

crash avoidance or other emergency

steering maneuvers.

14. Driver Condition Warning

This service would provide a driver

monitoring and warning capability to

alert the driver to problems, such as

drowsiness or other types of

impairments. It is expected that the first

implementation of this service would be

on commercial and transit vehicles.

15. Vehicle Diagnostics

The vehicle diagnostic information

service would be an extension of current

vehicle monitoring and self-diagnostic

capabilities, such as oil pressure and

coolant temperature gauges. This service

would monitor vehicle safety-related

functions. Examples of conditions

monitored include braking system

integrity, tire pressure, sensor and

actuator performance, and the

communication system. This

information is intended to be useful to

the driver, as well as to assist and

support fleet maintenance and

management functions.

16. Cargo Identification

This service would focus on heavy

vehicle operations, especially hazardous

material transportation. This feature

would identify and monitor key safety

parameters of the cargo, such as

temperature, and pressure. The driver

would be warned if any unsafe

conditions existed.

17. Automated Transactions

This feature would implement

capabilities for electronic transactions,

such as electronic toll collection,

parking fee payment, transit fare

payment and additional commercial

vehicle-related functions, such as

credentials and permit verification,

using such technology as transponders

and ‘‘smart cards.’’

18. Safety Event Recorder

This feature would record selected

driver and vehicle parameters to

support the reconstruction of conditions

leading to a critical safety event. Data

from this recorder could provide input

to the crash notification subsystem for

transmission of collision data to the

emergency service provider.

Platform Specific Services—Transit

Vehicles

19. Obstacle/Pedestrian Detection

This service would warn the driver

when pedestrians, vehicles, or obstacles

are in close proximity to the driver’s

intended path. This could be

accomplished with on-board sensors or

infrastructure-based sensors

communicating to vehicles.

20. Tight Maneuver/Precision Docking

This service would position the bus or

commercial vehicle very precisely

relative to the curb or loading platform.

The driver would maneuver the bus into

the loading area and then turn it over to

automation. Sensors would continually

determine the lateral distance to the

curb, front and rear, and the

longitudinal distance to the end of the

vehicle loading area. The driver would

be able to override at any time by

operating brakes or steering, and would

be expected to monitor the situation and

take emergency action if necessary (for

example, if a pedestrian steps in front of

the vehicle). When the vehicle is

properly docked, it would stop and

revert to manual control. In freight or

bus terminals this service could increase

facility throughput as well as safety.

21. Transit Passenger Monitoring

This service would assist the driver in

detecting any passenger activities that

may affect the safety or security of the

vehicle’s operation.

22. Transit Passenger Information

This service would provide transit

passengers with real-time transit

network information during travel. The

emphasis within the IVI program would

be to reduce the non-driving task

workload of the driver by providing

alternative means for passengers to

access location and transit service

information.

Platform Specific Services—Special

Vehicle

23. Fully Automated Control at Certain

Facilities

This service would enhance efficiency

and productivity by providing

automated movement of vehicles in

dedicated facilities. Initial applications

may include automated bus movement

in maintenance areas and automated

container movement within a terminal

area. The transit bus application could

be a preliminary use of automation in a

low-speed, controlled environment. The

automated container movement

application would consist of using

vehicle automation technologies to

move containers within rail-, truck-, or

ship-yards or other centralized facilities.

Supporting Services

24. Low Friction Warning and Control

Assist

This service would initially warn the

driver of reduced traction, but in

advanced configuration, would also

provide control assist capabilities to

assist the driver in regaining control of

the vehicle. Sensors on-board the

vehicle would detect when the tire-toroad surface coefficient of friction is

reduced due to water, ice, or road

surface condition.

25. Longitudinal Control

Longitudinal control would range

from normal cruise control to advanced

cooperative cruise control and

applications which permit full

automatic braking. Intelligent cruise

control senses the presence and relative

velocity of moving vehicles ahead of the

equipped vehicle, and adjusts the speed

of travel to maintain a safe separation

between vehicles. Vehicle speed is

adjusted either by allowing the vehicle
67112 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices

to coast or by transmission

downshifting. More advanced

longitudinal control systems would be

capable of detecting a vehicle ahead in

the same lane, which may be traveling

at any speed or may be fully stopped.

A full range of braking capability and

operating speeds would be available to

the equipped vehicle, including stopand-go traffic operations. This service

can be provided by autonomous invehicle systems or with assistance from

vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicleinfrastructure cooperation.

26. Lateral Control

This service would sense the center of

the lane and continually actuate the

steering to keep the vehicle in the center

of its lane. For the service to dependably

detect the lane boundaries, some

infrastructure cooperation may be

required, such as accurately painted

lane marker stripes, embedded magnetic

nails, or radar-reflective stripes. The

driver would be able to assume control

at any time.

Purpose of Comment Solicitation

This document solicits comments on

the IVI, expressions of interest to

participate with a proposed working

group to provide the USDOT with

information so that the agency can

adequately define and implement the

IVI program, and comments on other

questions or issues regarding this topic.

It must be emphasized that the working

group is being established for the

purpose of providing information to ITS

America so the USDOT can formulate

the IVI program. The USDOT could

potentially enter into partnerships with

members of the working group.

IVI Issues

Important issues related to the IVI are

facing the USDOT and others, in both

the public and private sectors.

Responses to the following questions are

requested to help the DOT as it finalizes

the organization of the IVI program. As

appropriate, please reference

experiences you may have had that

address the issues.

1. Would you or your organization be

interested in participating in the

working group, or in cooperative

research and development for the IVI

program? If yes, in what way? If not,

what would encourage you to

participate?

2. (a) Does the sequence of steps

outlined in the roadmap provide a

meaningful description of the system

integration process? Are there other

elements that need to be added to the

roadmap? What criteria should be used

in the selection of systems to be

integrated? What steps need to be taken

to ensure compatible deployment

timetables for the infrastructure and invehicle parts of cooperative systems?

(b) Each of the listed services is

currently the subject of a development

program within the USDOT, or is

already a fully developed service. Are

there services that should be added or

deleted from this list?

(c) The USDOT believes that it is

feasible to develop systems to provide

the listed services in the near term. Are

there other longer-term services that the

USDOT should be considering?

3. What new areas of research and

development would be required to

support the IVI program?

4. What are the critical issues that

need to be addressed and the activities

that should be initiated to hasten the

deployment of advanced technology

systems for providing each of the listed

services?

5. What data are currently available to

quantify the expected benefits, user

acceptance, and costs of systems that

can provide the listed services? What

approaches can be used to obtain new

estimates of those benefits, user

acceptance, and costs?

(23 U.S.C. 307 note and 315; secs. 6051–

6059, Pub. L. 102–240, 105 Stat. 1914, 2189

as amended by sec. 404, Pub. L. 102–388, 106

Stat. 1564, and sec. 338, Pub. L. 104–59, 109

Stat. 603, 604; and 49 CFR 1.48)

Issued: December 11, 1997.

Ricardo Martinez,

Administrator for National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration.

Issued: December 11, 1997.

Gordon J. Linton,

Federal Transit Administrator.

Issued: December 11, 1997.

Kenneth R. Wykle,

Federal Highway Administrator.

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Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 23, 1997 / Notices 67113

[FR Doc. 97–33348 Filed 12–22–97; 8:45 am]

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