As declines go, Detroit’s has been spectacular. So it’s a little strange to discover—just a short drive north of downtown, past countless deserted office blocks and homes—something that could help make cities safer, more energy-efficient, and generally more pleasant to live in.
Down the road in Warren, Michigan, General Motors is testing technology that lets cars transmit and receive useful information wirelessly across several hundred meters. Vehicle-to-vehicle communications should improve road safety by warning drivers of an impending collision or alerting them to treacherous road conditions ahead.
Eventually, connected vehicles should also benefit cities, acting as mobile sensors within vital transportation arteries and helping prevent accidents, control congestion, and reduce energy use.
Over time, the information gathered from connected cars could even reveal urban patterns to guide policy makers and planners. City planners armed with huge amounts of traffic-flow data could more easily identify problem intersections, for instance, or pinpoint the ideal spot for a new bus stop.
The real benefits will come if cities use this data to guide decisions about traffic management and long-term planning. Before cities can realize the benefits of connected vehicles, however, the technology required to network cars wirelessly needs to be worked out.
Earlier this year the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute concluded a two-year, government-funded project called the Safety Pilot Study that collected data from nearly 3,000 vehicles fitted with wireless communications equipment.
The results suggested that wireless communications could prevent more than 500,000 accidents and 1,000 deaths each year on U.S. roads, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced in August that it would begin drawing up rules to mandate the technology in new vehicles.
Some car companies are a step ahead. In September, GM announced that in 2017 it will begin selling the first car in the U.S. equipped with car-to-car communication as a safety feature.
The real benefits of these systems will come if cities use this data to guide decisions about traffic management and long-term planning. And for many, connecting vehicles and infrastructure will create a vastly more intelligent traffic system.
But car-to-car communication could prove tricky for cities. The addition of such technology to city infrastructure is unlikely to be mandated, leaving it up to local governments to decide whether they can afford the cost.
Read the original story in its entirety.
