Proceedings of the 3rd international workshop on Vehicular ad hoc networks
Venue: International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (2006)

Welcome to VANET 2006, the Third ACM International Workshop on Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks! After the success of the first two VANET workshops in 2004 and 2005, 2006 is a great year to continue this exciting workshop. The application of short- to medium-range vehicle communication systems (vehicle-to-vehicle as well as vehicle-to-roadside) technologies is closer to reality than ever before, and the widespread deployment of a communications infrastructure on the roadways and in production vehicles has the potential to improve transportation and the quality of life in ways not imagined a generation ago. VANET technology is entering a critical phase, where academia, industry, and governments worldwide are investing significant time and resources to either prepare for a larger scale deployment decision or to already deploy this technology so that its many benefits in the areas of safety, improvement of traffic flow, and convenience can be leveraged: In the United States, the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration Initiative (VII) works toward deployment of advanced vehicle-vehicle and vehicle-infrastructure communications based on 5.9 Ghz Dedicated Short Range Communication Technology (DSRC). The VII Consortium, established in 2004, is working to determine the feasibility of widespread deployment and to establish an implementation strategy. The consortium consists of most major vehicle manufacturers, many State Departments of Transportation, and the US Department of Transportation. Furthermore, the Vehicle Safety Communication Consortium (VSC), a group of OEMs partnering with the US Department of Transportation, is working on next generation communication-based vehicle safety applications such as a Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems (CICAS).In Japan, Vehicle to Infrastructure Communication for Safety and Mobility is developed in the Smartway project. Among others, one of the goals of Smartway is to enable the realization of services related to "safety and safe driving" via communication technology. Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication for Safety is also looked at in the Advanced Safety Vehicle (ASV) program sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT).In Europe, the COMeSafety program started its work within the 6th Framework Program on January 1, 2006. The project supports the eSafety Forum with respect to all issues related to vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications as the basis for cooperative intelligent road transport systems. The Car2Car Communication Consortium is a non-profit organization initiated by European vehicle manufacturers, which is open for suppliers, research organizations, and other partners. The Car2Car Communication Consortium is dedicated to the objective of further increasing road traffic safety and efficiency by means of inter-vehicle communications..The goal of this workshop is to present and discuss recent advances in the developing area of wireless vehicular ad hoc networking (VANET) and to bring experts from different parts of the world together to exchange ideas and to discuss exciting challenges and their solutions in this very active VANET community.